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FOAM can output up to 32 channels. On 3 or more channels, every bubble is placed individually in the speaker field at the position where it was generated: quad, 5.1, 7.1, Atmos layouts, or any custom rig. Mono and stereo output work as they always have.

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Setting up surround

  • In a DAW: put FOAM on a track or bus with the channel layout you want (for example 5.1 or 7.1.4). FOAM follows the layout the DAW gives it.
  • In the standalone app: open Gear > Audio Settings… and switch on the outputs of your audio interface you want to use. Outputs are listed in stereo pairs.
FOAM leaves the LFE channel silent. Bass management for a subwoofer is up to your DAW or monitor controller.

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Speaker Layout editor

Open Gear > Speaker Layout… to see and edit where FOAM thinks your speakers are.
  • The LAYOUT dropdown picks a standard layout: Stereo, Quad, 5.1, 7.1, Atmos 5.1.4, Atmos 7.1.4, Atmos 9.1.6, or Custom.
  • Drag a speaker marker on the floor plan to move it. Hold Shift while dragging to change its height.
  • Type X, Y and Z positions, in metres, into any speaker’s row.
  • Drag the listener marker to move the listening position.
  • In Custom, + ADD SPEAKER adds a speaker, and the × on a row deletes one. A layout keeps at least 2 speakers.
  • SAVE and LOAD write and read layouts as files, in ~/Library/Polytope/SpeakerLayouts/ on macOS and %APPDATA%\Polytope\SpeakerLayouts\ on Windows.
FOAM needs one speaker per output channel. A layout with a different number of speakers from the current output is kept, and FOAM uses the standard layout for that channel count until the counts match again.

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Where the layout is kept

FOAM remembers the last layout you edited for each speaker count on your computer, so a 5.1 room and a 7.1.4 room each keep their own geometry. A DAW project also saves its layout, and on opening the project that layout wins, as long as it matches the current number of output channels. Presets do not change the speaker layout.

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Bubble Spread

The Bubble Spread knob sits at the bottom of the Speaker Layout dialog. At 0, each bubble is an exact point source at its birth position. At 100%, each bubble is diffused over the whole sphere of speakers. The default is 10%. Bubble Spread is automatable as Spatial - Bubble Spread. With 3 or more output channels, the Foam Voicing Dynamics card shows the current value as SPREAD and a percentage. Bubble Spread affects surround output only. Stereo Width on the Enhancers card affects stereo output only.

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Compression in surround

The parallel compressor on the Foam Voicing Dynamics card works on every output channel with linked detection, so compression never moves a bubble’s position in the field. It adds no latency.