Spatial Audio for Chrome — Headphone Modes

Stereo audio in headphones sounds different from stereo through speakers. Speakers physically separate left and right channels in space, with natural cross-talk — the left speaker reaches your right ear slightly delayed. Headphones send each channel to exactly one ear, with no cross-talk, which is why panned stereo mixes can feel like they are inside your skull rather than in front of you.

SuperchargeAudio includes four stereo-field controls to address different aspects of this, each built as a discrete Web Audio processing stage.

The Four Modes

Each mode is independent. Crossfeed can run alongside width adjustment; 8D and width together should be used at moderate levels.

Mono Downmix

Mono collapses the stereo field entirely. The signal from the left and right channels is summed and reproduced identically in both ears. This is useful when:

• A podcast was recorded so that one guest’s voice is isolated to one channel
• You are listening with one earbud and want the full audio in one ear
• A conference call has off-center audio that makes the other person feel distant

There is no quality loss — you simply lose stereo separation that was not adding value in that context.

Stereo Width

Width adjusts how much of the “side” (difference between left and right) signal is present relative to the “mid” (sum of left and right). The scale runs from full mono at the minimum through the original stereo image at center to ultra-wide (2× side energy) at maximum.

Boosting width makes music feel more spacious. Cutting it narrows the image and can reduce listening fatigue on content mixed with exaggerated stereo spread. The mid/side processing preserves the center of the image (vocals, bass, dialog) regardless of where the width slider sits.

8D Rotating Pan

The 8D effect applies a slow sinusoidal pan, rotating the stereo image from left to right and back at approximately 0.08 Hz. A full cycle takes roughly 12.5 seconds.

This is a DSP effect added in the browser. It does not modify the source content or change any spatial metadata in the file. The rotation is smooth and continuous — it is most noticeable on headphones with content that has a well-defined stereo field.

Headphone Crossfeed

Crossfeed is the most practical mode for general headphone listening. Natural hearing involves inter-aural cross-talk: when a sound source is to your left, your right ear hears it too, a few milliseconds later and slightly filtered. Headphones remove this entirely.

SuperchargeAudio’s crossfeed blends a small portion of each channel into the opposite ear, approximating the cross-talk of speaker listening. The effect is subtle — the goal is not to change the sonic character of the music but to move the perceived stereo image from inside the head to in front of the listener.

Combining with Other Features

Spatial effects apply after the equalizer and bass boost in the signal chain. You can use volume boost alongside any spatial mode — they affect amplitude, not the stereo field. Similarly, equalizer curves apply before the spatial stage, so your per-site EQ settings carry through.

Privacy

All spatial processing runs locally inside Chrome. No audio data is transmitted. No account is required, and no usage data is collected.

Questions? support@superchargebrowser.com