Orbit Docs

Appearance

Audio Preferences ​

Preferences ▸ Audio & Monitoring (⌘,) is where you choose your output device, pick a monitoring mode, and manage your HRTF profiles. Sections that only apply to the current monitoring mode appear and disappear as you switch.

Output Device ​

Pick the audio interface Orbit plays through. Refresh re-scans for interfaces if you've plugged something in since launch.

Patching individual speakers to individual outputs is done next door, in Speaker Layout & Routing — the Speaker Layout & Routing button here takes you there.

Stereo / Binaural Output Pair ​

The pair of outputs used for Stereo, Binaural and Apple Spatial Audio. This can be your system's first two channels, or a dedicated pair — outputs 23/24 for a separate headphone feed, for example — so headphone monitoring doesn't fight your speaker patch.

Monitoring Mode ​

The mode Orbit renders to: Multichannel, Binaural, Stereo or Apple Spatial Audio. See Monitoring Modes for what each one does.

Binaural Options ​

Shown when Binaural is the active mode.

  • HRTF Profile — the head model used for binaural rendering. The menu lists the Built-in profiles and, in an Imported section below them, every SOFA profile in your HRTF Library.
  • Binaural Limiter — catches peaks created by HRTF summing.
  • Binaural Trim (−3 dB) — a fixed trim for headroom.

Content wider than 7.1.4 (9.1.4 / 9.1.6) is folded to a 7.1.4 virtual array before HRTF rendering.

No quality selector

Binaural always renders on the interpolated HRTF grid. There's no quality choice to make and no lower-quality path to accidentally leave selected.

HRTF Library ​

Your own HRTF profiles live here — personal or measured HRTFs in SOFA format, including the ones from hrtf.orbitspatial.io.

The HRTF Library section — two imported SOFA profiles listed with their measurement point count and sample rate, the active one checked, a Use button on the other, rename and remove controls, and Import SOFA… and Use Built-in HRTF buttons

Each profile lists its measurement point count and sample rate, which is the quickest way to tell two similarly-named SOFA files apart.

  • Import SOFA… — choose a .sofa file. Orbit keeps its own copy, so moving or deleting the original later doesn't break your monitoring.
  • Rename — give a profile a name you'll recognise in the HRTF menu.
  • Remove — delete Orbit's copy. The file you imported from is untouched.
  • Use — monitor through that profile. The active one is checked.
  • Use Built-in HRTF — go back to a built-in profile without removing anything from your library.

Imported profiles appear by name in the HRTF Profile menu, in their own Imported section — everywhere that menu appears, including the Virtual Studio tab of the Speaker Configuration window.

Your choice survives a restart

The active profile is restored at launch. Previously a custom SOFA was forgotten on quit, and binaural came back on the built-in head model without saying so.

The library is available whatever monitoring mode you're in, so you can import and tidy profiles without switching to binaural first.

Apple Spatial Audio ​

Shown when Apple Spatial Audio is the active mode. Choose the renderer Mode and a Volume trim. As with binaural, content wider than 7.1.4 is folded to a 7.1.4 virtual array before rendering.

Solo Options ​

Solo in Pairs — soloing a speaker automatically solos its paired channel, so you hear L/R together rather than one side of a pair.

Orbit Spatial® is a registered trademark of South Loop Studios. All rights reserved.

© 2026 South Loop Studios