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Strafr Audio, step by step

Strafr Audio changes how everything on your PC sounds with an equalizer, and shows where sounds in a game come from with the sound radar. You don’t need to know anything about audio: these lessons start at zero.

8 lessons, about 27 minutes in all. The same lessons are in the app: open Guide in the sidebar and click Start this lesson, and a small panel walks you through each step on the real pages.

Set it up the first time

Install Strafr Audio together with Equalizer APO, sign in and connect. About five minutes and one restart. About 5 min.

  1. Step 1: Run the Strafr Audio setup you downloaded from strafr.com. Leave Equalizer APO ticked: it’s the free sound engine the equalizer runs on. The setup downloads it from its official page and installs it; Windows asks once for permission, click Yes.

  2. Step 2: Equalizer APO then opens a window with your sound devices. Tick your headphones or speakers (tick all of them if you’re unsure), click OK, and answer Yes when it asks to restart. Windows only loads the equalizer after a restart.

  3. Step 3: After the restart, start Strafr Audio and click Sign in with your browser. Your browser opens strafr.com with a short code. Sign in there if asked, check the code matches, then click Approve sign-in.

  4. Step 4: On the Equalizer page, a card may ask you to Connect Strafr Audio to Equalizer APO. Click Connect. The chip at the top now says EQ live.

    In the app: Equalizer

  5. Step 5: Open Preset and pick Footsteps or Competitive FPS to hear the difference straight away. Flat turns the sound back to normal.

    In the app: Equalizer

Good to know

  • The card says Turn on Equalizer APO for your device? Click Open the Configurator, tick that device, click OK and restart the PC.
  • Closing the window keeps the equalizer working. Strafr Audio waits in the tray (the small icons next to the clock).

Pick and save a preset

Use a ready-made sound, change it and keep your own version. About 2 min.

  1. Step 1: Open Preset at the top of the Equalizer page and click a name. The sound changes at once.

    In the app: Equalizer

  2. Step 2: Change something (the next lesson shows how). The preset name now ends in (edited).

    In the app: Equalizer

  3. Step 3: Click Save. Built-in presets don’t change, so you get your own copy under Yours. Type a name and click Save.

    In the app: Equalizer

  4. Step 4: You can switch presets from the tray too: right-click the Strafr Audio icon next to the clock and open Preset.

Good to know

  • EQ on at the top turns the whole equalizer off and on, so you can compare.

Shape the sound yourself

Make bass, voices or high sounds louder or quieter with the graph. About 4 min.

  1. Step 1: Look at the graph on the Equalizer page. Left is deep sound (bass), right is high sound. Up is louder, down is quieter. The orange shape behind it is what’s playing right now.

    In the app: Equalizer

  2. Step 2: Double-click on the graph to add a point there (a node). Drag it up to make those sounds louder, down to make them quieter.

    In the app: Equalizer

  3. Step 3: Scroll the mouse wheel on a node to make it affect a wider or narrower range. Hold Shift while dragging for small moves.

    In the app: Equalizer

  4. Step 4: To remove a node, click it and press Delete, or click the × next to it. More… → Remove every node starts over.

    In the app: Equalizer

Good to know

  • Footsteps in most games sit between about 1 and 4 kHz. Raising that area a little (2 to 4 dB) makes them easier to hear.
  • Leave Preamp on Auto: it lowers the volume just enough that boosts never crackle.

Find the sound you want to hear better

Let Strafr Audio measure a game sound and boost exactly that. About 3 min.

  1. Step 1: Start the game and make the sound you care about, footsteps for example (a friend walking around helps).

    In the app: Equalizer

  2. Step 2: Click Analyze sound (10 s) and let it listen for 10 seconds.

    In the app: Equalizer

  3. Step 3: The result shows which frequencies were the loudest. Click Boost … in the EQ to add a +3 dB node there, then drag it to taste.

    In the app: Equalizer

  4. Step 4: To hear exactly what one node changes, select it and click Isolate node. Drag the node left and right to sweep through the sound, then click Stop isolating.

    In the app: Equalizer

See where sounds come from

Put a small radar over your game that shows footsteps and shots around you. About 4 min.

  1. Step 1: Open Sound radar. The preview shows sounds as dots on a circle: up is straight ahead.

    In the app: Sound radar

  2. Step 2: Under Sounds to show, pick Footsteps or Gunshots. Sensitivity decides how quiet a sound may be and still show.

    In the app: Sound radar

  3. Step 3: Tick Show the radar over games. Set Size and Opacity, click Move the radar, drag it where you want it, then click Done moving.

    In the app: Sound radar

  4. Step 4: Run the game in borderless or windowed mode. In exclusive full screen the game covers the radar.

    In the app: Sound radar

Good to know

  • Only while this game is in front hides the radar everywhere else.

Front and back on headphones

Teach the radar to tell sounds in front from sounds behind you. About 4 min.

  1. Step 1: Set the game’s audio output to 7.1 or surround. With plain stereo the radar can only tell left from right.

    In the app: Sound radar

  2. Step 2: On headphones, turn on headphone surround: Windows Settings → System → Sound → your headphones → Spatial sound → Windows Sonic for Headphones.

    In the app: Sound radar

  3. Step 3: Pause the game and music, then click Calibrate… on the Sound radar page and Start. It plays test sweeps for about 8 seconds.

    In the app: Sound radar

  4. Step 4: When it says Done, the radar shows sounds in front or behind you. Before that, unsure sounds show as two rings, front and back.

    In the app: Sound radar

Good to know

  • Calibration works while the radar listens to All apps.

Share presets with others

Export your preset or open one someone else made. About 2 min.

  1. Step 1: Load your preset, then click Export… on the Equalizer page and save the .strafr-audio file.

    In the app: Equalizer

  2. Step 2: Upload it in the Strafr Audio community on strafr.com (Account → Open the Strafr Audio community).

    In the app: Account

  3. Step 3: To use someone else’s preset, double-click the downloaded file, drop it on the window, or click Import…. Equalizer APO and AutoEQ text files work too.

    In the app: Equalizer

When something doesn’t work

The usual causes, and the fix for each. About 3 min.

  1. Step 1: The sound doesn’t change? Look at the chip at the top. If it doesn’t say EQ live, the card on the Equalizer page tells you the one step that’s missing.

    In the app: Equalizer

  2. Step 2: New headphones or a new USB headset? Equalizer APO works per device. Click Open the Configurator in Settings, tick the new device, click OK and restart the PC.

    In the app: Settings

  3. Step 3: Windows has Audio enhancements off for the device? Click Open Sound settings, open your device and turn them on, then restart.

    In the app: Equalizer

  4. Step 4: Want the old sound back for good? In Settings, click Disconnect and restore the previous config.

    In the app: Settings

  5. Step 5: Still stuck? Open Account, describe what happens under Feedback and click Send feedback.

    In the app: Account

Still stuck?

Send feedback from the app or from your account. It goes straight to the developer. Other guides: Strafr Keyboards and Strafr Mic.

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