Ashampoo Soundstage Pro

Nowadays, technology makes it possible for art of any kind to be more immersive than ever. And sometimes, you don’t even have to spend great amounts of cash just to get a good entertainment system in your home.

Take for example surround sound; you’ll obviously need good surround speakers if you want a powerful sound experience, but if you can settle for less in terms of hi-fi, then you don’t actually need all five (or seven) speakers anymore. The reason is that there are already a few applications that can transform stereo into surround sound, and Ashampoo Soundstage Pro is one of them.

Once installed, Soundstage Pro will act as a virtual sound card that processes the audio signals from your PC and modifies them in order to create a surround output. The program is meant to be used with a good pair of headphones so you can experience the full effect. The colorful interface is easy-to-use as it allows you to control each virtual speaker separately, by adjusting the volume or by muting or soloing them.

You can have a 5.1, a 6.1, or even a 7.1 configuration, but you can also use a standard stereo configuration. You can also choose between a few sound presets that are named after big cities such as New York, London, Paris, Moscow, Dubai, and Shanghai; changing the presets will not only modify the sound, but it will also display a different landscape in the main interface.

Even though the Soundstage Pro changed the sound in my headphones the way it promised, I wasn’t able to adjust the volume for any of the speakers, apart from the ones in the front-left and front-right. Also, I have to admit that I don’t really get the Boost function. On one hand, it does warn you that it acts as a powerful distortion and that you should be careful when using it. On the other hand, who needs such a powerful distortion? Wouldn’t a smooth increase in volume or gain have been more useful?

Even though the application needs more polishing, Ashampoo Soundstage Pro can be a decent choice if you want surround sound in your headphones.