What Sound Particles does

Sound Particles S.A. is a privately held Portuguese audio technology company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Lisbon, developing proprietary 3D audio software that treats sounds as particles positioned and animated in three-dimensional space. The company's flagship product, Sound Particles 3 (Beta), is a standalone immersive audio workstation capable of generating up to 1M+ simultaneous particles and rendering to formats including Dolby Atmos, Ambisonics, and binaural; the platform is complemented by a portfolio of plugins (SkyDust 3D, GrainDust, MiniDust, inDelay, inShaper, Energy Panner, Brightness Panner, Beat Panner, Doppler, Air, Density, AudioMatrix, Space Controller), the free Explorer sound-management application with an optional Explorer SFX Cloud subscription, a Space Controller OSC mobile app, and bundle packages such as the Spatial Music IV Bundle. Technology differentiation rests on the particle-based 3D engine, an in-product AI assistant built on natural-language commands, a Google Cloud co-developed AI-powered binaural audio pipeline that compresses acoustic simulation from 100 hours to 2 seconds, and HRTF personalization for headphone-based spatial audio.

Sound Particles monetizes primarily through one-time perpetual software licenses priced $49–$999 per product, supplemented by a recurring $19.99/month Explorer SFX Cloud subscription (100,000+ sound effects), with discounted academic tiers and a free Artist version for education. Distribution combines direct e-commerce through soundparticles.com, a global reseller network of 20+ partners across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia (Westlake Pro, Thomann, Plugin Boutique, RSPE Audio, Formula Audio, etc.), an enterprise "Book a Demo" motion targeting major studios, an affiliate program offering 10% commission, and PLG free downloads (Explorer, Air Music Edition). The customer base spans film/TV post-production (Warner Bros., Disney/Pixar, HBO, Netflix, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Paramount, Universal), music production (Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, Keith Urban, Jon Hopkins), gaming (Ubisoft, Obsidian Entertainment), and emerging verticals in VR/AR and AI training data generation.

Name

Sound Particles

Legal name

Sound Particles S.A.

Website

https://soundparticles.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sound Particles is a Lisbon-based audio technology company that develops particle-based 3D audio software, including the Sound Particles 3 immersive workstation and a portfolio of plugins, serving film/TV post-production, music production, gaming, and virtual-world creators globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Spatial Audio Software

NAICS

Other Sound Recording Industries (512290), Other Sound Recording Industries (51229)

akta.pro primary industry

Immersive/Spatial Audio Production (Dolby Atmos, 5.1/7.1, Binaural) (MPAHAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX) (MPAIAIAB), Sound Design (Creative/Design-Heavy FX, World-Building) (MPAHAEAE), Audio Middleware (Interactive/Game Audio) (MPAFAFAD)

Keywords

• Spatial audio software
• 3D audio plugins
• Immersive audio production
• Audio post-production tools
• Spatial music synthesis

Headquarters

HQ city

Leiria

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses (Plugins and Standalone): One-time perpetual license purchases for individual plugins and standalone applications like Sound Particles 3, SkyDust, Beat Panner, Energy Panner, and others. Prices range from $49 to $999+ for single products.
2. Explorer SFX Cloud Subscription: Monthly or annual subscription providing access to over 100,000 professional sound effects. Single subscription tier at $19.99/month with unlimited downloads.
3. Bundles and Collections: Bundle packages offering multiple plugins at discounted rates compared to individual purchases. Includes Spatial Music IV Bundle, 10FX Bundle, 3Dust Collection, and others.
4. Academic/Education Licensing: Discounted pricing for students, teachers, and academic institutions. Free Artist version for education; discounted Professional and Enterprise tiers for qualified institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sound Particles develops and sells proprietary 3D/spatial audio software, including a standalone immersive audio workstation (Sound Particles 3) and a catalogue of audio plugins and virtual instruments (SkyDust 3D, GrainDust, MiniDust, Beat Panner, Energy Panner, Brightness Panner, inDelay, inShaper, Density, AudioMatrix, Space Controller, Doppler, Air). Its products are used to design immersive audio for film, TV, music, gaming, and VR, with support for Dolby Atmos, Ambisonics up to 6th order, and binaural output.

Product overview

Sound Particles offers a comprehensive audio technology platform centered on 3D/spatial audio production, with a portfolio of standalone applications and plugin products. The core product is Sound Particles 3 (Beta), an immersive audio workstation treating sound as particles in 3D space. The product line includes: virtual instruments (SkyDust 3D spatial synthesizer, GrainDust granular synth, MiniDust lite synth); FX plugins (Beat Panner creative panner, Energy Panner, Brightness Panner, inDelay delay, inShaper waveshaper, Density ensembler, AudioMatrix routing, Space Controller gesture panning, Doppler, Air); a free sound management application (Explorer with optional SFX Cloud); and mobile apps (Space Controller OSC). Products are available as individual purchases or bundled packages (Spatial Music IV Bundle, 10FX Bundle, 3Dust Collection, Essential Bundle, Panner Collection II). The company also offers an academic program with free and discounted licensing for students and educators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sound Particles 3 Standalone immersive audio workstation powered by a 3D engine and particle system that creates thousands to millions of sounds from a single sample, arranges them in 3D space, animates them, captures them with virtual microphones, and exports to any immersive format. Targeted at post-production studios, music producers, game audio teams, and VR/AR developers.
• Beat Panner Creative panning sequencer plugin that makes sounds move in perfect sync with the beat of a track, with up to 32 steps per channel and multichannel support up to 6th order Ambisonics. Used by music producers and mixing engineers.
• SkyDust 3D Spatial synthesizer plugin that generates instant 3D sound in any immersive format, with 8 oscillators per voice, polyphonic sequencer, spatial envelope generators, FM synthesis, and 500+ presets. The first synthesizer to create sounds in multichannel and binaural from scratch. Used by music producers, composers, and artists.
• GrainDust Granular synthesizer plugin with 4 fully independent granular layers, MPE support, built-in spatial movement, and over 1,200 included samples. Creates evolving spatial textures for music producers and sound designers.
• MiniDust Lite version of SkyDust 3D offering spatial synthesis capabilities at a lower price point for music producers.
• inDelay Modern delay plugin with a particles-based treatment of delay taps, Air Simulation, and support for 30+ output formats including Dolby Atmos and Ambisonics. Used by music producers and post-production engineers.
• inShaper Waveshaper plugin for creative distortions featuring dual shaping curves, 65+ curve options, LFO modulation, and multichannel support for immersive formats. Used by music producers and sound designers.
• Energy Panner Panning plugin that uses sound intensity to control movement, creating dynamic depth reacting to sound energy with support for stereo, 7.1, HOA, binaural, and Dolby Atmos. Used by music producers and mixing engineers.
• Explorer Free standalone application for managing audio files with surround and immersive format support, featuring metadata management, binaural playback, advanced search, I/O Manager, and optional SFX Cloud subscription access to 100,000+ professional sound effects.
• Density Granular effect plugin that turns one single sound into small and large ensembles with several layers, creating width, depth, and space in audio mixes.
• AudioMatrix Channel routing utility plugin capable of re-routing any input channel to any output channel with gain and polarity controls for flexible signal flow.
• Space Controller Plugin that uses a phone as a movement reader to pan sounds to where the user is pointing, enabling intuitive spatial control through gesture.
• Brightness Panner Panning plugin that uses the frequency content of sounds to move them around the listener, with brighter sounds panning to different spatial positions.
• Doppler Plugin that simulates the physical behavior of sound passing by through the air, recreating the Doppler effect for realistic audio movement.
• Air Plugin that simulates distance through high frequency attenuation with humidity and temperature controls for detailed sound design applications.
• Air | Music Edition Free version of the Air plugin optimized for music production that simulates air absorption to add depth and natural distance to musical elements in mixes, with distance knob optimized up to 150m/500ft.
• Space Controller OSC Mobile app that connects directly via OSC protocol to Nuendo, SPAT Revolution, or L-ISA for immersive spatial panning without requiring a plugin on the host system.
• Explorer SFX Cloud Monthly or annual subscription providing access to over 100,000 professional sound effects integrated into the Explorer application, with support for surround and immersive formats.

Quantifiable outcome

• Acoustic simulation time reduced from 100 hours to 2 seconds using Google Cloud AI solution
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers26 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

AI capability5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Google CloudcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 November 2022Sound Particles partnered with Google Cloud through the Google for Startups Cloud Program in November 2022 to develop an AI-powered binaural audio solution capable of delivering 3D spatial sound through standard headphones. The collaboration reduced acoustic simulation time from 100 hours to just two seconds and enabled personalized audio experiences at scale.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• FabFilter: Premium audio plugin developer known for high-quality EQ, compressor, and creative effect plugins used by professional mixing and mastering engineers. Comparable in product format (VST/AU/AAX plugins) and target buyer.
• Output: Creative audio plugin and instrument company known for cinematic and genre-focused tools (Signal, Exhale, Arcade). Comparable as a creative-effects plugin vendor targeting music producers and composers.
• New Audio Technology: Specialist in spatial and immersive audio plugins (Spatial Audio Designer, Halo Upmix) supporting Dolby Atmos, Ambisonics, and binaural workflows. Directly overlaps with Sound Particles' spatial audio plugin catalog and target users.
• Dear Reality: Spatial audio plugin specialist (dearVR, dearVR MICRO) focused on immersive 3D audio for VR, gaming, and music production. Directly competes with Sound Particles in the spatial/immersive audio plugin category.
• iZotope: Developer of professional audio plugins (RX, Ozone, Neutron) widely used in music and post-production. Closely comparable to Sound Particles as a high-end audio plugin company serving the same sound designers and post-production professionals.
• Waves Audio: Long-established audio plugin company with hundreds of plugins spanning mixing, mastering, and creative effects. Comparable in plugin distribution model and professional audio customer base.
• Native Instruments: Music production software and virtual instrument company (KOMPLETE, Reaktor, Massive). Now iZotope's parent, the combined entity competes directly with Sound Particles across music production and audio creation.
• Two Big Ears (Embody): Developer of spatial audio tools for game and VR developers (acquired by Facebook/Meta). Comparable as a specialist in immersive 3D audio technology with overlap in interactive and virtual-world audio applications.

Broad incumbents

• Dolby Laboratories: Owner of the Dolby Atmos immersive audio ecosystem and a major force in film/TV post-production audio. Competes broadly in the same spatial audio space where Sound Particles operates, but as part of a much larger portfolio.
• Avid: Provider of Pro Tools, the dominant DAW in film/TV post-production and music production. As the de facto platform on which Sound Particles plugins run, Avid is both a critical ecosystem partner and a potential competitor through bundled spatial audio features.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCW_iEL_jS5oSf5wcafNMn5Q
• Xx.com/soundparticles
• Facebookfacebook.com/SoundParticles
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sound-particles

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sound Particles