Beacon Styles

Soundscape lets you choose between several different beacon sounds in Settings → Audio → Audio beacon styles. They all do the same job — pulling you toward a destination using 3D spatial audio — but they sound very different from each other.

Each beacon is built from a small set of looping samples. Soundscape automatically picks the right sample for the angle between where you’re facing and the direction of the beacon, so the sound changes as you turn your head or move. The “on-axis” samples play when you’re pointing at the beacon; the “behind” samples play when it’s behind you.

How to use this page

For each beacon below you’ll find:

• A looping audio sample that plays each of the angle variants in turn, starting from the on-axis (in-front) sound and ending with the behind-you sound, so you can hear how the beacon changes as you rotate.
• A frequency spectrum plot showing where the beacon’s energy sits in the audible range. If you have a hearing loss in particular frequencies, beacons with most of their energy in the regions you hear well will be easiest to follow.

The plots are normalised so the loudest peak sits at 0 dB; the curves are useful for comparing the shape of each beacon’s frequency content, not its absolute loudness.

Note: the audio samples here are mono and do not use 3D spatialisation. In the app itself the sound is rendered binaurally, so it will appear to come from a specific direction when you wear stereo headphones.

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Original

Beats per phrase: 2
Angle variants: 2

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Classic_OnAxis	0° – 22.5°
Classic_OffAxis	22.5° – 180°

Current

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 4

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Current_A+	0° – 15°
Current_A	15° – 55°
Current_B	55° – 125°
Current_Behind	125° – 180°

Tactile

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Tactile_OnAxis	0° – 15°
Tactile_OffAxis	15° – 125°
Tactile_Behind	125° – 180°

Flare

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 4

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Flare_A+	0° – 15°
Flare_A	15° – 55°
Flare_B	55° – 125°
Flare_Behind	125° – 180°

Shimmer

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 4

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Shimmer_A+	0° – 15°
Shimmer_A	15° – 55°
Shimmer_B	55° – 125°
Shimmer_Behind	125° – 180°

Ping

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 4

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Ping_A+	0° – 15°
Ping_A	15° – 55°
Ping_B	55° – 125°
Tactile_Behind	125° – 180°

Drop

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Drop_A+	0° – 15°
Drop_A	15° – 55°
Drop_Behind	55° – 180°

Signal

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Signal_A+	0° – 15°
Signal_A	15° – 55°
Drop_Behind	55° – 180°

Signal Slow

Beats per phrase: 12
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Signal_Slow_A+	0° – 15°
Signal_Slow_A	15° – 55°
Signal_Slow_Behind	55° – 180°

Signal Very Slow

Beats per phrase: 18
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Signal_Very_Slow_A+	0° – 15°
Signal_Very_Slow_A	15° – 55°
Signal_Very_Slow_Behind	55° – 180°

Mallet

Beats per phrase: 6
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Mallet_A+	0° – 15°
Mallet_A	15° – 55°
Mallet_Behind	55° – 180°

Mallet Slow

Beats per phrase: 12
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Mallet_Slow_A+	0° – 15°
Mallet_Slow_A	15° – 55°
Mallet_Slow_Behind	55° – 180°

Mallet Very Slow

Beats per phrase: 18
Angle variants: 3

Audio sample	Plays when bearing to beacon is
Mallet_Very_Slow_A+	0° – 15°
Mallet_Very_Slow_A	15° – 55°
Mallet_Very_Slow_Behind	55° – 180°