WZ Audio changelog

• Removed the WZ Meta announcement that showed up when opening the window: that app will no longer be released.

• WZ Audio 2: all in Rust. The app is now a single program, wzaudio.exe, with no Python or libraries: it opens faster, uses less memory and CPU, and the installation no longer downloads Python (Instalar.bat only checks Equalizer APO and creates the shortcuts).
• The interface, the features and your data (data/: profiles, calibrations, presets, history, party preferences and the Equalizer APO backup) are the same as in 1.12: you don't have to calibrate or set up anything again.
• Party chat, the in-game overlay, hotkeys, the audio copy for your stream and in-app updates work the same.
• The shortcuts and the "Open WZ Audio when Windows starts" task open wzaudio.exe directly (they update themselves when 2.0 first opens, always as administrator).
• No leftovers from the Python version: when 2.0 opens it removes everything from 1.12 (the wa modules, app.py, WZ Audio.vbs, Iniciar con consola (diagnostico).bat, the Python update installer and the .zip files downloaded for earlier versions). Your data stays. Engine messages are still saved to data/wzaudio.log.

• Clean updates: from this version on, updating removes everything from the previous version and the folder ends up exactly like the new version, with no leftover old files. Only your data (data: profiles, calibrations, settings) and tools are kept. If something fails halfway, everything goes back as it was. It starts working with the next update (the current one is still installed by the previous version).
• Manual: the recommended virtual room is «Dry» (the default one: maximum direction accuracy), not «Small room»; the manual said something different from the app.

• The shortcut now shows the red logo. Windows stores icons by path and kept showing the orange one even though the file was new. Now the icon has a different name, when WZ Audio opens it updates the shortcuts you already have (Desktop and Start menu) and asks Windows to re-read the icons.

• The whole app in burnt red, to match the new logo: tabs, bars, buttons, the graphic equalizer, the location-test sphere, the party chat notice and the manual (PDF). Status notices keep their colors (green = fine, yellow = check, red = error).

• New logo color: same design and the same metal base, now in burnt red instead of orange (emblem, logo with name, window and tray icon, and the manual).

• Graphic equalizer: «My equalizer» is now a chart with the preset’s real curve and one point per band that you drag up or down (±12 dB, in 0.5 steps); double-click returns the band to 0. When you modify it, a dotted line shows the factory preset and the ↺ Reset preset button (only active if there are changes) returns it to how it came.
• Much subtler limiter: −0.5 dBFS ceiling (−1 dBFS with extra volume) with a soft knee: up to 1 dB of excess is only reduced by half, and it releases in 30 ms (120 ms if the excess is sustained; 60/350 ms before). The output never goes above 0 dBFS. Anything that doesn’t exceed the ceiling comes out untouched.

• «My equalizer» shows the preset: when you pick a preset, the 10 bands take its shape (with Bass Boost the lows appear raised) and you modify it from there. Untouched, the preset’s exact filters play; once you move it, the preset becomes your 10 bands (the factory shape is reproduced within less than 1 dB). Each preset keeps its changes and the intensity scales them. Your previous settings are converted automatically (preset shape + what you had moved).
• Cleaner footsteps (checked against your real recording): the normal ambient «flicker» that doesn’t count as a hit goes from 1.2 to 2 dB and the hit filter (150–700 Hz) is narrower. In ambience without footsteps the mid boost drops from +3.3 to +2.4 dB and the 150–700 Hz one from +1.6 to +1.1 dB; on footsteps the 40–150 Hz lows are barely touched (+0.4 dB) and the «click» and scuff stay up (+5 to +5.5 dB). Also checked: no compression (1:1 ratio in every band), no boost below 150 Hz, and the limiter only touches peaks at −0.3 dBFS.

• WZ Dynamics goes back to the 1.12.45 engine, the one that really made footsteps stand out in your game, but without the explosions and gunshots control (the app sends it 0: 1:1 compression, those sounds pass through as they are). The detectors from 1.12.50–1.12.52 were removed: in your real game they produced odd noises and didn’t mark the footsteps. Measured with your footstep-fingerprint recording: footsteps +5 to +6 dB on the «click» and the scuff; lows unchanged.
• It works like 1.12.45 again: on the final headphone sound (stereo, Windows 3D or WZ Spatial), with the safety limiter (−0.3 dBFS ceiling; −1 dBFS with extra volume). Latency ≈ 1.5 ms.
• Calibration: the lowest band is now a peak, not a shelf. The shelf kept rising below 63 Hz (+10 dB at 20 Hz, where nobody measured) and, to avoid clipping, forced the whole volume down ~10 dB. With your profile the input now drops 6.7 dB instead of 10.3 dB, and the curve matches what you measured in each band.

• Footstep engine tuned with real Warzone audio (your fingerprint recording). The game’s ambience has almost no highs, and a footstep on your floor jumps 15–45 dB in the «click» and the scuff in an instant. Now a single footstep is recognized without waiting for rhythm (a jump in the first 4 ms over each band’s floor); rhythm is only used to also accept the softer ones and those on other floors. With your recording: 55 of 84 clear footsteps enhanced (before only those in rhythmic series) and the ambience without footsteps unchanged (+0.1 dB).
• On footsteps on your floor the hit (150–700 Hz) is barely raised: that’s where the map’s rumble is, and raising it only thickened the ambience. What marks the footstep is the «click» and the scuff (+9 to +10 dB measured on your recording at 100 %).
• A loud Warzone footstep also carries sub-bass: it’s no longer mistaken for an explosion (it’s only an explosion if the sub-bass jumps more than the highs). Bursts: 5 even hits less than 0.13 s apart. Loud (> −14 dBFS): untouched.
• Recording fix (fingerprint and samples): if Warzone had two processes, the recording came out interleaved (10 ms of game, 10 ms of silence). Now each process is recorded separately and the one that played is kept; earlier recordings are repaired automatically when analyzed.

• Fix: the footstep engine «cut» and compressed sounds that weren’t footsteps (for example, the countdown beeps): every new sound started boosted +8 dB and was lowered a few ms later. Now it only enhances what is certainly a footstep: a hit that is the 3rd (or later) of a series with a walking rhythm (same interval ±15 %, 0.24–0.85 s, almost nothing in between). Everything else —beeps, reloads, gunshots, bursts, explosions, voices, ambience— comes out identical (measured: 0.0–0.1 dB change, distortion below −110 dB).
• More pronounced footsteps: an accepted footstep is raised at once in its material’s band (up to 18 dB on the hit and the «click», 9 dB on the scuff at 100 %) for ~100 ms and comes down smoothly; it isn’t cut in half. The first two footsteps of a series aren’t enhanced (the rhythm that confirms them is missing).
• No limiter if you don’t use «Extra volume»: without extra volume there’s no volume processing left, only the EQ and the footstep enhancement. Latency ≈ 1 ms.
• Less «quiet»: treble boosts (above 6 kHz) are compensated by half in the automatic preamp (games carry almost no energy there), and «Flat» no longer lowers anything. Fine-tuning shows how much the input is lowered.

• WZ Dynamics is now only a FOOTSTEP engine. The explosions and gunshots controls were removed: those sounds (and vehicles and voices) pass through as they come from the game. The engine finds footsteps and enhances them on top of any preset:
  • a short hit that stands out from the ambience in its material’s band (wood/dirt on the hit; concrete, metal and glass on the «click»; grass, gravel and water on the scuff): it works with any surface;
  • it isn’t loud, carries almost no sub-bass (that’s an explosion or a vehicle) and is brief (a sound that lingers —engine, rain, music— isn’t enhanced);
  • it follows a walking rhythm (0.2–0.9 s): every footstep in rhythm raises the confidence; a burst of gunfire (hits every < 0.2 s) is recognized and not enhanced;
  • distant footsteps and those on other floors get more enhancement than close ones. Measured with test scenes: close and mid-range footsteps +2 to +6 dB depending on the surface (more than in 1.12.45; those that barely rise above the noise aren’t touched, so the ambience isn’t raised), ambience unchanged, loud gunshots and explosions 0 dB (+1.5 to +2 dB before).
• 3D intact: the gain is the same on every channel. In direct 7.1 mode the engine runs before WZ Spatial, on the game’s 7 channels: it enhances the footstep and then the measured heads give it its direction. It also works with 7.1 output without WZ Spatial (there was no dynamics there before).
• Clean audio: 1 ms look-ahead (the boost is already up when the hit arrives: no «clicks»); distortion below −100 dB with steady sounds and −58 dB while boosting. The limiter is always at the end of the chain (−0.3 dBFS ceiling without extra volume, −1 dBFS with extra volume). Total latency ≈ 2.5 ms.
• New presets, the kind gamers use: Balanced (recommended), Bass Boost, Cinema, Impact, Competitive (FPS), Clear voices, Detail, Flat and My footsteps (measured). The old ones switch automatically: Footsteps only → Competitive (FPS), Footsteps + friends’ voices → Clear voices, Gunshots and explosions → Impact.
• Every preset can be modified: «My equalizer» is saved per preset («modified» appears) and «Reset this preset» restores the factory settings.
• Your own presets: «Save as my own preset» with a name (up to 12, with ⭐; delete them with their ✕).
• WZ Dynamics has its own card on Home (Footstep enhancement and Your floor ↔ other floors).
• Game audio sample: in Footstep fingerprint, «Record 60 s sample» saves only Warzone’s audio in data\muestras to fine-tune footstep detection with real sound.

• Fix: lowering explosions and gunshots also lowered footsteps and everything sounded «muffled». In 1.12.46 each band’s instantaneous peak was compared against the background: the ambient noise itself and loud footsteps «stood out» and got lowered. Now:
  • the energy of the last few milliseconds is compared (not the peak), so the ambience no longer lowers itself;
  • the highs (the footstep scuff and direction cues) are no longer lowered by their own level: they only go down while there’s a gunshot (they follow the gunshot-body band, 700–2500 Hz);
  • the footstep-hit band (150–700 Hz) is only lowered by the body of very loud explosions or gunshots.
• Measured at 100 %: footsteps from −36 to −20 dBFS change 0–0.4 dB with normal ambience (up to −6 dB before); ambience unchanged in the highs. Close explosion −9 dB, close burst −6 to −7 dB, farther ones −2 to −4 dB.
• Less distortion than 1.12.46 (THD+N below −83 dB).

• The latency measurement was removed from the location test: the number depended on the browser and on Windows, not on WZ Audio, and only confused people. WZ Audio still adds no latency.

• WZ Audio no longer checks Warzone’s settings. It works for any game or program, so the «Game Sound Device» and «Speaker Output» warnings (and the reading of the game’s file) were removed. The table with Warzone’s recommended settings stays as a guide.
• Fix: the «Windows spatial audio is on» warning showed up even when it was off. Windows always offers the spatial stream (it downmixes it to normal channels), so it was useless for telling. Now it only counts as on if Windows offers dynamic sound objects, which only exist with Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos or DTS selected.
• Location-test latency, corrected. The number shown (≈ 50 ms) was the browser’s, which plays the test sound, not a game’s. Now it shows Windows’ latency on your headphones (audio engine + device, the one any game has; usually 10–20 ms) and «WZ Audio: 0 ms». The browser buffer is shown separately, noting that it doesn’t exist in the game.

• Fix: «Explosions» and «Gunshots» set to «lower» now really lower them. Before, compression used a fixed threshold (≈ −20 dBFS) that, at Warzone’s normal levels, was almost never reached: even at 100 % the reduction was 0 to 2 dB. Now the threshold follows the match’s background level in each band, the attack is faster and the maximum reduction is larger. Measured at 100 %: close explosion −10 dB, close burst −8 dB, distant events −2 to −4 dB; footsteps change less than 1 dB. At 50 % the reduction is roughly half.
• A loud sound sustained for several seconds (vehicle, helicopter, rain) becomes background and stops being lowered gradually, so it isn’t muted the whole time.
• Distortion stays far below audible (less than −80 dB).

• Speaker Output «Spatial Surround» (Warzone offers it when your headphones have Windows Sonic / Dolby Atmos / DTS on): it’s the recommended one for Windows 3D, because it sends the full sound, including overhead, to Windows spatial audio. The «16 channels» warning no longer shows in that mode; with 7.1 only a suggestion appears.
• In direct 7.1 mode, if Warzone is on «Spatial Surround», the notice explains to use 7.1 and turn off Windows spatial audio (or to choose «Windows 3D»).
• The «Set up Warzone» table, the Windows 3D steps and the manual recommend Spatial Surround in that mode.

• Location test with latency: while the sphere plays, in direct 7.1 mode or in Windows 3D, it shows the latency Windows reports for that sound and «WZ Audio: 0 ms» (WZ Audio works inside Windows audio and adds nothing). It refreshes every half second.

• Direct 7.1 mode suggestion: if your headphones accept 7.1 (sound card, or USB with a 7.1 driver) and you’re on «Windows 3D», Home and the 3D Audio tab suggest direct 7.1 mode (WZ Spatial: more precise and 0 ms) with a button to switch. It’s detected by asking Windows whether the device would accept 8 channels, even if it’s set to stereo.
• Home shows «Windows 3D» as your 3D audio when you use that mode.

• New «Windows 3D» mode for USB, wireless or controller-connected headphones: the 3D is done by Windows spatial audio (Windows Sonic, free; or Dolby Atmos for Headphones / DTS Headphone:X if you have their apps) and WZ Audio applies afterwards, on what reaches your ears, your calibrated profile, the preset, your equalizer and WZ Dynamics. No virtual cables. Tested: Equalizer APO processes after Windows 3D.
• The 3D Audio tab shows the formats available on your PC, detects whether Windows spatial audio is on for your headphones (✓) and gives the steps for Windows and Warzone. It warns if it still needs to be turned on or if, in direct 7.1 mode, it’s on together with WZ Spatial (double 3D).
• The USB / stereo (bridge) mode with VB-CABLE was removed: whoever used it moves to Windows 3D automatically. Two modes remain: direct 7.1 (WZ Spatial, unchanged) and Windows 3D.
• Location test: new Rotate near and far button (continuous loops while moving closer and farther, one cycle every 24 s). With Windows 3D the test sends the 8 channels so it goes through Windows Sonic / Dolby Atmos.
• Manual: new «Windows 3D» section with the estimated latency.

• The window opens instantly again, as always.

• Refreshed WZ Meta announcement: combination lab (primary + secondary weapon, compatibility and why), suggested duos (SMG + sniper, SMG + assault rifle, assault rifle + sniper), six features and the Try hard and Competitive styles.
• The announcement shows only once per app start: if you close the window and reopen it from the tray icon, it doesn’t appear. «Don’t show for 3 days» stays the same.

• WZ Meta announcement (El Viejo Odioso’s next app: game updates, new weapons, meta weapon, comparisons, technical data and recommendations by play style) when the window opens, with «Don’t show for 3 days» and «Send suggestions for the app» (name + suggestion: saved in data/sugerencias_wzmeta.txt and your email opens with the message ready).

• Fixed: «Leave the party before updating» appeared even when you were no longer in a party. If the party ended without going through «Leave» (the connection dropped, the window was reloaded or closed, or the notice didn’t reach the engine), WZ Audio kept believing it was still active. Now the window confirms it every 5 s while you’re in a party and, if it stops being confirmed, after 15 s it’s considered over: it no longer blocks the update or leaves the party overlay stuck.

• Extra volume with a much more transparent limiter (for outputs that sound quiet, like Realtek straight to headphones, where +10 dB or more is needed).
  • The limiter now looks ahead 1.5 ms: it lowers the volume in a smooth ramp just before the peak instead of chopping it abruptly. Low-end distortion with extra volume went from −64/−72 dB to −70/−104 dB.
  • It only acts on what would exceed the maximum (1 dB knee instead of 6): before, it started lowering 3 dB earlier.
  • Dual release: after a gunshot the volume returns in ~60 ms (250 ms before); only a sustained overload uses 350 ms. In gunfire bursts with +10 dB, footsteps between shots are lowered half as much as before.
  • It adds 1.5 ms of latency (imperceptible).
• With WZ Dynamics off («Flat» preset) the extra volume now also goes through the limiter; before it was applied as plain gain and could clip.
• The high extra-volume warning appears from +12 dB (+6 before).

• Fixed: the «Black Ops 7 sends the sound to {0.0.0.00000000}.{…}» warning appeared even though the game was using your headphones. Warzone stores the Windows device identifier in Game Sound Device, not its name, and WZ Audio compared it against the name. Now it compares the identifier and, if it doesn’t match, shows the device’s name. If the saved device is no longer connected, it only suggests checking it in the game.

• WZ Audio checks where Warzone sends its sound. It reads the game’s config file (Black Ops 7 and Modern Warfare 4) and warns on Home and in 3D Audio when:
  • the game is on a device other than the one WZ Audio works on (for example «CABLE In 16ch» instead of «CABLE Input»);
  • the game is on «Default» and Windows’ default isn’t WZ Audio’s (you changed the default output and the game stopped going through the bridge or your headphones);
  • the game asks for stereo (2 channels) and 3D audio needs 7.1.
• VB-CABLE with two inputs («CABLE Input» and «CABLE In 16ch»): WZ Audio now prefers «CABLE Input», warns that both exist and that Warzone, Equalizer APO and WZ Audio must use the same one, and the bridge-mode steps show the exact name of the chosen cable.

• Explosions and Gunshots now go both ways: to the right they’re lowered, in the middle they stay as in the game and to the left they’re enhanced (WZ Dynamics gives loud sounds more punch). «Gunshots and explosions» has them enhanced at 60 % instead of off.
• Better footstep location: the treble footstep enhancement is limited to 6 dB and the «Footsteps only» and «Footsteps + friends’ voices» presets raise 2–6 kHz broadly and moderately instead of with narrow peaks. That zone carries the front/back and up/down cues; with strong peaks footsteps were louder but harder to locate.
• The «Your floor ↔ other floors» control (fixed per preset now) and the test-sound buttons (Footsteps, Gunshots, Voice) were removed.
• «?» button with an explanation for Preset intensity, Footstep enhancement, Explosions, Gunshots and the curve.

• More natural WZ Dynamics. Footstep enhancement doesn’t need compression (it lifts the footstep above the background); the compression only tames explosions and gunshots. It’s now much gentler at the presets’ values: higher thresholds, lower ratios, an attack of several milliseconds (the «crack» and the hit keep their shape) and slower release (no ambient «pumping»). Raising the explosions and gunshots sliders still controls them strongly. In tests, sound deformation on explosions and gunshots dropped from ≈6–10 % to ≈1–2 %, with the same footstep enhancement.
• Soft-knee limiter: it starts acting 3 dB before the ceiling and recovers in 250 ms, instead of an abrupt «wall».
• A warning next to Extra volume above +6 dB: from there on the limiter works all the time and the sound gets flattened.
• «Footsteps only» raises its footstep enhancement a bit to compensate.

• New, simpler presets:
  • 👣 Footsteps only (formerly «Warzone footsteps», now with a bit more weight on the hit that crosses floors).
  • 🎧 Footsteps + friends’ voices: protects the voice range (Discord, party, game chat).
  • ⚖️ Balanced competitive (same as before).
  • 💥 Gunshots and explosions: punchy lows and explosions that aren’t squashed, for those who enjoy the boom.
  • 🎚️ Flat (you tune it): no preset on top; your profile (if you calibrated) and your equalizer. WZ Dynamics comes off and can be turned on in «Fine-tuning».
  • 🧪 My footsteps (measured) only appears once you’ve recorded your footstep fingerprint.
• Footsteps up/down, Gunshots and direction, Night mode, Immersion and My profile only were removed. If you used one, it switches automatically to the closest one (My profile only → Flat, Immersion → Gunshots and explosions, the rest → Footsteps only or Competitive).
• Each preset has its WZ Dynamics on or off; you can change it in «Fine-tuning».

• Start with Windows. Settings → Headphones (or the tray icon menu): WZ Audio opens by itself when you sign in, in the tray and without a window, and applies your chosen preset, your 3D audio and the bridge mode. It uses a scheduled task with administrator rights, so it doesn’t ask «Allow changes?» on every start. If at Windows startup your headphones or the cable aren’t ready yet, it retries on its own for 2 minutes.
• The «Mix and live» tab was removed: the WZ Game / WZ Chat / WZ Media channels, per-application volume, the voice return and the «Mute chat» shortcut.
• New: Audio copy (Settings → Headphones). It sends a copy of everything playing on your PC to a virtual device you choose (for example «CABLE Input»), for OBS, Streamlabs or TikTok LIVE Studio. You still hear everything directly. It doesn’t allow using the same cable as the bridge mode.

• Bridge mode: live diagnostics. Step 6 shows how much sound comes in from the cable and how much goes out to your headphones (and through which device it goes out). With the location test playing you instantly see where the sound gets lost.
• Bridge latency now comes broken down: cable recording + cushion + output to your headphones.
• The cushion goes back down on its own. Each audio dropout raises the cushion by 2.5 ms so it doesn’t happen again; before it never came back down and latency could stay high (60 ms or more). Now, after 20 s without dropouts, it gradually lowers to 10 ms.

• Warning if Windows uses the virtual cable as a microphone. When VB-CABLE is installed, Windows sometimes sets «CABLE Output» as the default (or communications) microphone. Then Discord, Warzone and other apps send to the call whatever plays on the cable: the game and WZ Audio’s tests. Home and Settings warn about it, say which microphone to set and open the Recording tab directly.
• The location test warns if bridge mode is selected but the bridge isn’t on (in that case the test plays on the cable and doesn’t reach your headphones).

• Fixed: «No pude abrir el puente: No module named 'sounddevice'». It happened when the Python that opens WZ Audio didn’t have the bridge’s audio library (for example, if you installed another Python version after Instalar.bat, or if its installation failed). Now WZ Audio installs it on its own in the background in its own Python, and the bridge turns on when it finishes; if it can’t (no Internet), step 6 says what to run.
• Instalar.bat installs the libraries one by one (if one fails, the others still install and it says which one is missing) and checks that the same Python that opens WZ Audio can load them.

• Bridge mode: the «CABLE Input in 7.1» step is recognized instantly. The 3D Audio tab rechecks everything when you come back to the app (for example, from the Windows sound panel) and every 3 seconds while a step is missing. Before, the list only refreshed when changing tabs or touching something.
• If you change in Windows the channels or sample rate of the output WZ Audio works on (your headphones or the bridge cable), the configuration rewrites itself: 3D turns on without touching anything in the app.
• If Windows keeps reporting stereo on the cable, step 3 shows how many channels it reports, what to check and a «Check again» button.

• Simplified interface. Home is now: headphones, 3D audio status, profile (flat or calibrated), extra volume and presets. Intensity, dynamics, curve and equalizer go into «Fine-tuning», which only expands if you need it. Instructions no longer take up the screen: each section has a «?» button, and the Windows and Warzone settings open with their own buttons.
• «Configuración» is now called Settings (Headphones · 3D Audio · Calibrate · Footstep fingerprint · Shortcuts).
• Getting started is picking your headphones and a preset. 3D audio comes on with the Human D1 head and no room. Calibrating is optional: without calibration, the profile is flat; Home suggests it with «Calibrate (recommended)» and the app no longer sends you to Settings on startup if you haven’t calibrated.
• Notices only when action is needed (Equalizer APO, picking a preset or the 7.1 output), with the button to fix it.

• Enhancing footsteps is no longer «cutting everything else». WZ Dynamics tames explosions and gunshots with gentle ratios and only when they’re really loud, and the presets cut fewer lows (−4 dB instead of −7). The footstep enhancement stays the same. Picking a preset loads the new settings.
• WZ Dynamics without phase delay. Before, the audio was split into 4 bands and summed back; the crossovers delayed the lows by about 4–5 ms (60 Hz). Now the bands are only used for measuring, and the audio goes through 4 dynamic filters that are fully transparent at 0 gain: 0 ms delay and less low-end distortion.

• Virtual room for WZ Spatial (Settings → Spatial audio): «Dry», «Small room» (the new default) or «Medium room». The measured heads were recorded with no echo at all, and on their own they sound «inside the head», as if boxed in. Now each virtual speaker has its first 6 reflections (walls, floor and ceiling, each one with the measured head from the direction it arrives from) and a short tail, coherent between the ears in the lows and decorrelated in the highs. The direct sound still arrives first, so direction is preserved; the room’s spectrum is matched to the direct sound’s so the timbre doesn’t change. It’s generated once on your PC for the head and sample rate you use, and Equalizer APO convolves it with no added latency.

• Calibration strength (Home, 60 % by default). Matching the volume of noise bands to 1 kHz makes calibration ask for too much bass and lower ≈3 kHz, because the ear is less sensitive to lows at moderate volume. At full strength that sounded boomy, «like having your ears plugged», and cancelled the preset’s footstep enhancement at 3 kHz.
• «Warzone footsteps» with more presence where the footstep detail is (+4.5 dB at 3.5 kHz, +2 dB at 2.2 kHz), fewer low-mids (−1.5 dB at 180 Hz) and a bit more «air».
• WZ Dynamics: footstep enhancement now reacts to footsteps that barely rise above the ambience (before they had to stand out a lot) and the background recovers faster between footsteps. In tests, an audible footstep goes from standing out 3 dB to 7–10 dB above the ambience; ambience without footsteps changes less than 0.5 dB. More weight at 0.7–2.5 kHz.

• Fixed: a «boxed-in» sound, like having your ears plugged, in every preset. · Presets no longer cut the highs above 9–10 kHz (the «air»); now they leave them or raise them 1 dB. Only «Night mode» lowers them a bit, on purpose. · Less low-mid boost (≈250 Hz) and a narrower cut at ≈800 Hz. · WZ Dynamics: in the lows the compression followed the waveform and distorted it (a dull sound). Now each band has its own timings (slow lows, fast highs): 22 dB less distortion at 50 Hz with the same footstep enhancement. Less low-hit enhancement by default and a limiter with a smoother release. · The footstep fingerprint no longer creates cuts above 8 kHz.

• Fixed: bridge mode could pick only «SteelSeries Sonar - Gaming» as the virtual device. Sonar has its own processing and not Equalizer APO, so WZ Audio wrote the configuration for a device where it doesn’t apply, and warned «Equalizer APO is not active». Now the bridge only offers virtual cables (VB-CABLE, VoiceMeeter), shows whether each one has Equalizer APO (✓/✗) and picks a 7.1 one with Equalizer APO first.
• If you pick headphones that are already in 7.1, WZ Spatial goes back to direct mode by itself (no bridge or latency). Opening the app also fixes a bridge mode that was left misconfigured.

• Really fixed: «Equalizer APO is not active» with devices where Windows registers the effects as a list («composite» effects, e.g. the Xbox 360 controller or virtual cables). Now those lists are checked too and each effect is identified by the DLL it points to. If it still isn’t recognized, WZ Audio saves what it found in data\diag_eqapo.json so it can be reviewed.
• In bridge mode, the notice names the virtual device (which is where Equalizer APO must be), not your headphones.

• WZ Dynamics, its own dynamics engine (phase 3). A plugin included with WZ Audio that runs inside Equalizer APO, in 4 bands and with no latency: it enhances soft footsteps that stand out from the ambience, squashes explosions and vehicles, lowers loud gunshots without removing their «crack» and has a limiter so nothing ever clips (the «Extra volume» now comes in before the limiter). Stereo-linked detection: it doesn’t shift WZ Spatial’s direction.
• New presets for Warzone. They separate the footstep hit (≈100–500 Hz, what goes through floors) from the scuff and the material (≈1.5–6 kHz, your floor). Before, «Footsteps only» cut 420 Hz and erased the hit you hear above/below. New: «Warzone footsteps» (recommended and default), «Footsteps up / down» and «My footsteps (measured)». Each preset has its dynamics setting, which is fine-tuned on Home.
• Warzone footstep fingerprint. It records only the game’s audio in a private match with a friend (background, same floor, above, below), detects the footsteps by their rhythm, measures in which bands they stand out from the ambience and creates the «My footsteps (measured)» preset and the dynamics cut-offs from your real Warzone.
• Fixed: «Equalizer APO is not active on your headphones» appeared even when it was (e.g. with the Xbox 360 controller): now any variant of Equalizer APO installed on the device is recognized.

• WZ Spatial for USB headphones or ones that only accept stereo (bridge mode). Warzone plays on a free 7.1 virtual device (VB-CABLE); the convolution with the measured head is done there and WZ Audio passes the result to your headphones with minimal WASAPI buffers and fine clock correction (no crackles). The tab guides each step with ✓ (VB-CABLE, 7.1, 48 kHz, Equalizer APO on the cable) and shows the bridge latency (usually 15–30 ms).
• In bridge mode, the calibration, preset, equalizer and extra volume are applied on the virtual device; the location test plays through the bridge and the party stays direct on your headphones.
• A warning if a live channel uses the same cable as the bridge.

• Fixed: WZ Spatial did nothing. Equalizer APO uppercases channel names when selecting them, and WZ Spatial’s internal channels were lowercase, so the convolution with the measured heads was never applied and the 7 channels were summed without direction. Now the internal channels are uppercase.
• Fixed: the subwoofer is called LFE in Equalizer APO (1.4.13 used SUB and the LFE channel’s lows were lost).

• New spatial audio: WZ Spatial. It replaces the previous virtualizer, the Windows Sonic / Dolby Atmos option and the «Soft crossfeed between ears». Warzone sends 7.1 and WZ Audio converts each channel with real head measurements (HRIR convolution inside Equalizer APO, no added latency), like professional virtualizers.
• Three measured heads to choose from: Human D1 (a real person, SADIE II), KU100 (Neumann dummy head, SADIE II) and FABIAN (dummy head with torso, TU Berlin). They can be compared live with the location test (which is kept).
• Two virtual speaker layouts: sides 90° / rear 150° (for gaming) or 110° / 135° (cinema), and an optional front/back contrast enhancement (0 % by default).
• It requires the output in 7.1 (44.1–192 kHz). If it’s in stereo, the tab says so and shows how to change it.
• Fixed: the bass channel (LFE) didn’t reach the headphones with the previous virtualizer.
• The measurements are copied to the Equalizer APO folder and deleted when restoring its original configuration. Credits and licenses in hrir/LEEME_HRIR.txt.
• If you were using the previous virtualizer or Windows Sonic, WZ Spatial is turned on with the Human D1 head. If you used Windows Sonic / Dolby Atmos, turn it off in Windows and set the output to 7.1.

• Fixed: right-clicking the tray icon froze for a few seconds and didn’t let you use the menu or quit WZ Audio. Before showing the menu, the app checked every Windows process to know whether its window was open. Now that’s checked in the background, only among Edge processes, and the menu appears instantly. «Show» and «Hide» don’t freeze the icon while the window opens either.

• Location test: the sphere now plays continuously, without pauses (noise, hum or rain), instead of footsteps or gunshots. That way you can follow the sound without gaps while you move it around you.

• New spatial audio option: Windows Sonic / Dolby Atmos, for USB headphones or outputs that only accept stereo (where WZ Audio’s virtualizer can’t be used). Windows gives the game 7.1 and converts it to 3D; WZ Audio keeps applying your calibration, the preset and your equalizer. The app tells you what to set in Windows and in each Warzone audio option for this mode, and how to check with A/B that the equalizer is still active.
• When the output works in 7.1 without the virtualizer, the preset and calibration are applied to all 8 channels (before only to the front ones), so footsteps from behind and the sides sound just as enhanced.
• «Game 3D» stays as a third option.

• New location test: a sphere that plays wherever you put it. Press Start and drag it freely around you (also closer or farther) while it plays; you hear it change position in real time. Footstep, gunshot or noise sound; duration of 10, 20 or 30 seconds or unlimited; «Rotate around» makes it circle on its own, and it can be stopped at any time. With 7.1 output the sound is spread across the real channels and goes through the virtualizer, ideal for adjusting the front/back contrast.

• Improved 7.1 virtualizer: each channel now reaches both ears, like with real speakers (before the front ones played from one side only, which confused front with back). Stronger front/back cues and a new Front / back contrast control (0–200 %) to adjust it with the location test. The virtualizer becomes the recommended option when your output accepts 7.1.
• Party chat: · up to 8 people (4 before); · overall party volume (up to 200 %) and each person’s volume up to 300 %, in case someone talks very quietly; WZ Audio remembers each person’s volume by their name; · new in-game overlay: shows who’s in the party and lights up whoever is talking. Information only: it can’t be clicked and doesn’t take focus. Position, size, opacity and «only who’s talking».
• Fixed: opening the app from the tray icon sometimes didn’t show the window, or brought your browser to the front (for example, if you had a page with «WZ Audio» in its title open). Now only the app’s window is looked for, and if its Edge got stuck without a window, it’s closed and reopened.

• Home is now the day-to-day control: preset, intensity, extra volume, the curve and the new 10-band custom equalizer (±12 dB) for fine-tuning on top of the preset, with buttons to listen to footsteps, gunshots and voice.
• What you do once moved to ⚙ Settings, in 4 steps: Headphones and Equalizer APO, Calibrate, Spatial audio and Warzone, and Shortcuts. The first time the app opens there; afterwards it always opens on Home (with a notice if a step is missing).
• Spatial audio and Warzone: you choose between «Game 3D» (recommended) or «WZ Audio’s 7.1 virtualizer», and the app tells you exactly what to set in Windows (including what to turn off so audio isn’t processed twice) and in each option of Warzone’s audio menu (Speaker Output, Enhanced Headphone Mode, Audio Mix…), depending on what your output accepts.
• Clearer left / right balance: it plays in the left ear, then the right and then both, louder, with a box that lights up so you know which one is playing. It corrects up to 10 dB and can be done on its own, without recalibrating.
• Location test: louder, closer footsteps, a «Repeat sound» button and a guide to what must be on to perceive it well.

• New: Extra volume (gain) on Home, from 0 to +24 dB, for headphones or outputs that sound quiet even with Windows at 100 %. It’s applied in Equalizer APO (no latency), goes into the history and compensates for what the presets lower to avoid clipping.
• The «Hear myself via software» volume now goes up to 400 %.

• Fixed: «Hear myself via software» failed with «I can’t find the chosen microphone or headphones». · If you didn’t change the microphone list, the app didn’t save which one was selected. Now it uses the one you see in the list (initially, Windows’ default microphone). · A microphone or headphones connected after opening WZ Audio weren’t seen until the app restarted. Now the device list is re-read when needed. · The error message says which of the two wasn’t found.

• Removed the yellow «You’re using an unsupported command-line flag…» warning that appeared at the top of the window. Instead, the first time a test plays, the window asks for microphone permission once (press «Allow»): that’s what lets it send sound to your headphones and use the party. WZ Audio doesn’t record anything.

• Spatial: clearer step-by-step instructions to set your headphones to 7.1 (Playback tab → Configure button → 7.1 surround). It clarifies that Windows’ «Spatial sound» tab (Windows Sonic / Dolby Atmos) isn’t for this and must stay «Off», and what to do if your headphones don’t support 7.1.

• Fixed: the test sounds (Test sound, calibration, balance, footsteps/gunshots/voice and location test) weren’t heard on the chosen headphones. They came out of Windows’ default device and also very quietly. Now they always come out of the headphones you chose in WZ Audio, at a clearer level (still safe: nothing plays louder than «Test sound»). Party voices are also heard on those headphones.
• If Windows doesn’t allow choosing the output, the app warns you and tells you to set your headphones as default.

First version of WZ Audio.

• Equalizer APO base, ≈ 0 ms latency. The profile is applied inside Windows audio, on your headphones’ original output, without a virtual device in between. WZ Audio writes its own wzaudio.txt and adds a single Include line to config.txt, backing up the original. If Equalizer APO isn’t installed, the app guides the installation.
• «Flat for you» calibration: quick mode (5 bands, a starting point based on your headphone type) and precise mode (10 bands against a 1 kHz reference), left/right balance and test sounds. One profile per headset.
• 7 presets for Warzone added on top of your profile: Footsteps only, Footsteps + squad, Balanced competitive, Direction / gunshots, Night mode, Immersion and My profile only, with intensity from 0 to 150 % and automatic preamp.
• A/B with and without WZ Audio, and in-game shortcuts: next preset, A/B and mute the chat.
• Spatial audio: a guide to the recommended mode for competing, its own 7.1 virtualizer (head model, no perceptible latency), soft crossfeed for stereo and an 8-direction location test.
• Channels for your stream (Game, Chat and Media): copy the audio of the apps you choose to virtual cables for OBS, Streamlabs, TikTok LIVE Studio or any program; you still hear everything directly.
• Per-application volume and your voice return (via hardware at 0 ms, or via software with the measured latency).
• WZ Audio party chat: voice for up to 4 people with a name and a code, encrypted and direct between PCs (WebRTC), voice activation or push-to-talk, volume and ping per person, and the host can kick someone.
• History and restore with an initial state, signed updates from wzcontrol.app/audio, ES/EN manual with PDF, system tray and an interface in Spanish and English.