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For those who don’t know the tool: Samplitude is Boris FX‘s professional DAW for recording, editing, mixing and mastering. Samplitude Suite extends it with additional production tools and, relevant to this release, the ADM and immersive-audio workflow for configurations up to 7.1.4.
One panner, considerably more room
Samplitude 2026.5 concentrates on audio workflows rather than adding another decorative AI button. The main addition is the Spatial Panner, a common visual workspace for positioning sources across mono, stereo, surround and immersive 3D mixes. Panning can be linked across multiple target buses, so moving a source can update several delivery configurations without rebuilding its position separately for every mix. Individual formats remain independently adjustable.
The Spatial Panner provides speaker snapping, stereo spread and rotation controls plus several symmetry modes. The supplied demonstrations show Independent, Parallel and Angle behaviour for controlling how stereo objects are distributed while they move through the surround field. Samplitude supports surround configurations up to 5.1. Samplitude Suite extends this to 7.1.4 and includes the ADM Editor used for the Dolby Atmos workflow shown in the supplied material.
The panner displays multiple tracks and objects in one workspace rather than requiring each source to be opened separately. Track colours carry into the spatial view, while individual objects can be isolated when positioning them. Depending on the target format, controls cover left/right and front/rear positioning, height, spread and routing towards individual speaker positions. In other words, once audio starts flying around the room, Samplitude at least tries to keep air-traffic control on one screen.
Drawing movement instead of keyframing it
The Spatial Panner also provides Draw automation with Linear and Timing modes. Linear mode takes the path drawn by the user and distributes the movement across the selected time range. Timing mode records the temporal character of the gesture as well, including pauses while drawing. This allows a spatial movement to be sketched directly instead of constructing it from individual automation points.
The supplied walkthrough also shows conventional automation being written from the panner to the corresponding surround parameters on the track. Spatial plugins can be opened from within the panner for individual tracks, keeping positioning and spatial processing in the same working view.
For productions creating multiple spatial deliverables, this combination of linked buses, visible objects and directly drawn motion is the more consequential part of the update. It reduces the amount of parameter archaeology required to determine where a sound is supposed to be and how it got there.
From stereo to 7.1.4
The longer Boris FX walkthrough gives a useful look at the actual immersive setup in Samplitude Suite. The demonstrated project uses a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos configuration. Dolby Atmos is enabled through the ADM Editor, after which project tracks can be assigned to the renderer. The demonstration uses Autofill to populate the renderer with the project sources.
It specifies a minimum 48 kHz sample rate and a buffer size of at least 1024 samples for the demonstrated Dolby Atmos setup. The ADM monitoring section then provides the target layout and output configuration. Samplitude itself is shown with support up to 5.1 and without the ADM Editor. Samplitude Suite includes the ADM Editor and supports up to 7.1.4. The supplied video additionally states that Sequoia supports configurations up to 9.1.6.
The demonstration also shows binaural monitoring of the Dolby Atmos renderer over headphones, with monitoring switched between the normal stereo master and the Atmos headphone output. And this is where DP can contribute an important piece of laboratory knowledge: you REALLY want headphones for these demonstrations. The binaural positioning depends on delivering the intended left and right signals directly to your ears. Play it through ordinary speakers and much of the spatial demonstration simply does not work as intended. We established this through the traditional scientific method of first doing it wrong.
Mono grows some dimensions
Boris FX also provides a shorter demonstration explaining the progression from mono through stereo and surround to immersive audio. Its useful technical point is the transition from channel-based placement towards treating individual sounds as objects positioned in three-dimensional space. In the demonstration, position becomes part of the arrangement: sources can remain static or move around, above and behind the listener. Again: headphones. Really.
BandRack splits the spectrum six ways
BandRack is the other substantial addition in 2026.5. It divides audio into as many as six configurable frequency bands and allows processing to be applied independently within them. Crucially, the processing is not limited to a fixed set of multiband modules. Any VST3 plugin can be placed where required in the band structure.
BandRack includes 33 built-in effects covering processing including dynamics, distortion, saturation, tape emulation and brightness. Sixteen configurable macros can control multiple parameters from a single slider. Five presets are supplied: 3-Band Master, Punch, Bass Control, De-Harsh and Tape Warmth. Processing can run in linear-phase mode, while a zero-latency option is provided for tracking.
The supplied demonstration shows the practical implications. One example splits a drum loop into two bands and applies reverb only above 400 Hz, leaving the low end dry. A realtime spectrum display is used to locate the kick before setting the crossover.
Another example separates a guitar into frequency regions, leaving the bottom dry while applying reverb to the mids and chorus to the upper frequencies. The demonstration then uses different processing across frequency regions of a drum kit. That makes BandRack effectively a frequency-selective VST3 host inside Samplitude rather than merely another fixed multiband effect.
Stream Deck gets considerably more useful
The new Stream Deck OSC plugin connects Elgato Stream Deck controls to Samplitude commands. Boris FX supplies 400 Samplitude icons for building control pages. Commands can cover transport, recording, markers, the crossfade editor and other menu actions.
More interestingly, custom OSC commands can combine multiple Samplitude operations behind one button. The supplied demonstration creates a “Tighten Drums” command that selects drum objects, detects transients, splits at those transients, quantises object positions and closes the resulting gaps. That turns Stream Deck from a collection of illuminated shortcuts into a simple hardware front end for repeatable command sequences.
Stream Deck+ extends the integration to its rotary controls and display. The demonstration shows fader level, panning and monitoring control together with stereo metering reporting dB, peak and RMS values. Automation can also be written from the controller. Users can build separate pages for recording, editing and mixing, and the Stream Deck mobile app can provide wireless control away from the workstation.
SoundApp gets ARA access
CrumplePop SoundApp ARA is now accessible directly from Samplitude’s Arrange Window. The integration provides AI-based stem separation and denoising. Music 4 Stems separates Voice, Drums, Bass and Other. Cinematic 4 Stems separates Voice, Sound Effects, Music and Other. Voice 2 Stems separates vocals from music. SoundApp ARA is included with Samplitude Suite.
Samplitude 2026.5 also introduces automatic scanning for compatible VST3 ARA plugins rather than requiring individual integrations or whitelisting. According to the supplied release, the ARA scanning mechanism is also available in Music Studio.
And the less glamorous useful bits
The release updates EUCON support and allows waveform drawing to continue during playback. The play cursor can now be placed directly at the beginning or end of a selected object. Boris FX also lists enhanced sMax11 True Peak filtering for peak detection and processing. For mastering and archival delivery, Samplitude 2026.5 adds 32-bit integer export. None of these features gives you the immediate satisfaction of throwing a synthesizer over someone’s head in Atmos. They are nevertheless the sort of changes that tend to remain useful after everyone has taken the headphones off.
Availability:
Samplitude costs $25 per month, $145 per year or $395 for a perpetual licence. Upgrade & Support plans start at $185.
Samplitude Suite costs $175 per year or $495 for a perpetual licence, with Upgrade & Support plans starting at $275. The supplied pricing lists no monthly Suite subscription.
Customers with active Samplitude or Boris FX Suite subscriptions, or an active Samplitude Upgrade & Support plan, receive Samplitude 2026.5 as an included update.
| Product | Samplitude / Samplitude Suite |
| Developer | Boris FX |
| Version | 2026.5 |
| Samplitude surround | Up to 5.1 |
| Samplitude Suite surround | Up to 7.1.4 |
| New tools | Spatial Panner, BandRack, Stream Deck OSC, SoundApp ARA integration |
| Samplitude price | $25/month, $145/year, $395 perpetual |
| Samplitude Suite price | $175/year, $495 perpetual |
| Upgrade & Support | From $185 / $275 |
| Update entitlement | Included with active Samplitude or Boris FX Suite subscriptions and active Samplitude Upgrade & Support plans |
