AXIS Upmixer

Immersion, redefined.

Open a stereo source — most often music — into a full immersive image, up to 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos. A creative tool for shaping width, depth and height inside your immersive mix, with a bit-exact fold-down that always keeps your stereo intact.

Tap a view to focus it — tap it again to cycle all four.

macOS Universal | AAX VST3 Audio Units (Windows coming soon)
A creative upmixer

Open up your stereo.

Take a stereo source — most often music — into a full immersive image. AXIS extends what's already there instead of adding anything artificial: natural width, real height, and precise control over how the sound sits in the room. Your stereo is never lost — it's always one clean fold-down away.

Open it up, your way

  • Open a stereo source — music, stems, a full mix — up to 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos.
  • Natural, open sound with real width and height — never processed or artificial.
  • Full control of the image: five engines, from subtle to fully cinematic.

Your stereo, always intact

  • Fold your immersive mix back to stereo and get your original — exactly as it was.
  • Experiment without fear: push the immersive image as far as you like, the stereo never drifts.
  • Hit NULL to verify in real time.
    Silence is the proof of a perfect downmix.
Five Engines

One plugin. Five characters.

From clean broadcast-safe upmix to cinematic full-height immersion. Pick the engine that fits the job.

CLASSIC

The simplest upmix. Your stereo opens up transparently, with no creative coloration. Broadcast-safe by default.

FOCUS

Dialogue and leads stay locked in the center. Ambience spreads to the surrounds. Perfect for voice, documentaries, and dialogue-heavy content.

MODERN

The versatile default. Natural width across every speaker. Works on anything — music, dialogue, atmosphere — without ever sounding processed.

IMMERSIVE

Bigger room, fuller lows, more height. Turns flat stereo into a cinematic scene. Ideal for trailers, scoring cues, and wide ambience.

EXTREME

Maximum creative reach. Front and rear treated independently. Use when the mix stays immersive and stereo fold-down isn't a concern.

Nine Layouts

From 5.1 to full 9.1.6 Atmos

5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos, and everything in between — pick the layout your mix lives in.

5.1 5.1.2 5.1.4 7.1 7.1.2 7.1.4 7.1.6 9.1.4 9.1.6
SurroundScope

See where your mix lives

Two real-time visualisation modes. Pick the one that fits how you work — both are fully customisable and run on a dedicated GPU pipeline.

TRAY

Fleeting rays of light trace every movement across the room. Perfect for spotting transient motion, pans and quick spatial changes.

DROPS

Droplets of energy fall where each sound lives in your field. A dense, beautiful view of every frequency in real time.

Pro Tools · Atmos Workflow

Built for Atmos workflows

AXIS can optionally route the bed and the height layer through separate auxiliary stems. When you use it, you can work on a narrower bed, skip heavy post-processing on wide sends, and leave more room for real Atmos objects — all from a single plugin instance. Use it when it helps; ignore it when you don't need it.

Narrower beds

Keep your beds compact — AXIS handles the height layer separately. Less channels to process, more room for objects in your Atmos renderer.

Lighter post-processing

No need to process wide stems through the whole chain. Route only what each stem needs — EQ, limiting, metering — and save CPU.

Simpler sends

One AXIS instance replaces a tangle of send-return buses for beds and height. Cleaner templates, faster sessions.

Blacktone Studio

Built in a real post-production studio

AXIS was born at Blacktone Studio out of a real need: opening stereo material — often music — into immersive, quickly and cleanly, without losing the feel of the original or the stereo underneath it. We needed a tool that was fast, natural, and trustworthy enough to put our name on.

After years of development and daily use on professional post-production sessions, AXIS is now available to everyone. This is the same plugin we use on our own work, every day.

Ready to get immersed?

Try it free for 30 days. Buy when you're ready.

€199 One-time

Includes 2 licence seats — move them between machines, online or offline.

What’s new → Manual →

All 5 engines unlocked
From stereo to 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos
AAX + VST3 + AU
macOS Universal (Intel & Apple Silicon)
Free 30-day trial available

Feedback? hello@kaizen.audio

Read the manual

Everything about AXIS, from installation to the Atmos workflow.

Read the manual

Frequently asked questions

What is included in the trial? +
A free 30-day trial of AXIS Upmixer with every engine, layout and scope fully unlocked. No credit card required.
What formats are supported? +
AAX, VST3 and Audio Units (AU) on macOS Universal (Intel & Apple Silicon). Windows support is coming soon.
Which DAWs work with AXIS? +
Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, Reaper — any host that supports AAX, VST3 or AU with multichannel tracks. The auxiliary stem routing is exclusive to Pro Tools via AAX.
What are the system requirements? +
macOS 11 or later (Intel & Apple Silicon native). 4 GB RAM minimum, 8 GB recommended for large immersive sessions.
Can I really get my original stereo back? +
Yes. Four of the five engines include the Downmix Lock: upmix to surround or Atmos, fold back down to stereo, and you get your original mix back. The NULL monitor lets you verify it in real time — silence is the proof.
Does AXIS work with Dolby Atmos renderers? +
Yes. AXIS supports beds and objects routing for Atmos workflows. In Pro Tools you can send the height layer as objects directly from the plugin using the auxiliary stems.
How do I report bugs or give feedback? +
Email us at hello@kaizen.audio. Include your DAW, macOS version, session info and steps to reproduce. Screenshots and sample files welcome.
What happens after the 30 days? +
The trial ends 30 days after your first activation. Purchase a full licence to continue using AXIS.
How do licences work? +
Your licence includes 2 seats, so you can run AXIS on two machines at once. Move a seat to another computer whenever you need, and activate offline if your room has no internet.
Is there a user manual? +
Yes. The complete AXIS Upmixer manual covers installation, licensing, every control, the visualizer and the Atmos workflow. Read the user manual →