How to Use Suru Music

Visualisation

A 3D globe displays artists as nodes positioned by their country. Collaboration links connect collaborators across regions. Clusters form when multiple artists share a location.

Audio Preview

Hover over any node with an audio preview to hear a looping snippet of that artist's music. Audio fades in and out smoothly. On clusters, the globe tries multiple sources to find a working preview.

Radio Integration

On the welcome page, the globe responds to the public radio. When a track plays, the globe automatically rotates to the artist's country and highlights their node with a green glow — so you can see where the music is coming from as you listen.

Live Badges

Artists who are currently streaming show a red pulsing ring around their node on the globe. The owner of the profile being viewed has a yellow glow with animated rings.

Controls

• •Zoom — Mouse wheel (Ctrl/Cmd + scroll), pinch, or on-screen buttons.
• •Pan — Arrow buttons or drag.
• •Rotation — Auto-rotates by default; pause or resume with the rotation button.
• •Click — Click a node to pin its tooltip and browse cluster members.
• •Maximise — Expand the globe to fullscreen mode where available.

Player Modes

• •Normal — Standard player bar with waveform, transport controls, and track info.
• •Collapsed — Thin bar showing only the progress bar, transport, title, and time.
• •Music-Only — Full-viewport mode with a large waveform and the queue directly below — a focused listening experience.

Waveform & Visualisation

• •Interactive waveform — click or drag anywhere to seek.
• •Zoom in and out (0.5x to 100x) to inspect fine detail. Keyboard: Ctrl/Cmd + ↑/↓ to zoom, Ctrl/Cmd + 0 to reset, Ctrl/Cmd + Q for max zoom.
• •Toggle between the waveform view and a real-time oscilloscope visualisation.
• •Adjustable waveform height — expand it for a more detailed view.
• •Waveform themes — change the colour scheme to match your preference.

8-Band Parametric EQ

A full parametric equaliser built into the player for real-time tone shaping:

• •8 bands (Sub, Low, Low-Mid, Mid, Hi-Mid, High, Air, and a second Low-Mid) with adjustable frequency, gain (±12 dB), Q factor, and filter type (low shelf, peaking, high shelf).
• •High-pass filter (20–1000 Hz) and low-pass filter (1000–20000 Hz) for cutting unwanted frequencies.
• •Input gain control (-60 to +12 dB) and stereo pan (-1 to +1).
• •Mid/Side processing — adjust mid and side gain independently, or solo mid-only or side-only.
• •Mono summing toggle to check mono compatibility.
• •A/B comparison — switch between two gain configurations to compare your EQ settings.
• •Auto-gain compensation (AGC) to maintain perceived loudness when adjusting EQ. Measures pre- vs post-EQ RMS in real time.
• •Toggle between 4-band and 8-band views.

Headroom Guard (HG)

Mastered audio typically has little or no headroom. Boosting EQ on such material can clip the signal internally. The Headroom Guard is a deterministic, pre-EQ attenuation system that prevents this:

• •Calculates the worst-case peak boost across all active EQ bands and attenuates the signal by exactly that amount before the EQ stage.
• •After the EQ, a proportional makeup gain restores the level so perceived loudness stays consistent.
• •Complementary to AGC — the Headroom Guard prevents clipping based on the EQ curve shape, while AGC compensates perceived loudness from real-time RMS measurement. Both can run simultaneously.
• •Toggle with the HG button in the EQ control row (HG | Active | HP | AGC). The tooltip and status line show how much headroom protection is active (e.g. "providing 4.2 dB of headroom").
• •Persisted to localStorage — your preference carries across sessions.

EQ Boost/Cut Warnings

Visual safety indicators warn when EQ settings become aggressive:

• •Per-band — Gain values turn amber above ±3 dB and red above ±6 dB, alerting you to settings that may introduce audible artifacts on loud or mastered material.
• •Panel-level — An overlay warning appears in the spectrum window when the Headroom Guard is off and cumulative EQ boost creates a headroom risk above 3 dB.

Filter Slope & Phase Display

Transparency into what the EQ filters are doing to your signal:

• •Slope labels — Each EQ band shows its slope below the gain readout. HPF, LPF, and shelf filters display "12dB/oct" (fixed 2nd-order). Parametric (peaking) bands show the actual dB/oct slope calculated from the gain and bandwidth — e.g. a +6 dB boost at Q=1 shows "4.3 dB/oct", while a narrower Q=4 shows "17.2 dB/oct". When gain is 0 dB, bandwidth in octaves is shown instead (e.g. "1.4 oct").
• •Phase readout — Hover over the spectrum analyser canvas to see the cumulative phase shift at the cursor frequency (e.g. "φ-47°"). This is computed in real time from the active EQ chain — all parametric bands, high-pass, and low-pass. It answers the question every mastering engineer asks: "how much phase shift is my EQ introducing at this frequency?"

The built-in EQ uses minimum-phase filters, so some phase shift is inherent. The phase display gives you full visibility so you can make informed decisions.

Headroom & Clipping Indicators

• •Headroom readout (HR) — Displays remaining headroom in dB before clipping, computed from the live peak level. Turns red at 0 dB or below.
• •Clip counter — Counts discrete clipping events per session (edge-detected, not continuous). Resets on track change. Displayed as "Clips: N" in red when non-zero.
• •Visual flash — The EQ panel border flashes red when post-EQ clipping is detected.

Master Compressor & Limiter

A master dynamics processor sits after the EQ in the signal chain:

• •Peak mode — Brickwall limiter at 0 dB for safe listening.
• •RNC mode — Three-stage compressor (ratio 2.1 each) for gentle, musical compression.
• •Custom — Fully adjustable threshold, knee, ratio, attack, and release.

Player Presets

Save and recall your entire player configuration — EQ, filters, compressor, volume, pan, waveform theme, and spectrum settings:

• •4 preset slots — save your current settings to any slot and load them back instantly.
• •Logged-in users: presets sync across devices. Guests: presets stored locally.
• •Presets persist across sessions so your listening setup is always ready.

Comment Presets

Share your listening settings alongside your feedback:

1. When writing a comment on a track, check "Include my listening settings" to attach a snapshot of your current player configuration (EQ, compressor, volume, theme, etc.).
2. Your comment is saved with the preset attached.
3. Anyone viewing the comment can click "Apply" to load your exact listening settings into their player — they hear the track exactly as you heard it.

This is especially useful for professional feedback — a Guru or collaborator can EQ a track and share those settings as part of their comment.

Monitoring & Metering

Professional-grade metering built into the player, updated in real time:

• •LUFS — Integrated loudness reading over a rolling window.
• •Peak (dB) — True peak level with peak-hold display.
• •RMS (dB) — Root mean square level for average loudness.
• •Dynamic Range — The spread between the quietest and loudest moments.
• •Stereo Width — Real-time stereo correlation from -1 (mono) to +1 (wide).
• •Gain Reduction — Shows how much the compressor/limiter is reducing the signal, with peak hold.
• •In/Out Level Meters — Pre- and post-compressor peak level bars.
• •Headroom (HR) — Remaining headroom in dB before clipping, derived from the live peak level. Turns red at 0 dB or below — a signal that the Headroom Guard or input gain should be adjusted.
• •Clip Counter — Counts discrete clipping events per session (edge-detected transitions to clip, not continuous). Resets on track change. Displayed as "Clips: N" in red when non-zero.
• •Phase Shift (φ) — Hover over the spectrum analyser to see the cumulative phase shift introduced by all active EQ filters at the cursor frequency (e.g. "φ-47°"). Computed in real time from the active EQ chain.
• •CPU Load — Main-thread load indicator, shown when the EQ panel is open and load exceeds 20%.

Spectrum Analyser

• •Frequency spectrum display (20 Hz – 20 kHz, logarithmic scale).
• •Fixed or auto-scaling amplitude range.
• •Persistence modes: Off, Short (decaying shadow), or Hold (freeze the spectrum).
• •EQ overlay — see your EQ curve drawn over the spectrum as a gold line.
• •Click the spectrum to set a frequency on the nearest EQ band. Drag to adjust frequency, gain, and Q interactively.

Headphone Correction EQ

Apply scientifically measured frequency response correction curves to compensate for your headphones' tonal characteristics. This feature uses the open-source OPRA (Open Profiles for Revealing Audio) database, which includes thousands of headphone models with EQ profiles from AutoEQ and community contributors.

• •Search — Type your headphone model name in the EQ panel's Headphone EQ section for fast search across 5,000+ headphone models.
• •Profiles — Many headphones have multiple correction profiles from different authors and measurement rigs. Select the one that sounds best to you.
• •Blend — Adjust the correction amount from 0% (off) to 100% (full correction) using the blend slider. Partial correction lets you dial in just the right amount of tonal compensation without going all the way to a flat target.
• •Toggle — Turn the correction on or off instantly without removing your selected headphone. The correction chain bypasses cleanly — no clicks or artefacts.
• •Spectrum overlay — When HP correction is active, up to two curves appear on the spectrum analyser (toggle visibility with the "HP curve" button):
  • —Solid line — The headphone correction curve on its own, drawn in the theme's primary colour. It shows the correction filter gains scaled by your blend amount — answering "what is the headphone correction doing?"
  • —White dashed line — The combined user EQ + HP correction curve. This only appears when both "EQ line" and "HP curve" toggles are on. It shows the total EQ shape with your manual adjustments stacked on top of the headphone compensation — answering "what does my total EQ look like?" If you haven't touched the user EQ bands, the dashed line sits right on top of the solid one (since user EQ contributes 0 dB).
• •Favourites — Star up to 5 headphones from the search results for quick one-click switching. Favourites are saved to your browser and appear as chips above the search bar.
• •Stacks with user EQ — The headphone correction runs as a separate filter chain after your manual EQ, so both work independently. Adjust your personal EQ taste on top of the headphone compensation.
• •Persistence — Your selected headphone, profile, blend amount, and on/off state are saved to your browser and restored automatically on your next visit. Presets also capture headphone correction settings.

Match EQ

Match the tonal balance of the currently playing track to a reference track from the community. The player captures the spectrum of both (current track from the live analyser, reference from the full file), builds a difference curve (reference − current), and applies it as an EQ so your track moves toward the reference’s spectral balance.

• •Search — Open the Match EQ section (MEQ button in the EQ panel) and search community tracks by title, artist, or genre. Select a reference track; the search panel stays open so you can build or change reference.
• •Build profile — With a track playing, click "Build profile". The player captures the current track’s spectrum over about 8 seconds, then loads the reference (from cache if you’ve used it before, or by fetching and analysing the file). A difference curve is computed and applied. You’ll see a success message and a prompt to try the blend slider.
• •Blend (0–100%) — The slider controls how much of the Match EQ curve is applied, from 0% (no correction) to 100% (full correction). Use the slider to blend to taste; the displayed percentage is the actual amount applied.
• •ON / OFF — Toggle the curve on or off without losing the profile. Remove (×) clears the profile and reference.
• •Spectrum overlay — When Match EQ is active, enable "MEQ curve" on the spectrum to see the teal Match EQ curve. With "EQ line" on as well, a white dashed line shows the combined user EQ + Match EQ curve (same idea as the headphone correction overlay).
• •Download with EQ — When you download a track with EQ applied, Match EQ is included if it’s on: the rendered WAV has the same parametric EQ, Match EQ blend, and master processing as the player.
• •Persistence — Match EQ profile, blend, and on/off state are saved in your browser and restored when you return.

Queue & Playback

• •Queue up to 1000 tracks. The queue persists for 7 days and syncs across tabs.
• •Repeat modes — None, All (loop queue), or One (loop current track).
• •Shuffle — Randomise the next track selection.
• •Radio mode — Infinite shuffled playback — Suru loads batches of 25 random community tracks and auto-appends more as you listen (refetches automatically at 80 %). A "Still listening?" prompt appears after extended playback. Toggle it from the transport bar; the state persists across sessions.
• •Expandable queue drawer showing all queued tracks. Click any track to jump to it.
• •Collaboration playback — Play specific track versions directly from a collaboration page. The global player loads the exact version so you can compare revisions side by side.

Keyboard Shortcuts

When the EQ panel is open, use Arrow keys to adjust gain (±1 dB) and frequency (±5%), Q + Arrow keys for Q factor (±0.1). Hold Shift for fine mode: ±0.1 dB gain, ±1% frequency, ±0.01 Q. Shift also works when dragging EQ bands on the spectrum (5× precision). Home/End for min/max gain.

Single Upload

Upload a track and add metadata — title, description, genres, DAW, license type, and sample declaration. Your track enters the processing pipeline immediately.

Bulk Upload

Upload up to 20 tracks at once. Apply shared defaults (genres, DAW, BPM, key, visibility) across the batch and optionally create a playlist from the results.

Audio Processing Pipeline

Every upload is automatically processed in the background:

Track Versions

Upload new versions of a track — each is auto-numbered. Switch the active version at any time. The full version history is preserved so you can always go back.

Project Files

Attach up to 3 ZIP files (DAW projects, stems) per track. Control visibility — collaborators only or public.

Track Sharing

Every track gets a unique share token. Share via a private player link and configure per-track settings — enable or disable comments, likes, downloads, and resharing. Reset the token at any time to revoke all existing links.

Playlist Sharing

Share entire playlists via a token link. Mark playlists as public to appear in the public playlists directory for the whole community to discover.

Embedding

Embed tracks or playlists on external sites. Get the embed URL from the share modal. Embeds include the full player with waveform visualisation, comments, and likes, and resize to fit the page.

Guest Interaction

Guests viewing shared tracks can comment (with name and email), like, and download — all based on the share settings you configure as the track owner.

Create a Collaboration

Start with a title, description, collaboration types (remix, production, mixing, vocals, etc.), genres, an optional linked track, deadline, and public or private visibility.

Join a Collaboration

Browse community collaborations and join open opportunities directly. For in-progress collabs, send a join request — the owner reviews and approves or rejects.

Accept or Reject Join Requests

As the collaboration owner, you are notified when someone sends a join request. Open the collaboration page and scroll to the "Join requests" section to see pending requests. Review each requester's profile and optional message, then approve to add them as a collaborator or reject to decline. Approved members get access to the collaboration chat, track versions, and files.

Work Together

• •Upload new track versions to the collaboration.
• •Play any version directly in the global player — compare revisions without leaving the collaboration page.
• •Share files via Suru Drive by attaching share bundles.
• •Chat in real-time in a dedicated collaboration chat room.
• •Tag your favourite version and view the full activity timeline.

Workflow Stages

Collaborations progress through: Pending (seeking collaborator) → In Progress → Review → Completed.

Find Collaborators

Browse the Surus directory and filter by skills, genres, and availability to find the right collaborator for your project.

Browse Gurus

Explore the Guru directory — filter by professional type, genre, service type, and availability, or search by name.

Book a Session

Async Feedback

Audience

Total listeners, unique countries, play counts, likes, comments, shares, listener location map, and your top country.

Tracks

Most played and liked tracks, total duration played, and average play duration.

Performance

Monthly play trends, growth rate, engagement rate, and peak listening hour.

Quality & Feedback

Average quality score, grade distribution (A–F), tracks needing attention, and professional feedback stats.

Export

Download CSV exports for audience data and track performance to analyse outside Suru.

Suru Profile

Your public artist profile showcases your bio, tracks, playlists, skills, and creative journey timeline.

Skills & Achievements

Add skills organised by facets (Production, Mixing, etc.) with 5 proficiency levels — from Beginner to Expert Teacher. Earn achievements: Explorer, Apprentice, Practitioner, Teacher, Master Mentor.

Creative Journey

A visual spiral timeline of your milestones — tracks uploaded, skills learned, collaborations completed, and achievements unlocked.

Link Tree

Create a customisable link page with social links, custom URLs, click tracking, and theme selection.

Chat

Direct messages (1-on-1), group rooms (public or private), track rooms, and collaboration rooms — all real-time. Mute, dismiss, and track unread counts.

Record Labels

Create and manage a record label — add artists with roles, associate tracks with catalogue numbers and release dates.

Notifications

Push notifications (browser), in-app, and email for chat messages, track comments, collaboration updates, bookings, feedback, likes, follows, and more. Configure granular preferences per notification type.

Profile Visibility Controls

Choose which sections appear on your public profile. Toggle visibility for pinned Wave posts, Live streams, and Drive bundles so your page shows exactly what you want.

Articles

Browse and read community articles at /articles. Filter by category to find tutorials, reviews, guides, and more.

News

Stay up to date with platform updates, feature launches, and announcements at /news.

Language

Switch the interface language at any time. Over 16 languages are supported — your preference is saved to your profile and persists across devices.

Onboarding

New to Suru? A guided onboarding panel walks you through setup steps tailored to your role — Suru (artist), Guru (professional), or Admin. Complete each step to unlock the full experience.

Profile Editing

Update your photo, bio, artist name, location, genres, and specialties from your account settings.

Two-Factor Authentication

Enable 2FA with an authenticator app for an extra layer of security on your account.

Password & Sessions

Change your password and review active browser sessions. Log out of other devices remotely for extra peace of mind.

Account Deletion

Permanently delete your account and all associated data when you no longer need it.

Marketing & Notification Preferences

Control which emails and notifications you receive — including marketing emails, product updates, and community digests.

Install as App (PWA)

Install Suru as a Progressive Web App on desktop or mobile for push notifications and quick access from your home screen.

Appearance

Toggle between dark and light mode to suit your environment.

Embed Demo

Preview how your tracks and playlists look as embeds before sharing them. Try it at /embed-demo.

Contact Support

Have a question or need help? Reach out at /contact.