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Sound Scape Explorer v14.0 Released

· 3 min read
Bamdad Sabbagh
Bamdad Sabbagh

After months of development, we're excited to announce Sound Scape Explorer v14.0 - a complete architectural overhaul with major improvements to usability, performance, and stability.

What's New​

JSON Configuration (Finally!)​

The biggest change: Excel spreadsheets are gone. Campaign configuration now uses JSON files with a modern React-based interface featuring guided workflows and contextual inline help. This enables:

  • Step-by-step guidance reducing cognitive load
  • Better validation and error messages
  • Version control friendly configurations
  • Programmatic campaign generation
  • Easier sharing and collaboration

Legacy v13 .xlsx configurations can still be imported through the new Campaign module.

Expanded Neural Network Support​

Processing now supports multiple neural extractors:

  • VGGish
  • PERCH
  • SurfPERCH
  • YAMNet
  • BirdNET
  • Music Classifier
  • Plus scikit-maad acoustic indices for traditional analysis
  • Automatic model downloading via Kaggle and GitHub integration

Multiple extractors can be concatenated in a single extraction for richer embeddings.

Modern Tech Stack​

Processing CLI:

  • Migrated to Python 3.11
  • Replaced PyTorch with TensorFlow (with CUDA acceleration for Linux and Windows WSL2)
  • New CLI flags: --validate, --auto, --cpu, --memory
  • Better handling of configuration errors and OOM events
  • Improved performance and memory management

Visualisation:

  • Spatial selection boxes for 3D filtering
  • Enhanced audio player with dynamic spectrograms
  • Better heatmap interactions for data exploration
  • Improved scatter coloring with acoustic indicators
  • Redesigned UI components

Standalone app:

  • Running all other modules: Campaign, Audio, Visualisation
  • Electron 39 upgrade with Wayland support on Linux

Quality of Life​

  • Comprehensive documentation with screenshots and video tutorials
  • Automatic update notifications in standalone app
  • Rewritten trajectory implementation with improved visualisation
  • Consistent Leq values in dBFS

Breaking Changes​

v14 uses a completely new configuration format and storage structure. Key changes:

  • Configuration files are now JSON instead of Excel
  • Storage paths and HDF5 structure have been updated
  • Python 3.11 required (up from 3.10)
  • Datasets must be regenerated with the new Processing CLI

The Campaign module includes a migration tool for importing v13 .xlsx configurations.

Testing and Quality​

This release includes comprehensive test coverage:

  • End-to-end Playwright tests for UI interactions
  • Processing pipeline integration tests
  • CI/CD automation for cross-platform builds
  • Security vulnerability patches throughout the stack

Getting Started​

Acknowledgements​

Special thanks to the research teams at ENES (Équipe de Neuro-Éthologie Sensorielle) for their feedback and collaboration throughout this development cycle.

Sound Scape Explorer v14.0 is available now on GitHub Releases and PyPI.