22 Jan 2026

FIR Designer & FIR Designer M v4.6 | What’s New

FIR Designer DSP design software version 4.6 is now available. This latest update includes several new additions requested by users.

A new 93.75 kHz sample rate, to support FIR filters for Hypex DSP’s, expands the list of available sample rates from eight to nine.

When designing custom DSP, the import measurement file & export sample rates don’t have to match. (i.e. you can import measurements in one sample rate, and export filters in another.)

Sort filters by frequency in FIR Designer

Filter tables can now be sorted by frequency.

Simply click the Frequency column header to sort filters in ascending or descending order on the Target, IIR Filters, Mag Adjust, Phase Adjust, Auto Mag and Auto Phase tabs.

Copy DSP settings across channels in FIR Designer M

DSP settings can be copied across channels in FIR Designer M, eliminating the need to configure each channel individually. Once your tab settings are set up for a single channel, you can use the new Copy/Paste function to duplicate all settings, or a selected subset, to any number of other channels.

Reference response loading in Second View window
View reference response on plot in FIR Designer M

Second View window now includes a tab for loading a Reference Response measurement, which can be used as a reference when designing EQ based on other measurements. The reference response plotline appears behind other plots in the ‘Second View’ window. Its magnitude can also be optionally inverted, which is helpful when trying to mitigate a response rather than match it.

FIR Designer M Release Notes | FIR Designer Release Notes
13 Jan 2026

New Video Tutorial: How to use the FIR Designer Import Tab

Measurements from loudspeakers (or other audio devices) are the foundation of the custom DSP & filter design process in FIR Designer. Correctly importing and time-aligning your measurement ensures accurate phase behaviour and optimal results in all subsequent DSP design stages.

Data from a wide range of audio measurement tools can be used in the Import tab (see all supported import file formats).

Our new Import tab tutorial demonstrates how to:

  • Manually load a loudspeaker measurement into FIR Designer
  • Adjust time alignment of the measurement to remove bulk delay
  • Get the phase response time in a range that can be used in subsequent tabs
  • Use the various settings & options available on the Import tab

This video is the first in a new tutorial series, with each video focused on a single FIR Designer workflow tab. These new tutorials will gradually replace several older tutorial videos, ensuring coverage of the full feature set available in current FIR Designer versions.

Using SMAART© Measurements?

Measurements captured in Rational Acoustics’ SMAART software can use FIR Designer’s built-in ‘Smaart Control’ dialog to send measurement data to the Import tab.

Live-stream either Spectrum or Transfer Function Smaart measurements directly into the Import tab instead of having to manually load saved measurements from a file.

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10 Sep 2025

Design Bose Professional EQ Filters in FIR Designer

Bose Professional EQ in FIR Designer Bose IIR mode
Bose EQ in FIR Designer: Bose Professional IIR Mode

FIR Designer DSP software can now be used to design and load EQ to Bose Professional Sound Processors and PowerShareX, PowerShare & PowerMatch amplifiers.

The new ‘Bose Professional’ IIR filter mode in FIR Designer v4.5 (& FIR Designer M) enables the design of custom EQ for loading into the IIR filter-based signal processing blocks (PEQ blocks) in Bose’s ‘ControlSpace Designer‘ professional configuration & control software.

The Bose filter emulation in FIR Designer ensures that common IIR filters, used to configure DSP functions for EQ, will produce consistent results when used in Bose products. Brand-specific IIR emulation is necessary for audio optimization because some filters produce different results when used across processor brands. Bose and Eclipse Audio have worked together to ensure that the Bose IIR filter mode in FIR Designer interprets filter parameters in exactly the same way as ControlSpace Designer. (Learn more about IIR brand emulation.)

The Bose Professional IIR filter mode contains options for parametric, low-shelf, high-shelf, notch and Butterworth (1st & 2nd order filters) high-pass and low-pass filters; all of which can be saved & exported as a *.peq file format for upload into a ControlSpace Designer PEQ block. (FIR Designer also contains Bose-emulating Bessel and Linkwitz-Riley filters, although those are currently not supported in PEQ blocks.)

Bose EQ Conversion

IIR filters developed for other audio brands can now also be converted for use in Bose processors and amplifiers (and vice-versa), using the IIR Reference Editor in FIR Designer. Including Bose Professional, there are currently sixteen branded IIR modes available:

(The generic mode is for use with processors without their own branded mode. Learn more).
IIR filter modes in FIR Designer, including Bose Professional
Brand-specific EQ options: IIR filter modes in FIR Designer

In addition to filter conversion between brands, a measurement (in a supported file format) of an IIR response from any processor can be loaded into the ‘Target’ tab of FIR Designer , and the Bose filters can be set to match it in the ‘IIR Filters’ tab.

Convert Symetrix filters to Bose filters
Using the Reference Editor to convert Symetrix filters to Bose
Filter loading instructions from FIR Designer into Bose ControlSpace Designer
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FIR Designer M Release Notes | FIR Designer Release Notes
2 Aug 2025

Dark Mode Added to FIR Creator

FIR Creator dark and light mode screenshots

FIR Creator users can now design custom DSP in either a light or dark themed interface.

Our popular ‘Dark Mode’ option in FIR Designer , FIR Designer M & FIR Creator EX has now been rolled into FIR Creator as part of the version 2.0 update.

To switch between light and dark themes, in Preferences, change the “Use dark mode” setting and restart the application. (This video demonstrates the same process in FIR Designer.)

Additional changes include:

  • Existing plot line color customization has been expanded to allow adjustable plot line thickness, which improves visibility of some plot colours, especially when viewed against a dark background.
  • Delay distance on the Import tab can now be viewed in either mm or inches. (This uses a new ‘Speed-of-sound’ setting within Preferences.)
  • Import tab now has a “magnitude only” option – for ignoring a measurement’s phase – and the impulse response can now be viewed out to a larger range of ±5.
  • When using a response from file as a Target, “magnitude only” and “phase only” options are now available, giving more flexibility when matching loudspeakers or attempting to achieve a specific target.
  • A manual “check for updates” option is available to access the latest program downloads, even when already using the latest version.

The latest FIR Creator update is available free to existing licensees on version 2 or above. Users of earlier versions may be able to update at a reduced cost. (Discount depends on time elapsed since original purchase; see here.)

Download a free demo to try it out!

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22 May 2025

New FIR Designer M perpetual license offers alternative to ongoing subscription

FIR Designer M new perpetual license option

FIR Designer M, Eclipse Audio’s multi-channel custom DSP design software, is now available to buy as a perpetual (one-time-payment) license for USD$979 (plus tax). Until now, all purchases of FIR Designer M were subscription-only, requiring an annual recurring payment to stay active.

Subscription vs Perpetual Licenses

A perpetual license of FIR Designer M is a one-time purchase. The software can be used indefinitely with no additional payments, however the feature set is ‘frozen’ at the time of purchase, with no access to any updates or new features. Any necessary bug fixes will be provided.

To upgrade to a newer FIR Designer M version in the future, perpetual license holders will need to purchase a new license. (Credits may be available for upgrades.)

A subscription license of FIR Designer M requires an annual recurring payment to stay active. The feature set will expand over time, as license holders receive ongoing free updates to the latest version, including all new features & improvements. We will ensure the software remains compatible with all future operating system versions.

Our development efforts will continue to be focused on regularly updating FIR Designer M to expand & improve functionality. Feature requests welcome!

FIR Designer M Info
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16 Apr 2025

FIR Designer v4.4 Adds Plot Export, Impulse Response Windowing & More

The latest version 4.4 releases of FIR Designer and FIR Designer M introduce new features which expand functionality, improve usability and accelerate the filter design process.

Plot Export

Any plot can now be exported as an image file (PNG format), with a user-defined pixel width and height, for consistency. Also, any individual plot trace can be exported to a multi-column text (TXT) file, for loading into Excel or other plotting software.

To access plot export, click the button on the lower right of each plot.

Especially useful for documenting designs and preparing presentations, the new Plot Export functionality avoids the need to use third-party screen capture software.

FIR Designer M Plot Export dialog

Impulse Response Windowing

The ‘Import’ tab in FIR Designer (or Channels>Import in FIR Designer M) now includes a windowing option for the loudspeaker measurement impulse response. Impulse response windowing can be useful to reduce or eliminate the effects of room reflections, at the expense of low-frequency resolution.

A new ‘Frequency Varying Time Window’ is available which has a longer effective window at low frequencies and progressively shortens at higher frequencies. Also available are all windowing options from the FIR filter Export tab – Boxcar, Cosine Tapered, Modified Adriene, Hanning, Blackman-Harris and Kaiser-Bessel – with adjustable start and end lengths.

When enabled, windowing is applied prior to frequency smoothing.

Windowing in FIR Designer M

FIR Designer M Windowing examples: Off, Frequency Varying Time Window, Hanning

Channel Plot Customization


Specific to FIR Designer M, plot displays can now be customized separately per channel within each tab of the channel workflow, so that different magnitude and phase traces can be visible or hidden when working on each channel.

When the “Use per-channel plot checkboxes” setting is enabled in Preferences, unique sets of plot checkboxes are tracked for each channel, and are swapped whenever the “Edit Channel” is changed. The Preferences setting and all the checkboxes are stored in the FIR Designer M system file.

This new functionality saves significant time by eliminating the need turn plots on or off whenever switching between channels, retaining visibility for only the traces that are important for each channel. (This functionality only applies to the main window and not the ‘Second View’ window.)

Per-channel plot checkboxes in the ‘Preferences’ menu of FIR Designer M

FIR Designer M Info
FIR Designer Info
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24 Mar 2025

Dark Mode Added to FIR Creator EX

FIR Creator EX dark and light mode user interface screenshots

FIR Creator EX users can now design custom DSP in either a light or dark themed interface.

Our popular ‘Dark Mode’ option in FIR Designer & FIR Designer M has been rolled into FIR Creator EX as part of the version 2.1 update.

To switch between light and dark themes, in Preferences, change the “Use dark mode” setting and restart the application. (This video demonstrates the same process in FIR Designer.)

We’ve also expanded the existing plotline color customization to allow adjustable plotline thickness, which improves visibility of some plot colours, especially when viewed against a dark background.

The latest FIR Creator EX updates are available free to existing licensees on version 2 or above. Users of earlier versions may be able to update at a reduced cost. (Discount depends on time elapsed since original purchase; see here.)

Download a free demo to try it out!

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3 Nov 2024

‘Dark’ FIR Designer Adds Support for AFMG, Storm Audio, LabGruppen IPX & Audio Weaver

The recent updates to FIR Designer & FIR Designer M go beyond the new dark interface.

We’ve introduced two new branded IIR modes – AFMG and Storm Audio – to ensure precise matching of the IIR filter behavior with the destination processor by adjusting for brand-specific differences in IIR filter interpretation. The AFMG mode is unique in modelling analog filters spec’d in loudspeaker GLLs used in AFMG simulation tools like EASE and EASE Focus.

Two new export options are also available. These include an IIR filter coefficient export option specifically for Audio Weaver (adding to the existing FIR export capability), and Direct-to-Processor export for Lab Gruppen’s IPX range of DSP amplifiers (read IPX loading instructions).

Users of FIR Designer’s ‘Supplementary Responses View’ will welcome the newly-added normalization option. A new set of loaded measurements can now be viewed in relation to the on-axis response, for both individual response plots and the polar heatmap, providing a clearer picture of the loudspeaker’s radiation pattern. All main workflow processing – gain, polarity, delay, IIR, FIR – is applied to the new measurements before on-axis normalisation is applied.

Download a free demo for macOS or Windows.

FIR Designer M Release Notes
FIR Designer Release Notes

IIR modes in FIR Designer expanded to include AFMG & Storm Audio
Supplementary responses window in FIR Designer M
13 Aug 2024

New Dark Mode in FIR Designer

In response to (many!) user requests, we’re pleased to announce that FIR Designer & FIR Designer M both now include a dark user interface theme option. It’s available for both macOS and Windows users.

Now you can design custom DSP using either a light or dark theme. We’ve also expanded the existing plotline color customization to allow adjustable plotline thickness, which is useful in increasing visibility of some plot colours against a black background in particular.

This video provides a quick demo of how to switch from light to dark mode. Download a free demo to try it out!

5 Jun 2024

FIR Creator EX Version 2 Expands Functionality

Several features previously only available in FIR Designer & FIR Designer M have been rolled into FIR Creator EX as part of the version 2 update.

Read on for the details or check out this article in Mixonline.com.

Unlimited IIR filters (increased from maximum 8 per project)

Unlimited FIR magnitude filter prototypes (increased from maximum 8 per project)

Unlimited FIR phase filter prototypes (increased from maximum 8 per project)

More brands supported for IIR emulation. New Blaze Audio, Pascal Audio, RAM Audio & RMS-Acoustics IIR filter modes have been added to the list of emulated brands, joining Biamp Tesira, Marani, Lake, Linea Research, Powersoft, QSC Q-SYS, Symetrix, & BSS). (Note, brand IIRs can be emulated but it’s only possible to convert IIR filter sets from one brand to another in FIR Designer & FIR Designer M.)

New Direct To Processor export windows for Lab Gruppen’s IPX DSP amplifiers, in addition to pre-existing Lake and Powersoft DTP export. See Lab Gruppen DTP instructions.

Customizable plot colors. Choose any colors you want across different plots, and they’ll be saved in the project file. When opening different projects, plot colours will default to any custom colours previously set for that specific project, and can be modified again at any time.

Existing FIR Creator EX or FIR Creator users are invited to upgrade to FIR Creator EX v2 at a reduced cost. (Discount depends on time elapsed since original purchase; see here.)

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