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Pixx Suite

Enhance · Retro sound & SFX generator · Beginner

Pixxibu — getting started and how-tos

Make retro game sound effects in seconds — coins, jumps, lasers, explosions and 25 spell-element kits — then shape them and export WAV.

Open Pixxibu

#What Pixxibu is for

Pixxibu makes 8-bit and retro-style sound effects for games: coin pickups, jumps, lasers, hits, explosions, power-ups, menu blips and magic spells. One click gives you a fresh sound, and sliders let you shape it until it fits. There are also 25 ready-made spell kits (Frost, Fire, Storm, Shadow and more), each with ten sounds for casting, impacts, buffs and big ultimates.

No audio experience is needed: click, listen, tweak, export.

#Your first sound in 5 minutes

  1. Open Pixxibu. A coin sound is loaded; click the waveform or press Space to hear it.
  2. In Presets on the left, click Laser / shoot. A new laser sound is generated and played.
  3. Don't like it? Click Laser / shoot again for another variation, or click Mutate in the options bar to nudge the current sound slightly.
  4. In the right panel, drag Decay under Envelope to make the sound longer or shorter.
  5. Click Export, keep 16-bit and 44.1 kHz, and click Download WAV.
Pixxibu with the waveform in the middle and settings on the right
Pixxibu with the waveform in the middle and settings on the right

#How-tos

#How to make a sound from a preset

  1. In Presets, click Pickup / coin, Laser / shoot, Explosion, Power-up, Hit / hurt, Jump, Blip / select, Spell / magic or Random.
  2. Every click makes a new variation. With Auto-play ticked, it plays straight away.
  3. The History list remembers your last 20 sounds; click one to bring it back.
  4. The Seed box shows the number behind the sound. Type the same seed later to get exactly the same sound again.

#How to use the spell kits

  1. Scroll the left panel down to Spell kits.
  2. Pick an element: Frost, Fire, Water, Earth, Storm, Wind, Death, Chaos, Cosmic, Light, Poison, Divine, Frostfire, Smog, Eldritch, Blood, Prism, Shadow, Psychic, Demonic, Nature, Dream, Glitch, Music or Time. A short line describes its character, for example "Electric zaps, buzzing arcs and thunder cracks" for Storm.
  3. Click a role to load and hear it: Cast / charge, Projectile / whoosh, Impact, Burst / nova, Channel loop, Debuff apply, Debuff tick, Buff / boon, Heal or Ultimate.
  4. Click 🎲 next to a role for a variation, or ☆ to save it to Favourites.
  5. A loaded kit sound is fully editable, just like any other sound.
The Spell kits list with the Storm element selected
The Spell kits list with the Storm element selected

#How to shape a sound

The right panel groups the settings. Double-click any slider to reset it.

  • Wave: the basic tone. Square is classic 8-bit, Saw is buzzy, Sine is soft, Noise is for explosions and hits, Triangle is mellow, Breaker is metallic.
  • Envelope: Attack (fade in), Sustain (hold), Punch (a loud start) and Decay (fade out) set the length and shape.
  • Pitch: Start pitch, plus Slide and Delta slide to make it rise or fall, as in a jump or a laser.
  • Vibrato & arpeggio: wobble, or quick note steps for a power-up jingle.
  • Filters: low-pass and high-pass make a sound duller or thinner.
  • Effects: Repeat speed, phaser and tremolo.
  • Volume sits in the Wave section.

#How to add layer effects

  1. Open Layer effects in the right panel.
  2. Use Pitch shift (semitones), Ring-mod depth and Ring-mod pitch (metallic tones), Drive (saturation), Bitcrush and Sample-rate crush (lo-fi), Stutter and Stutter length, Reverse, and Echo mix, Echo time and Echo feedback.
  3. Tick Seamless loop (whole sound) for sounds that repeat, such as a charging beam.
The Layer effects section
The Layer effects section

#How to layer several sounds

  1. Click + Layer under the waveform to add a second sound, or As a new layer under Presets to add a preset as a layer.
  2. Each layer has its own settings. Click its tab under the waveform to edit it.
  3. Use Layer gain to balance the volume and Starts at to delay a layer, such as an explosion's rumble after the initial crack.
  4. The M (mute) and S (solo) buttons on each layer tab help you listen to parts separately. You can mix up to 4 layers.

#Exporting and sharing

Click Export (Ctrl+S) to open Export sound:

  • Format: 16-bit or 8-bit, 44.1 kHz or 22.05 kHz. 16-bit at 44.1 kHz suits most games.
  • Normalize makes the sound as loud as possible without distortion.
  • Download WAV saves the sound.
  • Batch variations creates a zip of slightly different versions, which is great for footsteps, coins or hits that shouldn't sound identical every time. Set How many and Change, then click Download ZIP.
  • Settings saves the sound's recipe as a Pixxibu .json, or as a jsfxr .json that works in the jsfxr tool.
The Export sound window
The Export sound window

Open loads Pixxibu or jsfxr settings files and WAV files. A WAV you open can be played and exported, but not edited with the sliders. Save keeps a project, Cloud saves it to your account, and Send to App or Library shares the sound through your Pixx library.

#Tips and shortcuts

  • Space play and stop · M mutate · Ctrl+O open · Ctrl+S export · Esc close windows.
  • Click anywhere on the waveform to play.
  • Short, punchy sounds usually work best in games: keep Decay low for UI blips and hits.
  • Your sound saves on this device automatically.

#Troubleshooting

  • If you hear nothing, click once anywhere on the page first (browsers only allow sound after a click), and check your device volume.
  • If a sound is too quiet, tick Normalize in the export window or raise Volume.
  • If a sound clips or crackles, lower Drive or the layer gains.
  • If a loop clicks when repeating, tick Seamless loop (whole sound) under Layer effects.