Beatbox
Beatbox Venue in New York City is transforming karaoke into a full-day social destination — serving food, drinks, and a deeply interactive music experience. Synervoz partnered with Beatbox to design and deploy a robust, low-latency audio platform built on Switchboard, integrating real-time lyric tracking, pitch detection, and responsive scoring.
Synervoz was involved in all parts of the stack including the UI and in-game experience, the audio software subsystem, hardware selection, and overall system performance, testing, and debugging.
Sara Goodison
CEO of Beatbox
Technology stack
Switchboard Audio Engine – modular audio processing engine.
Whisper (on-device) – Switchboard node used for lyric transcription and alignment
Unity integration via OSC – synchronized message layer
Pitch + lyric detection systems – measures how well you're singing in real-time
Audio effects + VST support – pitch shift, autotune, reverb; making you sound better
ASIO/WASAPI – low-latency hardware interface and reliability layer
Building the new karaoke engine
To achieve real time performance, Synervoz moved audio processing outside of Unity and into Switchboard, dramatically improving speed and stability.
We implemented dedicated systems for pitch and lyric detection, as well as voice effects processing systems, both optimized to minimize latency. Whisper STT was embedded directly into the audio engine and operates on-device as a Switchboard node, synchronized with game events to deliver precise lyric transcription and visual feedback.
Using OSC (Open Sound Control), the audio and game engines communicate through a tightly defined message layer — covering timing, message formats, and error handling — ensuring seamless coordination during every performance.
Advanced effects and signal processing
Beatbox’s karaoke system includes a full suite of effects: pitch shifting, autotune, reverb, and VST plugin integration, all optimized for low-latency control. Each parameter is dynamically mapped for real-time adjustment, giving singers a natural, expressive vocal feel.
Hardware support was expanded to ASIO and WASAPI, with improved exclusive-mode handling and device switching reliability — essential for consistent performance across multiple rooms and configurations.
Reliability by design
Beatbox operates in a live venue, so reliability was built into every layer. Synervoz improved fault tolerance, recovery, and synchronization to ensure the system remains stable under real-world use. Key improvements include ->
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Offline mode for continued operation when streaming services fail
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Lyric detection tuning to distinguish singing from spoken voice
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Enhanced debugging tools to trace and evidence stream issues
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Custom backgrounds for branded and sponsored sessions
The result
Beatbox now delivers a venue-grade karaoke experience with studio-quality sound, reactive visuals, and instant feedback — all running locally for uncompromising performance.
Guests can pick a song, step up to the mic, and see their lyrics come alive with perfectly timed audio and effects powered by Switchboard.
Check out more customer stories: Jamstack, Kosmi, Campground