BeatDrop Music Visualizer vs Plane9

BeatDrop Music Visualizer is a Windows desktop visualizer built around a custom MilkDrop2 engine. It responds to speaker or microphone audio, including sound from media players, and includes more than 10,000 presets alongside compatibility with MilkDrop.milk presets. Visual tools include custom waves and shapes, beat detection controls, transitions, shader caching, and drag-and-drop preset loading. Presets can react to mouse and keyboard input, while shaders can use FFT and waveform data as well as system time and date. It also supports synchronized LRC lyrics, a timestamp editor, and a local lyrics cache; matching lyrics are fetched from LRCLIB. Spout can route visuals to supported apps including OBS, Resolume, TouchDesigner, and Unity. On Windows 10 version 1809 or later, system media controls provide now-playing details, playback position, and seeking. The normal build supports Windows 8.1, 10, and 11; an OldOS build covers Vista through Windows 11. The free, open-source software costs nothing. Requirements include 2 GB RAM, a WASAPI-compatible sound card, and a compatible GPU.

Plane9 is a free Windows 3D music visualizer and sound-responsive screensaver. It can run in a standalone window, as a screensaver, or as a VR visualizer, with OpenVR/HTC Vive and Oculus Rift support listed. The software offers 250 scenes that can be combined into more than 10,000 views, plus 39 transition scenes. It reacts to audio from computer sources such as Spotify and iTunes and can analyze sound from recording devices. Multiple monitors are supported, and analysis can use up to 18 speakers. A studio application records videos from the visualizer, and video export is available. Plane9 is listed at free for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. It requires an OpenGL 3.3-capable graphics card; the FAQ recommends a recent OpenGL 4.0 or newer card. Audio analysis does not work with unprocessed digital audio such as DTS. Commercial use of scenes and generated content requires a commercial-use license.