Unofficial macOS companion for the HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless.
NGENUITY only exists for Windows; LowerX does the same job on the Mac.
- Battery, charging and headset status, with the percentage in the menu bar.
- Microphone: shows in real time whether it is muted (boom raised).
- Sidetone: on/off plus two levels, Padrão (Standard, −25 dB, factory) and Otimizado (Optimized, −12 dB).
- Auto power-off: never, 10, 20 or 30 minutes.
- 10-band equalizer with NGENUITY's official presets (Bass Boost, Bass Cut, Treble Boost, Treble Cut, Voice Chat, Gaming, Balanced) and a custom mode: drag the points on the graph.
- Spatial: stereo music and video sound like speakers in front of you (Apple's HRTF).
- 7.1 output: a virtual 8-channel sound output. Games and movies in 7.1 get each channel placed in 3D on the headset.
- Discord certification: Discord recognizes the headset, as it does with NGENUITY on Windows.
- Other HyperX devices: recognizes 56 models (159 USB IDs) and shows a photo of each. They have no controls yet.
The interface is currently in Portuguese (pt-BR). Translations are welcome!
| Device | Status |
|---|---|
| HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless | ✅ Full support |
| 55 other HyperX models (headsets, keyboards, mice, microphones, mouse pads) | 🔍 Detected with name and photo, no controls yet. Contributions welcome! |
- macOS 14.2 or later.
- HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Wireless (USB receiver
03F0:0D93). - Xcode (or the Command Line Tools) to build.
./build-app.sh # builds and installs /Applications/LowerX.appThe app is ad-hoc signed. The first time the equalizer or spatial is used, macOS asks for the system audio recording permission. The 7.1 output is installed by the app itself (it asks for the administrator password).
For the 7.1 output to play after a restart, turn on Abrir no login (Open at login) in Settings.
The protocol was reconstructed from NGenuity2Helper.exe (part of the NGENUITY 2.38 installer) and verified on the device. Everything goes through 20-byte HID reports on the vendor collection 0xFF90/0x0303, formatted as 06 FF BB <cmd> <value>:
| cmd | function | response |
|---|---|---|
01 |
status | r[4] = 1 or 4: headset on; 3: off |
02 |
battery | r[7] = % |
03 |
charging | 1 charging · 2 full · 3 error |
05 |
microphone | 1 = muted |
06 / 21 |
read / set sidetone on | |
07 / 22 |
read / set auto power-off (min) | |
0B / 23 |
read / set sidetone level (signed dB) | |
20 |
spontaneous microphone boom event | 1 = muted |
Write commands echo cmd value 01 to every connected program. The sidetone level only takes effect when sidetone is switched on, so the app turns it off and on again when the level changes.
⚠️ The sidetone level is a signed dB gain: positive values amplify a lot (0x20= +32 dB is deafening). The app only sends the two tested levels.
On Windows, EQ and spatial are DTS Headphone:X, a system audio effect; none of it runs on the headset. On the Mac:
- A Core Audio process tap (macOS 14.2+) captures the audio apps send to the headset and mutes the original.
- A private aggregate device joins the tap and the headset; its IOProc processes and plays the result.
- Chain: source → spatial (
AUSpatialMixer, HRTF) → EQ (10 biquads per channel, anti-clipping pre-gain) → headset.
If the app quits, the tap goes away and sound returns to normal.
In spatial mode, whatever is identical in both channels goes to a single center virtual speaker. Playing the same signal on two virtual speakers creates notches in the spectrum (−15 dB at 2 kHz) and makes everything sound muffled.
Driver/LowerX71.c is a custom AudioServerPlugIn driver: an 8-channel output (L R C LFE Ls Rs Rls Rrs) that only provides the clock and discards the audio. The app captures that output with the same tap and places each channel: fronts at ±30°, center at 0°, sides at ±90° and rears at ±150°. When an app sends only stereo to it, the spatial setting decides how it plays.
The app calls Discord's local RPC (127.0.0.1:6463–6472) with SET_CERTIFIED_DEVICES and HyperX's client_id, using the headset's Core Audio UID, just like NGENUITY.
Sources/LowerX/
StingerProtocol.swift headset commands and responses
HIDTransport.swift IOHIDManager
HeadsetModel.swift state and command queue (120 ms between sends)
SystemAudioEQ.swift tap + aggregate device + effects chain
SpatialRenderer.swift upmix and AUSpatialMixer
Equalizer.swift presets and filters
AudioEffects.swift when to run the pipeline, 7.1 output, permissions
DiscordCertifier.swift Discord certification
USBDeviceWatcher.swift other HyperX devices (IOKit, no input monitoring permission)
DeviceCatalog.swift generated from tools/
MainWindow.swift, LowerXApp.swift, Theme.swift, EqualizerGraph.swift UI
Driver/ virtual 7.1 output
tools/ scripts to regenerate the catalog, images and icon
| script | generates |
|---|---|
tools/extract_catalog.py + tools/gen_catalog_swift.py |
DeviceCatalog.swift, from NGenuity2Helper.exe decompiled with ilspycmd |
tools/prepare_device_images.py |
Assets/Devices, one image per model, from Assets/Devices in the NGENUITY package |
tools/make_icon.swift |
Assets/AppIcon.icns |
Improvements are very welcome, and so are pull requests! 🙌
Some ideas:
- Other HyperX devices. The protocols are in NGENUITY: decompile
NGenuity2Helper.exewithilspycmd; each device's classes live inNGenuity2.Devices.*. If you own the device, implement it, test it and send a PR. Start with reads (battery, status) before write commands. - EQ, spatial and 7.1 output for any headphones, not just the Stinger 2.
- UI translations: the interface is currently in Portuguese.
- Bugs and suggestions: open an issue.
When sending a PR, describe what you tested and on which device and macOS version. Please don't include installer files or decompiled NGENUITY code.
⚠️ Be careful when testing write commands: gains may be in dB (sidetone at +32 dB was deafening). Start with low values and the headset away from your ears.
- Product images: HyperX, from each product's press materials.
- Saira font, SIL Open Font License (
Assets/Fonts/OFL.txt). - HyperX, NGENUITY and Cloud Stinger are trademarks of HP Inc. LowerX is an independent project, not affiliated with HyperX or HP.