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Show HN: Phantas – A browser-based binaural strobe engine (Web Audio API)

AphantaZach Sunday, December 28, 2025

Hi HN, I’m a new developer with Aphantasia (no mental imagery).

A side effect of this is that regaining focus after a distraction takes me a long time (the "23-minute lag"). I tried standard binaural beats, but I discovered a technical flaw: streaming compression (AAC/MP3 on Spotify/YouTube) often muddies the specific phase differences required for effective entrainment.

I realized that to get effective entrainment, I needed lossless audio. Since I couldn't stream lossless easily, I decided to generate it locally. I built Phantas – a browser engine that uses the Web Audio API to generate raw sine waves in real-time on the client side. This ensures mathematical precision with zero compression artifacts.

For audio it uses Native AudioContext for dual-oscillator generation (Left/Right channel split).

For visuals I pair the audio with a 490nm Cyan strobe. The hardest part was syncing the visual flash (using requestAnimationFrame) to the audio pulse without "drift" caused by JavaScript's event loop latency.

I built this primarily for myself. Subjectively, it has reduced my "ramp-up" time from ~20 minutes to about 5 minutes.

I’m releasing the generator for free (no login) to see if this works for others or if it's just my specific brain chemistry. I’d love feedback on:

- Audio/Visual Sync: Does the strobe feel tight on your specific browser/refresh rate?

- Intensity: Are the default 14Hz flickers too aggressive?

Summary
Phantas.io is a platform that provides decentralized computing services, including cloud storage, AI/ML computing, and content delivery. The platform leverages blockchain technology to offer secure, transparent, and cost-effective solutions for individuals and businesses.
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