It's a new year, and it's time for me to throw out SDL_mixer in favor of a more advanced 3d sound API! What API would you recommend? I've looked at OpenAL, FMOD etc., but I'm not sure which to pick, or whether there are others worth considering. Unfortunately, choosing sound API doesn't seem as easy as choosing graphics API where there's only OpenGL and Direct3D. My requirements are: - platform independence - this primarily means Windows, Linux and MacOS *MUST* be supported. Support for console platforms is a bonus! - basic sound features - 3d sound (setting location of sound sources and listener), mixing of sound using hardware as much as possible, functions for loading common audio file formats (at least mp3, wav, ogg) - hardware acceleration - I don't know how much sound programming is hardware accelerated these days, but I'd like to use a library that is competitive enough to be possible to keep for a long time even if/when my needs for more complex sound effects etc increase. - license - preferably LGPL or less restrictive, but free non-commercial use can be ok One of the things I'd eventually like to do is create effects like they do in Call of Duty when an artillery shell lands near the player, and the sound becomes distorted and echoes etc. How much of those things can be done with hardware acceleration on sound cards these days and how would you implement such an effect in a typical sound API? [Edited by - all_names_taken on January 6, 2009 3:52:31 AM]