SoLoud is a free, portable C/C++ audio engine for games, with a primary interface built for starting audio playback without managing a lengthy sequence of setup steps. Playback handles let developers change volume, pan, and relative speed. The engine provides multiple voices, faders, real-time filters, mixing busses, gapless looping, queued sounds, and atomic operations for groups of sounds. It supports 3D positional audio and as many as eight surround speakers. Supported audio includes several WAV variants, Ogg Vorbis, MP3, tracker formats, and emulator sources; speech synthesis and an Sfxr effects synthesizer are included. SoLoud runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and the web through Emscripten, with backends including SDL/SDL2, MiniAudio, WinMM, ALSA, JACK, OpenAL, WASAPI, XAudio2, and others. A C API DLL enables access from environments such as Python, Ruby, C#, BlitzMax, and GameMaker Studio. Its ZLib/LibPNG license allows commercial use, modification, and redistribution subject to attribution and source-notice conditions. The project notes limited engine integration and no artist tools.
Who it is for
SoLoud suits game developers seeking a free C/C++ audio engine for several desktop, mobile, and web runtime platforms. Its language interfaces may also suit developers working in environments such as Python, Ruby, C#, or GameMaker Studio.
What is good
- Free license permits commercial use with conditions.
- Supports 3D positional audio and up to eight speakers.
- Includes filters, mixing busses, and gapless looping.
- Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and web.
- Provides a C API DLL for several environments.
What to know first
- The project says it lacks artist tools.
- Engine integration is described as limited.
- It may not suit multi-million-budget console games.
- Commercial-library support is not included.
Verdict
SoLoud offers a broad set of playback, spatial audio, and synthesis features across multiple platforms. Its stated limits include no artist tools, limited engine integration, and no commercial-library support.
SoLoud plans and pricing
All plansCompared on game audio middleware
- Free plan
- Yes
- Spatial audio
- Yes
- Supported game engines
- GameMaker: Studio, RPG Maker
- Runtime platforms
- Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Web via Emscripten
- Audio streaming
- Yes
