OpenAL backend

[xystus]

I decided to give OpenAL sound a go with F-Zero GX. I got some sound crackling and figured this might help (because of the "sound-stretching latency). Well.. it did Crackling isn't completely gone, but it way less than with Xaudio.

So then I thought, why shouldn't I use OpenAL sound for every game?

Could you guys comment on that? What are the advantages of using Xaudio over OpenAL? Is it more CPU hungry, are there any games which doesn't work right with OpenAL?

[ExtremeDude2]

OpenAL is much slower afaik

[mbc07]

XAudio2 is the default backend in Windows because it's latency is much lower than OpenAL, but you end without timestretching feature (useful when your computer can't run the game 100% all of the time). You can also give a try with builds from timestretch branch, it's a little older now, but works well for many games...

[xystus]

Thanks for the info guys, explains a lot.

I've got sound-problems with the following games (stuttering, always together with framerate issues):
- F-Zero GX
- Kirby's Return

Both games run better with OpenAL (and the new Direct3D. OpenGL and DX9 are worse), so it's really a good idea to just try & see for yourself!