# kcat/openal-soft

OpenAL Soft is a software implementation of the OpenAL 3D audio API.

Repository: https://github.com/kcat/openal-soft
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/openal-soft
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-25T03:07:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 89/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 71, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4392, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 113, "gap_med": 60.5, "n_releases_24m": 7}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2730, forks 641 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:16.038941+00:00)

## What it is
OpenAL Soft is an LGPL-licensed, cross-platform software implementation of the OpenAL 3D audio API, providing spatialized audio playback with features like distance attenuation, Doppler shift, and HRTF-based rendering. It supports advanced effects via the EFX extension, audio streaming, multi-channel buffers, and audio capture across many audio backends.

## Use cases
- add 3D positional audio to a game
- play sounds with distance attenuation and doppler shift
- render binaural HRTF spatial audio
- capture microphone audio cross-platform
- stream multi-channel audio in an application

## When to choose
- you need a portable OpenAL implementation across Windows, Linux, and macOS
- you want spatial/3D audio with reverb and occlusion effects
- you need an open-source audio library with many backend options like PipeWire, ALSA, and WASAPI

## When to avoid
- you only need simple stereo playback without spatialization
- you need a high-level game audio engine with asset management
- you require a permissive license and cannot accept LGPL

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: audio-processing, sdk
- domain: cross-platform
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cpp
- tags: openal, 3d-audio, hrtf, spatial-audio, sound-api, audio, game-development, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- kcat/openal-soft (main) score 89

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:16.038941+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:14:40.918680+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kcat/openal-soft (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:16.038941+00:00, sha 6210e041be37)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.