Audio spatializers in XR
Learn about audio spatializer solutions for XR projects.
Read time 2 minutesLast updated 21 days ago
Audio spatializers use physical characteristics of a scene, such as the distance and angle between an AudioListener and an AudioSource, to modify the properties of sound transmitted to the user. Spatialization can improve the perception that a sound originates from a specific location in a scene.
The Unity audio system supports spatialization through plug-ins built with the Unity Audio Spatializer SDK. Unity doesn't provide any built-in spatializer plug-ins itself, but several plug-in implementations are available in third-party 3D audio SDKs. These audio SDKs typically provide additional Unity components and tools for 3D audio. Refer to the following sections to understand the available third-party audio SDKs and how to enable them in Unity.
Audio spatializer reference
The following is a non-comprehensive list of third-party audio SDKs that provide Unity audio spatialization plug-ins:
Maker | Name | Platforms | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Microsoft Spatializer | Windows, Android | Spatial sound in Unity (Microsoft learn) |
| Meta | Meta XR Audio SDK | Windows, Android | Meta XR Audio SDK Unity Plugin (Meta developer documentation) |
| Qualcomm | Qualcomm 3D Audio Plugin for Unity | Windows, Android | 3D Audio Plugin for Unity (Qualcomm documentation) |
| Steam | Steam Audio | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | Steam Audio Unity Integration (Valve GitHub) |
| Vive | 3DSP Audio SDK | Windows, Android | VIVE 3DSP Audio SDK Developer Guide (Vive) |
| Google (now open source) | Resonance Audio | Android, iOS, Web | Developer Guide for Resonance Audio for Unity (Resonance audio GitHub) |
| Apple | PHASE | iOS, macOS | PHASE (Apple developer documentation) |
Some XR provider plug-in include spatializer plug-ins for an associated XR device. For example, the Windows Mixed Reality feature group for OpenXR includes the MS HRTF Spatializer plug-in. Note that these provider plug-ins don't include any additional components that might be available in the full SDK packages from their maker.
Note
Although many spatializer plug-ins were developed for use with VR devices, their use isn't limited to VR games or applications.
Enable an audio spatializer plug-in
After you have added the package containing an audio spatializer plug-in to your project, you can enable the plug-in in the project audio settings.
To enable a plug-in:
- Open the Project Settings window (menu: Edit > Project Settings).
- Select the Audio category.
- Choose the plug-in from the Spatializer Plugin dropdown menu.