Amplitude Audio SDK vs psai

Amplitude Audio SDK is a cross-platform audio engine for games, supporting audio for 2D, 3D, and VR/AR environments. It runs on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows; Windows, Linux, and macOS are listed as runtime platforms. Project assets are defined in JSON and compiled into binary sound banks for runtime loading. Audio options include stereo panning, binaural rendering with user HRTF assets, and Ambisonic rendering. Developers can configure processing per runtime platform, including filters, room effects, and spatialization, and extend the pipeline with plugins. A MiniAudio-based default driver and MP3 and WAV decoding are included. Official integrations are listed for O3DE, ezEngine, Godot 4+, and Flax Engine. The SDK is free and open source under Apache-2.0, but it is in beta without an official release; nightly builds are for development, not production. Amplitude Studio is in early access with complimentary access during that phase; its planned free version has non-commercial and feature limits.

psai® is an interactive music engine for videogames, aimed at composers and developers creating adaptive soundtracks. Its playback logic can change intensity, recombine musical segments, pause, and respond to gameplay. The Unity edition is written in C# without native code, and the maker says it works on all Unity target platforms. The native C++ SDK is limited to Windows, with evaluation or licensing inquiries directed to the maker. The regular and Pro editions use the same Unity engine; Pro adds the standalone editor for creating projects from scratch. That editor is listed for Win/Mac and requires Music Engine Pro and Pro User Registration. Downloads include a demo soundtrack and eight free music themes. The maker says Unity use across a customer's projects has no further costs or royalties, with one copy required per company seat. However, the editor EULA limits users who have not purchased the engine through the Unity Asset Store to non-commercial editor use, including testing for future commercial use. The site also links to manuals, API documentation, tutorials, and a Unity forum.