irrKlang vs Steam Audio SDK

irrKlang is a cross-platform 2D and 3D sound engine and audio library for C++ and .NET development. It plays WAV, OGG, MP3, FLAC, MOD, IT, S3M, and XM files, with both buffered and streamed playback. Its sound capabilities include 3D emulation for low-end hardware, linear or logarithmic rolloff, and effects such as echo, reverb, chorus, and distortion. Developers can use it from C++, C#, VisualBasic.NET, and Delphi.NET. Plugins can extend playback format support, and users can supply their own file readers and decoders. It does not depend on Irrlicht, so it can be used in projects without that engine. irrKlang runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is free for non-commercial products; commercial use requires a Pro license. Listed one-time Pro options start at €65 for individuals and products sold for less than €20, with higher plans for other commercial uses. Linux requires ALSA, and 64-bit systems require matching 64-bit versions. Downloads are available only to existing licensees.

Steam Audio SDK is a free toolkit for adding spatial audio to games and VR/AR apps. It renders positional audio binaurally using HRTFs to model sound direction relative to the listener. Environmental features include physics-based sound propagation, occlusion, reflections and reverb. The SDK can spatialize Ambisonics audio and rotate it with listener orientation, and developers can provide HRTFs in AES SOFA format. Multicore CPUs and supported GPUs can accelerate environmental simulation and rendering. Listed integrations include Unity, Unreal Engine, FMOD Studio, Wwise and a C API. The C API is intended for custom game engines, audio middleware and digital audio workstations, and can be called from languages that use external libraries. Supported systems include Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS; SteamOS is also listed as a runtime platform. Integration requirements include Unity 2017.3 or later, Unreal Engine 4.27 or later, FMOD Studio 2.00 or later and Wwise 2023.1.0 or later. The project describes its development tools as being in Beta. Steam Audio is available free to developers, subject to a license agreement.