VR Audio Comparison

Steam Audio

Challenges

  • Video resources for Steam Audio are outdated (from when it was called Phonon)

  • Requires a lot of settings changes to get audio as realistic as possible

Advantages

  • Supports custom HRTF files in SOFA format

  • Has per-object materials as opposed to per-room

  • Software kept up to date for many platforms

  • Works well with SteamVR and the Vive Headsets

Resonance Audio

Challenges

  • Per-room materials as opposed to per-object

  • Relies on more static baking than dynamic audio which increases scene complexity and lowers dynamic quality

  • Requires a few settings changes to get audio as realistic as possible

  • Does not support custom HRTF files

Advantages

  • Software kept up to date for many platforms

  • Works well with SteamVR and the Vive Headsets

VRWorks Audio

Challenges

  • Requires a long setup time

  • Software branch is quickly becoming outdated

  • Very few resources/tutorials online

  • Only supports Unreal Engine via plugin (with an unofficial Unity port with no documentation)

Advantages

  • Once VRWorks Audio is set up, everything is automatically ready for spatialized audio