QSound is the original name for a positional three-dimensional (3D) sound processing algorithm made by QSound Labs that creates 3D audio effects from multiple monophonic sources and sums the outputs to two channels for presentation over regular stereo speakers.
QSound was eventually re-dubbed "Q1" after the introduction of "Q2", a positional 3D algorithm for headphones. When multi-speaker surround system support was later added to the positional 3D process, the QSound positional 3D audio process became known simply as "Q3D".
Technology
QSound is essentially a filtering algorithm. It manipulates timing, amplitude, and frequency response to produce a binaural image. Systems like QSound rely on the fact that a sound arriving from one side of the listener will reach one ear before the other and that when it reaches the furthest ear, it is lower in amplitude and spectrally altered due to obstruction by the head. However, the ideal algorithm was arrived at empirically, with parameters adjusted according to the outcomes of many listening tests.[1]
3D positional processing like QSound, the multi-channel QSystem professional processor used in the production of pop music and film audio, is distinct from stereo expansion like QSound QXpander or SRS Sound Retrieval System. Positional 3D audio processing is a producer-side technology. It is applied to individual instruments or sound effects, and is therefore only usable at the mixing phase of music and soundtrack production, or under realtime control of game audio mixing software. Stereo expansion (processing of recorded channels and background ambience) is primarily a playback process that can be arbitrarily applied to stereo content in the end-user environment using analog integrated circuits or digital signal processing (DSP) routines.
Games utilizing QSound for home consoles typically had QSound mixing baked right into the audio files as Red Book Audio CD tracks using the Mixed Mode CD format or other various streaming audio formats such as XA audio or even ADPCM streaming tracks, as they lacked any dedicated hardware chips to perform real-time control of QSound effects.[3] These games do not make use of the QMixer SDK to provide real-time QSound audio mixing and control within the game software.
In 2003, Q3D was added to the list of components in QSound Labs' microQ, a small-footprint, performance-optimized software digital audio engine aimed at the mobile market (i.e. cellphones and the like). It enables 3D sound for handheld gaming and can be controlled in Java games via the JSR-234 application programming interface. Q3D was also available for general home use with QSound Labs' UltraQ, a hardware device that allows for the connection of various mono and stereo devices to provide surround sound-like effects with QSound 3D positional audio capabilities.[5]
Selected games using QSound
(NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, most arcade games on this list run on the CP System II (CPS-2) arcade system.)
Various arcade and home console games from the 1990s and early 2000s feature QSound processing. Notable games include:
↑White, Paul (November 1995). "QSound Labs: Right On Q". Sound on Sound (November 1995). Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
