Q2PRO-X 1.6 Beta 5 by ly

Q2PRO-X 1.6 Beta 5 Sound Guide

Project author: ly

DMA, OpenAL, HRTF, reverberation, volumes and online music

English edition • Q2PRO-X 1.6 Beta 5 by ly • 2026-10-10

Contents

The entries are links: click one to jump to that section.

Beta4: audio and window focus

Player-state ambient and playback priority

Q2PRO-X: detailed sound guide

1. Quick map: what Q2PRO-X currently has for sound

2. Where to find all of this in the menu

3. The base model: how sound is structured in Q2PRO-X

4. The main split: DMA or OpenAL

5. s_enable: the master backend switch

6. General theory: sample rate, format, precision, resampling

7. Settings that matter in both DMA and OpenAL

8. What exists only, or primarily, in DMA

9. What exists only in OpenAL

10. al_profile: the difference between OpenAL Q2PRO-X and R1Q2-like

11. al_sound_profile: ready-made acoustic profiles

12. HRTF: what it is and how it works

13. Binaural sound: what it is and how it differs from plain HRTF

14. Reverb / room acoustics: what it is

15. Reverb parameters: each one explained

16. Commands for OpenAL / reverb / binaural

17. al_resampler: the OpenAL resampler

18. Per-weapon and per-category volume controls

19. What requires snd_restart, and what changes live

20. Current important defaults

21. Recommended starting configurations

22. What to tune for which problem

23. Feature availability matrix: what works where

24. Relation to the built-in voice chat

25. The shortest practical cheat sheet

26. Conclusion

27. AVFX audio

28. Music

29. Item timer audio

30. Conclusion for the release's audio

Beta4: audio and window focus

The audio menu exposes all three s_auto_focus values: 0 always, 1 while visible (not minimized), 2 only when focused. The old Yes/No control did not represent these values correctly. Saved numeric preferences and volume are preserved; the separate s_mute_when_inactive override remains.

Online/adaptive audio can no longer resume a deactivated stream. OpenAL also mutes voice sources and effect tails, restores the selected volume on return and preserves manual music pause. Demo launch fades intro music before a separate demo music profile starts. Without that profile, normal background music pause/resume rules apply. Duplicate predicted/server rocket and hyperblaster impact audio and rocket/rail firing sequences have been fixed; server damage authority is unchanged.

Player-state ambient and playback priority

The sound menu adds optional health/armor ambient next to Online Music. It is off by default, has independent SP/DM switches and nine adjustable states. FLAC loops and state changes overlap smoothly over 2–3 seconds. Death keeps the critical state until respawn or level exit. Protection is estimated from armor type and available HUD information, not simply health plus armor.

Explicit online tracks and musical AVFX presets take priority. Disconnect restores ordinary autoplay. Fixed genre selection and a false Playing state while a musical preset was actually paused.

A separate Audio Assets guide lists PAK and loose-file paths, content and replacement options, including the trusted intro restrictions.

Q2PRO-X: detailed sound guide

Why this document exists

The sound subsystem in Q2PRO-X is much richer than in a “plain Quake II client”, and that also makes it harder to understand. This guide collects both the practical and theoretical sides of the current Q2PRO-X sound stack:

This document is written as a user-facing guide, not as a private developer note.

1. Quick map: what Q2PRO-X currently has for sound

Q2PRO-X currently has three sound layers:

1. s_enable 0

Sound is fully disabled.

1. s_enable 1 = software (DMA)

The classic software mixer path.

This is the traditional Quake II model: the client mixes PCM audio itself and feeds the finished stream into the system sound driver.

1. s_enable 2 = OpenAL

A modern 3D backend with spatial positioning, HRTF, a binaural layer, room acoustics, extra sound profiles, OpenAL resamplers, and a broader runtime feature set.

The current default backend in Q2PRO-X is `OpenAL`.

2. Where to find all of this in the menu

The main sound page

Sound & Acoustics

Some older base variables and music options are still reachable only from the console or the cvar reference, even though the main modern sound controls are already exposed on dedicated Q2PRO-X pages.

3. The base model: how sound is structured in Q2PRO-X

3.1 What DMA means in Q2PRO-X

In Q2PRO-X, DMA does not mean “magically better old-school sound”, and it does not mean hardware 3D.

It is the classic software path:

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

3.2 What OpenAL means in Q2PRO-X

OpenAL is a dedicated audio backend/API for spatial sound.

In Q2PRO-X it is used not just as “another driver”, but as a full foundation for:

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

4. The main split: DMA or OpenAL

When DMA usually makes sense

Choose DMA if you want:

Typical scenario:

When OpenAL usually makes sense

Choose OpenAL if you want:

Typical scenario:

5. s_enable: the master backend switch

What it does

s_enable selects the backend:

When to apply it

When you change s_enable, you will normally need:

snd_restart

Practical advice

If you are not sure where to begin:

6. General theory: sample rate, format, precision, resampling

Before the concrete cvars, it helps to understand a few basic audio terms.

6.1 What sample rate / output rate means

This is the output sampling frequency — how many “snapshots” of the audio signal are produced each second.

Examples:

The higher the rate:

In Q2PRO-X, this is controlled by:

Important:

soundinfo

6.2 What sample format means

This is how a single audio sample is represented internally or on output.

In current Q2PRO-X, the relevant choices are:

s16

Classic 16-bit PCM.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

float32

32-bit floating-point audio.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

This is controlled by:

After changing it, use:

snd_restart

6.3 What a resampler is

A resampler is the algorithm that converts sound from one frequency / representation into another.

This matters when:

A poor resampler can cause:

A better resampler can provide:

But:

7. Settings that matter in both DMA and OpenAL

Below are the shared controls that are useful regardless of backend.

s_volume

The main master game volume.

Current base default in code:

This is the overall game level on top of which narrower weapon/category volumes can later be applied.

s_khz

Requested output rate.

Common choices:

In practice:

s_sampleformat

Preferred sample format:

A good practical choice:

s_ambient

Controls ambient/world sounds.

Values:

Useful if you want less map noise without removing every useful cue.

s_mute_when_inactive

When the game window loses focus (Alt+Tab, click another window), the client can mute itself.

Values:

This is a very practical QoL setting.

ogg_enable

Enables OGG background music.

ogg_volume

Music volume relative to the master sound level.

ogg_shuffle

Random music order.

These cvars do not change combat positional audio, but they do shape the overall sound environment.

soundinfo

Very useful diagnostic command.

Use it to see:

snd_restart

The main “restart the sound backend” command.

It is needed after most major sound-path changes:

8. What exists only, or primarily, in DMA

s_driver

This selects the DMA driver.

On Windows, typical values are:

If empty, auto-detection is used.

Practical meaning:

s_mixahead

This is the DMA mix-ahead window.

In practical terms:

If the value is lower:

If the value is higher:

Practical range:

This is one of the most characteristically DMA-oriented parameters.

s_swapstereo

Swaps left and right channels.

Only works in DMA.

Useful only rarely:

s_resampler

This is the DMA resampler.

Values:

What they mean

legacy

The old, simplest path.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

linear

Linear interpolation.

A compromise:

cubic

Cubic interpolation.

Usually:

When DMA still makes sense today

DMA is a logical choice if you want:

9. What exists only in OpenAL

Everything below is part of the main reason to choose OpenAL.

Key OpenAL-only feature families

10. al_profile: the difference between OpenAL Q2PRO-X and R1Q2-like

This is one of the most important settings in the entire sound stack.

What it actually is

al_profile is not a volume control and not a quality setting.

It is a behavior / voicing profile for the OpenAL sound path.

Current main values:

Theory: why profiles differ at all

Even if both paths use OpenAL, they can still differ in:

So this is not “the same OpenAL with one different checkbox”.

It is two different voicing approaches on top of the OpenAL backend.

Q2PRO-X profile

Main idea:

Under the hood it is closer to:

In practice:

R1Q2-like profile

Main idea:

Under the hood it is closer to:

In practice:

Practical rule of thumb

If you want:

11. al_sound_profile: ready-made acoustic profiles

What it is

al_sound_profile is a curated preset layer that applies a more coherent acoustic “intent” instead of forcing the user to hand-tune every parameter from zero.

Typical logic:

Why it exists

Many players do not want to tune every single cvar by hand.

They want a reasonable overall target instead of a forest of parameters.

The current values are:

Important logic

These profiles do not govern everything. They mainly govern the acoustic layer:

And they must not override:

In other words, a sound profile is an acoustic preset, not a change of the whole audio world.

Typical practical meanings

custom

No curated voicing is imposed.

Use this if:

competitive

Typical goal:

Good when:

balanced

Middle-ground profile.

Typical goal:

Good default if:

immersive

Typical goal:

Good when:

cinematic

Even more emphasis on presentation than immersive.

Good when:

cathedral

A deliberately strong, almost demonstrative mode.

It is meant for a sense of scale rather than for honest competitive readability.

12. HRTF: what it is and how it works

Theory: what HRTF means

HRTF = Head-Related Transfer Function.

This is a model of how sound changes before it reaches your ears because of:

In plain language:

Why this matters in games

Without HRTF, headphones often still give you left/right separation, but front/back and elevation cues can be weak or ambiguous.

With HRTF:

The tradeoff

HRTF is not a guaranteed universal upgrade.

Possible benefits:

Possible downsides:

In Q2PRO-X

HRTF is controlled through OpenAL / binaural settings.

Practical recommendation:

13. Binaural sound: what it is and how it differs from plain HRTF

Theory: what binaural sound is

Binaural rendering is an audio approach that tries to present sound the way a real pair of ears would receive it.

In games, this usually means:

How it differs from plain HRTF

In everyday discussion the two often overlap, but conceptually:

So:

Why Q2PRO-X exposes both

Because different users may want:

Main binaural cvars

al_binaural

Master on/off switch for the binaural layer.

Typical values:

al_binaural_profile

Curated headphone voicing profile for the binaural layer.

The idea is similar to al_sound_profile, but specifically for headphone rendering.

al_binaural_encoding

Selects how the binaural path encodes the output.

Think of this as:

al_binaural_hrtf_mode

Controls how HRTF is selected or enforced inside the binaural path.

Typical meaning:

al_binaural_hrtf_size

Theory: what filter size means

This is effectively the size/length of the HRTF filter.

Larger filters can:

But they can also:

al_binaural_crossfeed

Theory: what crossfeed is

Crossfeed is a headphone technique where a controlled amount of left signal leaks into right and vice versa.

The idea:

Potential benefits:

Potential downside:

Practical rule:

14. Reverb / room acoustics: what it is

Theory: what reverb actually is

Reverb is the collection of reflections and late tail that make a sound feel like it exists inside a space.

Without reverb, a sound can feel:

With reverb, a sound can feel:

Why games use it

Because space matters:

Why it can be a problem

Too much reverb can:

That is why Q2PRO-X exposes both:

15. Reverb parameters: each one explained

al_reverb

Master enable for room acoustics / reverb.

Values:

If you want the simplest OpenAL path:

If you want room simulation:

al_reverb_lerp_time

Theory: what interpolation time means

When the client changes from one room preset / classification state to another, it can either:

al_reverb_lerp_time is that smoothing window.

If it is higher:

If it is lower:

al_eax_preset

Room preset selector.

Typical meaning:

Usually:

al_eax_wet

Theory: what “wet” means

In audio, “wet” is the processed/reverberated part of the signal.

The opposite is “dry” — the direct, unprocessed sound.

If wet is higher:

If wet is lower:

This is one of the most important practical reverb controls.

al_eax_local_wet

This is the wetness for local / near-player sounds.

Very useful because many players want:

If local wet is too high:

al_eax_occlusion

Theory: what occlusion means

Occlusion means a sound is partially blocked by geometry or material between the source and the listener.

Typical audible effect:

If this is enabled:

If disabled:

al_eax_explosion_wet

Specific wetness / reverb send for explosions.

Useful when you want:

al_eax_explosion_decay

Theory: what decay means

Decay is how long the reverb tail lasts before fading away.

If decay is higher:

If decay is lower:

For explosions:

al_eax_explosion_late

Late reverb emphasis for explosions.

Useful if you want:

al_eax_transport_wet

Reverb send / environment treatment for transport-like world spaces or loops.

Useful if:

al_reverb_reflections

Theory: what early reflections are

These are the first, more distinct reflections that arrive after the direct sound.

They help the ear feel:

If reflections are stronger:

al_reverb_late

Theory: what late reverb is

This is the later, more diffuse tail of the room, where individual reflections blur into one cloud-like reverberant field.

If late is higher:

al_reverb_decay

General decay-time multiplier.

If increased:

If reduced:

al_reverb_delay

Theory: what delay means in this context

This is not a guitar pedal delay.

It is the timing of how reflections / later reverb separate from the direct sound.

If higher:

If lower:

al_reverb_hf

Theory: what HF brightness means

HF = high frequency.

This controls how bright or dark the reverberant tail is.

If higher:

If lower:

al_reverb_diffusion

Theory: what diffusion means

Diffusion controls how smooth and dense the reverberant field feels.

If higher:

If lower:

al_eax_debug

Diagnostic/debug mode.

Useful to inspect:

16. Commands for OpenAL / reverb / binaural

al_reverb_info

Prints:

Very useful if you are tuning room acoustics seriously instead of turning knobs blindly.

al_reverb_reload

Forces the client to rebuild / re-snap the current reverb preset.

Useful:

al_binaural_info

Prints:

al_resampler_list

Prints the actual list of OpenAL resamplers available from the runtime.

This matters because the theoretical set can include:

But the actual runtime should always be checked in practice.

17. al_resampler: the OpenAL resampler

This is the OpenAL-specific resampler choice.

Typical values:

What these mean in practice

point

The roughest and simplest path.

Think of it as:

This is more of an experiment / fallback path than a best daily choice.

linear

Simple compromise.

cubic

A smoother and usually higher-quality option.

bsinc12 / bsinc24

More advanced sinc-like choices.

Usually:

Practical choices

If you do not want to think too much:

If you want a good high-quality but not too exotic option:

If you want to experiment with OpenAL Soft’s highest-quality path:

After changing it:

snd_restart

18. Per-weapon and per-category volume controls

This is one of the most practically useful QoL features in Q2PRO-X.

How the scale works

The menu scale is:

So this is not “percentage from zero to one hundred” in a naive sense.

It is a user-facing volume scale relative to the stock Q2PRO-X baseline.

Weapon volumes

There are dedicated cvars for:

This lets you:

Category volumes

There are also category cvars:

Practical examples

For competitive play

It often makes sense to:

For a more cinematic sound

You can:

19. What requires snd_restart, and what changes live

This is one of the most important practical sections.

Usually requires snd_restart

Usually applies live

Practical rule

If you change:

you should immediately think:

snd_restart

If you are only tuning:

the change is usually already live.

20. Current important defaults

Below are not all sound cvars in the project, but the ones that matter most for real-world setup.

Base sound defaults

OpenAL defaults

Binaural defaults

Per-weapon / per-category defaults

All weapon/category volume cvars start at:

That means:

21. Recommended starting configurations

Option 1: speakers, simple and clean sound

set s_enable 1

set s_khz 48

set s_sampleformat auto

set s_resampler linear

snd_restart

Meaning:

Option 2: general-purpose OpenAL on speakers

set s_enable 2

set al_profile 0

set al_hrtf 0

set al_reverb 1

set al_sound_profile balanced

set al_resampler cubic

snd_restart

Meaning:

Option 3: headphones, competitive OpenAL

set s_enable 2

set al_profile 1

set al_hrtf 2

set al_reverb 0

set al_binaural 2

set al_binaural_profile default

snd_restart

Meaning:

Option 4: headphones, spatial modern Q2PRO-X

set s_enable 2

set al_profile 0

set al_hrtf 2

set al_reverb 1

set al_sound_profile balanced

set al_binaural 2

set al_binaural_profile deep

snd_restart

Meaning:

22. What to tune for which problem

Problem: “it feels too dry”

Try:

Problem: “it feels too smeared / too much tail”

Try:

Problem: “on headphones I still do not read direction well”

Try:

Problem: “my own sounds are too boomy inside the room”

Try:

Problem: “explosions do not feel big enough”

Try:

Problem: “movers / loops / hum are too loud”

Try:

23. Feature availability matrix: what works where

24. Relation to the built-in voice chat

This is not the main topic of the document, but it is important:

So if you plan to use both game sound and the built-in voice path:

25. The shortest practical cheat sheet

If you want the shortest version:

26. Conclusion

The main idea is this:

Q2PRO-X now gives you two genuinely different sound worlds:

The right setup depends not on “which mode is objectively best”, but on:

If you want the least stressful setup path, the best order is:

1. choose the backend (DMA or OpenAL);

1. if OpenAL, decide whether you want Q2PRO-X or R1Q2-like;

1. decide whether you want HRTF;

1. decide whether you want room acoustics;

1. only then start polishing weapon and category volumes.

That order gets you to a deliberate setup much faster than random knob-turning.

27. AVFX audio

The AVFX layer has audio of its own, with volumes separated from the game's overall volume.

27.1. AVFX sound volumes

Menu path: Main menu → Advanced Visual Effects → AVFX Detailed Settings → Local FX & Sound → AVFX Sound Volumes

AVFX Sound Volumes

Separate child pages own the events and the contacts:

AVFX Sounds / Events & Sky

AVFX Sounds / Contacts & Wildlife

That separation lets you keep the weather visible but quiet — a frequent choice for competitive play.

28. Music

28.1. Three independent sources

Q2PRO-X has three sources of music, and they do not fight each other:

The order at launch is fixed: the intro always plays first, and online-music autoplay begins when it ends.

Details about the presentation are in the startup intro guide.

28.2. Online music

Online Music (PROMODJ)

The player has its own overlay and a separate mode for watching recordings:

Online Music / Overlay

Online Music / Demo Profile

28.3. The music buttons beside the logo

While the intro plays, small round buttons are visible beside the main-menu logo: mute the intro sound, and end it smoothly. A separate button mutes the online music. These buttons never change the stored volumes.

28.4. Music never delays the game

Loading, playing and fading music are never allowed to delay a map load, a server connection or quitting. Beginning a map load ends the intro smoothly, and the fade runs on its own without holding anything up.

An unreachable online track does not leave the player stuck: the exact address that failed to open is shown, and a bounded move to another track is performed.

29. Item timer audio

Live item timers have an audio layer of their own: a general warning cue, a per-second countdown and a separate item-respawn cue. In rich mode, phrases for specific items are used.

Every file of that layer is optional: a missing file is silently skipped and never breaks the game. Details are in the live item timers guide.

30. Conclusion for the release's audio

The Q2PRO-X audio layer has four independent parts, and it is worth not confusing them:

1. Game sound — the engine, spatialization, acoustics, volumes.

2. AVFX audio — weather, events and contacts with their own volumes.

3. Music — the intro, the online player and the classic game music.

4. Voice chat — a separate subsystem described in its own guide.

Each part is configured separately and does not cancel the others.