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.
Electronic Arts, Activision, Microsoft Game Studios, Sega, Virgin Interactive, TDK Mediactive, Bullfrog Productions, and Lionhead Studios have also used the technology, mostly through the use of the QMixer software development kit to implement audio positioning, mixing and control directly in the game software.
[2] Later versions of QMixer added support for 3D-accelerated hardware through the low-level Microsoft DirectSound3D Application Programming Interface.
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).
Some notable examples include: QSound won Electronic Entertainment's 1993 "Most Promising" award; the editors called it the "hottest new audio technology around".