Case study

reAL: a dsound.dll checked against Windows and ALchemy

A drop-in dsound.dll that reimplements Creative ALchemy and DirectSound behavior, including DirectMusic pieces the README names. ./build.sh builds the DLL and runs the native unit tests. The README says comparisons with Microsoft's DLLs are line-by-line and event-by-event.

Targets: Binary
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-04

Stars: 10
Last commit: 2026-11-09
Language: C
License (GitHub): MIT

GitHub data as of 2026-11-09

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Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: ./build.sh builds dsound.dll, the tracers, the test programs, and runs the native unit tests. The README says the repository contains no Creative or Microsoft code or binaries, so a comparison with those DLLs needs the DLLs from a Windows install.
Scope: The README describes DirectSound answers checked against Windows 7, and SetFX effects it calls bit-exact ports of Microsoft's effects. It also describes an optional HRTF path. The built-in set is the MIT KEMAR measurements it credits.
Testing evidence: The README says test programs are run against both implementations and their output is compared line by line, and that offline captures are compared event by event. It names tests/comcmp.sh and tests/fuzzcmp.py.
License: LICENSE is the MIT License, copyright 2026 Neth. The README says ALchemy is copyright Creative Technology.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{real-dsound-case,
  title = {{reAL: a dsound.dll checked against Windows and ALchemy}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/PlayNeth/reAL}},
  url = {https://github.com/PlayNeth/reAL},
  urldate = {2026-11-04},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/real-dsound-case/}}
}

Plain text

reAL: a dsound.dll checked against Windows and ALchemy. https://github.com/PlayNeth/reAL (accessed 2026-11-04). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/real-dsound-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · PlayNeth/reAL · Revision b68e4d1
build.sh GitHub · PlayNeth/reAL · Revision b68e4d1
LICENSE GitHub · PlayNeth/reAL · Revision b68e4d1