3D sound

Learn 3D sound and distance falloff with Spatial Blend.

3D audio and Spatial Blend

The Spatial Blend property on an AudioSource controls whether audio behaves as 2D or 3D. At 0.0, audio is purely 2D; it sounds equally loud in both stereo ears irrespective of world distance.

AudioSource source = GetComponent<AudioSource>();
// Converting audio into fully spatial 3D sound
source.spatialBlend = 1.0f;

At 1.0, audio is purely 3D, panning dynamically across channels based on orientation and location.

Distance attenuation (Rolloff) curves

In 3D audio, volume attenuates as distance from the source increases. minDistance marks the radius of full volume, while maxDistance defines the outer threshold where sound drops to zero.

source.minDistance = 2.0f;
source.maxDistance = 25.0f;
source.rolloffMode = AudioRolloffMode.Logarithmic;

The Rolloff Mode dictates whether attenuation diminishes realistically (Logarithmic) or straight-line (Linear).

Exercise Print 3D audio settings

Assign "3D" to blend and "Logarithmic" to rolloff. Print SpatialBlend: 3D | Rolloff: Logarithmic to the console.

Show example solution

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string blend = "3D";
        string rolloff = "Logarithmic";
        Console.WriteLine("SpatialBlend: " + blend + " | Rolloff: " + rolloff);
    }
}

Test yourself

What should Spatial Blend be set to for distance-independent 2D sounds such as UI button clicks or music?
- 1.0 (Full 3D)
- 0.5 (Half 3D)
- -1.0 (Inverted)
- 0.0 (Full 2D)
Show answer

0.0 (Full 2D) — A Spatial Blend of 0.0 makes the sound purely 2D, ensuring uniform volume regardless of world distances.

Set Spatial Blend value

source.____ = 1.0f;

Show answer

source.spatialBlend = 1.0f;

3D audio concepts

Spatial Blend

Positional blend between 2D and 3D
minDistance

Nearest radius heard at full volume
maxDistance

Distance where sound fades to silence
Rolloff

Volume decay curve over distance

Next lesson: Grouping with a Mixer

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