OpenAL 1.1 AL_MAX_DISTANCE boundary and source count limits

Goal

Determine whether AL_MAX_DISTANCE produces consistent inaudibility behavior and whether simultaneous source creation limits are portable across OpenAL implementations.

Constraints

The OpenAL 1.1 specification leaves maximum simultaneous source count and exact attenuation rounding to the implementation. AL_MAX_DISTANCE does not define a universal silence threshold, and drivers may report source exhaustion with different error codes or none at all.

Open questions

• At what distance does a source become effectively inaudible at AL_MAX_DISTANCE in OpenAL Soft versus vendor drivers?
• What is the typical maximum simultaneous source count before source creation fails on common desktop implementations?
• Does exceeding the source limit return a consistent AL error code across OpenAL Soft and proprietary drivers?