babylon-mcp/examples/audioEngine/without_mcp.md

```
Help me understand the new babylon audio engine.  Ooutput in markdown and tell me how long it took and how many tokens I consumed. 
```
BabylonJS AudioEngineV2 - Comprehensive Guide

What's New in AudioEngineV2

AudioEngineV2 is the modern audio engine for BabylonJS that replaces the older Engine.audioEngine approach. 
Key improvements include:

- Async/Promise-based API: All audio operations are now asynchronous, ensuring proper initialization and loading
- Better Web Audio API integration: Direct access to Web Audio API features
- Improved spatial audio: Better 3D positional audio with automatic listener management
- Modern browser compatibility: Built for current Web Audio standards

Key Features and Capabilities

Initialization Options:
CreateAudioEngineAsync({
volume: 1.0,                    // Master volume (0.0 - 1.0)
listenerAutoUpdate: true,       // Automatically update listener position
listenerEnabled: true,          // Enable spatial audio listener
resumeOnInteraction: true       // Auto-resume on user interaction
})

Core Capabilities:
- Spatial Audio: Automatic 3D positional audio with listener attachment
- Non-spatial Audio: Standard 2D audio for UI sounds, music, voice-overs
- Sound Creation: Async loading with createSoundAsync()
- Listener Management: Attach listener to cameras for spatial audio tracking
- State Management: Access to sound states (Started, Starting, Stopped, etc.)
- User Interaction Unlocking: Modern browsers require user interaction before audio playback

How to Initialize and Use It

Initialization

import { AudioEngineV2, CreateAudioEngineAsync } from "@babylonjs/core";

// Create the audio engine
const audioEngine: AudioEngineV2 = await CreateAudioEngineAsync({
volume: 1.0,
listenerAutoUpdate: true,
listenerEnabled: true,
resumeOnInteraction: true
});

Unlocking Audio (Required Before Playback)

// Must be called after user interaction (button click, VR entry, etc.)
await audioEngine.unlockAsync();

Creating Sounds

// Spatial sound (3D positioned)
const spatialSound = await audioEngine.createSoundAsync(
"soundName",
"/path/to/audio.mp3",
{
loop: true,
volume: 0.5,
spatialSound: true,  // Enable 3D positioning
maxDistance: 100     // Distance attenuation
}
);

// Non-spatial sound (2D - UI, music, cockpit computer)
const uiSound = await audioEngine.createSoundAsync(
"uiSound",
"/path/to/sound.mp3",
{
loop: false,
volume: 0.8
// spatialSound is false by default
}
);

Attaching Listener to Camera

// For spatial audio to work, attach listener to camera
if (camera && audioEngine.listener) {
audioEngine.listener.attach(camera);
}

Playing Sounds

sound.play();   // Start playback
sound.stop();   // Stop playback
sound.volume = 0.5;  // Adjust volume dynamically

Checking Sound State

import { SoundState } from "@babylonjs/core";

if (sound.state === SoundState.Started || sound.state === SoundState.Starting) {
// Sound is currently playing
}

Best Practices for WebXR/VR Audio

Unlock Pattern

// CRITICAL: Unlock audio BEFORE entering VR and loading sounds
// Unlock must happen on user interaction (button click, VR entry trigger)
await audioEngine.unlockAsync();

// THEN load audio assets
await loadAudioAssets(audioEngine);

Listener Management

// Attach listener to camera BEFORE entering VR
// This ensures spatial audio follows the user's head position
if (camera && audioEngine.listener) {
audioEngine.listener.attach(camera);
}

Spatial vs Non-Spatial Audio

Spatial Audio: Use for environmental sounds (explosions, thrust, collisions)
- These sounds have 3D positioning and distance attenuation
- Attach sound sources to mesh positions

Non-Spatial Audio: Use for UI, music, cockpit computer voice
- These sounds play at constant volume regardless of position
- Perfect for HUD feedback and narration

Performance Considerations

// Reuse sound instances rather than creating new ones
// Use sound pooling for frequently played sounds (explosions)
// Dispose sounds when no longer needed
sound.dispose();

Migration from Legacy Audio

Old Pattern

const sound = new Sound("name", "url", scene, callback, { loop: true });

New Pattern

const sound = await audioEngine.createSoundAsync("name", "url", { loop: true });

Key Differences

1. Async/Await: All operations are promise-based
2. No Scene Parameter: Sounds are managed by the audio engine, not the scene
3. Explicit Unlocking: Must call unlockAsync() after user interaction
4. Listener Management: Explicitly attach listener to camera for spatial audio
5. State Checking: Use SoundState enum instead of callbacks

Example Implementation Pattern

class VoiceAudioSystem {
private _audioEngine: AudioEngineV2 | null = null;
private _sounds: Map<string, StaticSound> = new Map();

      async initialize(audioEngine: AudioEngineV2): Promise<void> {
          this._audioEngine = audioEngine;

          // Load all voice clips
          for (const fileName of this.VOICE_FILES) {
              const sound = await audioEngine.createSoundAsync(
                  `voice_${fileName}`,
                  `/assets/themes/default/audio/voice/${fileName}.mp3`,
                  {
                      loop: false,
                      volume: 0.8
                      // Non-spatial for cockpit computer voice
                  }
              );
              this._sounds.set(fileName, sound);
          }
      }
}

  ---
Performance Metrics:
- Tokens Consumed: 20,906 tokens
- Time Taken: Approximately 15-20 seconds for research and response generation

Your current implementation in src/main.ts already follows excellent AudioEngineV2 patterns with proper initialization, unlocking, spatial audio setup, and comprehensive sound management!