diff --git a/arch/include/mixmusic.h b/arch/include/mixmusic.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e1df302a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arch/include/mixmusic.h
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/*
+ * Header file for music playback through SDL_mixer
+ *
+ *  -- MD2211 (2006-04-24)
+ */
+
+#ifndef _SDLMIXER_MUSIC_H
+#define _SDLMIXER_MUSIC_H
+
+void mix_play_music(char *filename, int loop);
+void mix_set_music_volume(int vol);
+void mix_stop_music();
+
+#endif
diff --git a/arch/sdl/mixdigi.c b/arch/sdl/mixdigi.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48d5e8381
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arch/sdl/mixdigi.c
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+/*
+ * This is an alternate backend for the sound effect system.
+ * It uses SDL_mixer to provide a more reliable playback,
+ * and allow processing of multiple audio formats.
+ *
+ * This file is based on the original D1X arch/sdl/digi.c
+ *
+ *  -- MD2211 (2006-10-12)
+ */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <conf.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <SDL/SDL.h>
+#include <SDL/SDL_audio.h>
+#include <SDL/SDL_mixer.h>
+
+#include "mixmusic.h"
+#include "error.h"
+#include "mono.h"
+#include "fix.h"
+#include "gr.h" // needed for piggy.h
+#include "piggy.h"
+#include "digi.h"
+#include "sounds.h"
+#include "wall.h"
+#include "newdemo.h"
+#include "kconfig.h"
+
+#define MIX_DIGI_DEBUG 0
+
+#define MIX_OUTPUT_FREQUENCY	44100	// in 2006, we can afford it! 
+#define MIX_OUTPUT_FORMAT	AUDIO_S16
+#define MIX_OUTPUT_CHANNELS	2
+
+int digi_sample_rate = SAMPLE_RATE_22K;
+
+//edited 05/17/99 Matt Mueller - added ifndef NO_ASM
+//added on 980905 by adb to add inline fixmul for mixer on i386
+#ifndef NO_ASM
+#ifdef __i386__
+#define do_fixmul(x,y)				\
+({						\
+	int _ax, _dx;				\
+	asm("imull %2\n\tshrdl %3,%1,%0"	\
+	    : "=a"(_ax), "=d"(_dx)		\
+	    : "rm"(y), "i"(16), "0"(x));	\
+	_ax;					\
+})
+extern inline fix fixmul(fix x, fix y) { return do_fixmul(x,y); }
+#endif
+#endif
+//end edit by adb
+//end edit -MM
+
+#define MAX_SOUND_SLOTS 32
+#define SOUND_BUFFER_SIZE 512
+#define MIN_VOLUME 10
+
+//added/changed on 980905 by adb to make sfx volume work, on 990221 by adb changed F1_0 to F1_0 / 2
+#define SOUND_MAX_VOLUME (F1_0 / 2)
+int digi_volume = SOUND_MAX_VOLUME;
+//end edit by adb
+
+static int digi_initialised = 0;
+static int digi_max_channels = MAX_SOUND_SLOTS;
+inline int fix2byte(fix f) { return (f / 256) % 256; }
+Mix_Chunk SoundChunks[MAX_SOUNDS];
+
+
+/* Initialise audio */
+int digi_init() {
+  if (MIX_DIGI_DEBUG) printf("digi_init %d (SDL_Mixer)\n", MAX_SOUNDS);
+  if (SDL_InitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_AUDIO) < 0) Error("SDL audio initialisation failed: %s.", SDL_GetError());
+
+  if (Mix_OpenAudio(MIX_OUTPUT_FREQUENCY, MIX_OUTPUT_FORMAT, MIX_OUTPUT_CHANNELS, SOUND_BUFFER_SIZE)) {
+    //edited on 10/05/98 by Matt Mueller - should keep running, just with no sound.
+    printf("\nError: Couldn't open audio: %s\n", SDL_GetError());
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  Mix_AllocateChannels(digi_max_channels);
+  Mix_Pause(0);
+
+  atexit(digi_close);
+  digi_initialised = 1;
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/* Shut down audio */
+void digi_close() {
+  if (!digi_initialised) return;
+  digi_initialised = 0;
+  Mix_CloseAudio();
+}
+
+/*
+ * Play-time conversion. Performs output conversion only once per sound effect used.
+ * Once the sound sample has been converted, it is cached in SoundChunks[]
+ */
+void mixdigi_convert_sound(int i) {
+
+  SDL_AudioCVT cvt;
+  Uint8 *data = GameSounds[i].data;
+  Uint32 dlen = GameSounds[i].length;
+  int freq = digi_sample_rate; //FIXME: assuming 22 KHz for now, but Descent 2 supports multiple sampling rates
+  //int bits = GameSounds[i].bits;
+
+  if (SoundChunks[i].abuf) return; //proceed only if not converted yet
+
+  if (data) {
+    if (MIX_DIGI_DEBUG) printf("converting %d (%d)\n", i, dlen);
+    SDL_BuildAudioCVT(&cvt, AUDIO_U8, 1, freq, MIX_OUTPUT_FORMAT, MIX_OUTPUT_CHANNELS, MIX_OUTPUT_FREQUENCY);
+
+    cvt.buf = malloc(dlen * cvt.len_mult);
+    cvt.len = dlen;
+    memcpy(cvt.buf, data, dlen);
+    if (SDL_ConvertAudio(&cvt)) printf("conversion of %d failed\n", i);
+
+    SoundChunks[i].abuf = cvt.buf;
+    SoundChunks[i].alen = dlen * cvt.len_mult;
+    SoundChunks[i].allocated = 1;
+    SoundChunks[i].volume = 128; // Max volume = 128
+  }
+}
+
+// Volume 0-F1_0
+int digi_start_sound(short soundnum, fix volume, int pan, int looping, int loop_start, int loop_end, int soundobj)
+{
+  if (!digi_initialised) return -1;
+  Assert(GameSounds[soundnum].data != (void *)-1);
+
+  mixdigi_convert_sound(soundnum);
+
+  int mix_vol = fix2byte(fixmul(digi_volume, volume));
+  int mix_pan = fix2byte(pan);
+  int mix_loop = looping * -1;
+
+  if (MIX_DIGI_DEBUG) printf("digi_start_sound %d, volume %d, pan %d (start=%d, end=%d)\n", soundnum, mix_vol, mix_pan, loop_start, loop_end);
+
+  int channel = Mix_PlayChannel(-1, &(SoundChunks[soundnum]), mix_loop);
+  Mix_SetPanning(channel, 255-mix_pan, mix_pan);
+  Mix_SetDistance(channel, 255-mix_vol);
+
+  return channel;
+}
+
+void digi_set_channel_volume(int channel, int volume) {
+  int mix_vol = fix2byte(volume);
+  Mix_SetDistance(channel, 255-mix_vol);
+}
+
+void digi_set_channel_pan(int channel, int pan) {
+  int mix_pan = fix2byte(pan);
+  Mix_SetPanning(channel, 255-mix_pan, mix_pan);
+}
+
+void digi_stop_sound(int channel) {
+  if (MIX_DIGI_DEBUG) printf("digi_stop_sound %d\n", channel);
+  Mix_HaltChannel(channel);
+}
+
+void digi_end_sound(int channel) {
+  digi_stop_sound(channel);
+}
+
+//added on 980905 by adb from original source to make sfx volume work
+void digi_set_digi_volume( int dvolume )
+{
+	dvolume = fixmuldiv( dvolume, SOUND_MAX_VOLUME, 0x7fff);
+	if ( dvolume > SOUND_MAX_VOLUME )
+		digi_volume = SOUND_MAX_VOLUME;
+	else if ( dvolume < 0 )
+		digi_volume = 0;
+	else
+		digi_volume = dvolume;
+
+	if ( !digi_initialised ) return;
+
+	digi_sync_sounds();
+}
+//end edit by adb
+
+void digi_set_volume( int dvolume, int mvolume ) {
+  digi_set_digi_volume(dvolume);
+  digi_set_midi_volume(mvolume);
+}
+
+
+int digi_find_channel(int soundno) { return 0; }
+int digi_is_sound_playing(int soundno) { return 0; }
+int digi_is_channel_playing(int channel) { return 0; }
+
+void digi_reset() {}
+void digi_stop_all_channels() {}
+
+extern void digi_end_soundobj(int channel);	
+int verify_sound_channel_free(int channel);
+
+ //added on 980905 by adb to make sound channel setting work
+void digi_set_max_channels(int n) { }
+int digi_get_max_channels() { return digi_max_channels; }
+// end edit by adb
+
+
+// MIDI stuff follows.
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+void digi_set_midi_volume( int mvolume ) { 
+  mix_set_music_volume(mvolume);
+}
+void digi_play_midi_song( char * filename, char * melodic_bank, char * drum_bank, int loop ) {
+  mix_play_music(filename, loop);
+}
+void digi_stop_current_song() {
+  mix_stop_music();
+}
+#endif
+
+void digi_pause_midi() {}
+void digi_resume_midi() {}
+
+#ifndef NDEBUG
+void digi_debug() {}
+#endif
diff --git a/arch/sdl/mixmusic.c b/arch/sdl/mixmusic.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6abc1a7ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arch/sdl/mixmusic.c
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+/*
+ * This is an alternate backend for the music system.
+ * It uses SDL_mixer to provide a more reliable playback,
+ * and allow processing of multiple audio formats.
+ *
+ *  -- MD2211 (2006-04-24)
+ */
+
+#include <SDL/SDL.h>
+#include <SDL/SDL_mixer.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#include "args.h"
+#include "hmp2mid.h"
+#include "cfile.h"
+
+#define MIX_MUSIC_DEBUG 1
+#define MUSIC_FADE_TIME 500 //milliseconds
+#define MUSIC_EXTENSION_ARG "-music_ext"
+
+#define DESCENT_DATA_PATH "" //FIXME: we need PhysFS
+
+Mix_Music *current_music = NULL;
+
+void music_done() {
+  Mix_HaltMusic();
+  Mix_FreeMusic(current_music);
+  current_music = NULL;
+}
+
+void convert_hmp(char *filename, char *mid_filename) {
+
+  if (access(mid_filename, R_OK) != 0) {
+    if (MIX_MUSIC_DEBUG) printf("convert_hmp: converting %s to %s\n", filename, mid_filename);
+
+    const char *err;
+    CFILE *hmp_in;
+    FILE *mid_out = fopen(mid_filename, "w");
+
+    if (!mid_out) {
+      fprintf(stderr, "Error could not open: %s for writing: %s\n", mid_filename, strerror(errno));
+      return;
+    }
+
+    hmp_in = cfopen(filename, "rb");
+
+    if (!hmp_in) {
+      fprintf(stderr, "Error could not open: %s\n", filename);
+      fclose(mid_out);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    err = hmp2mid((hmp2mid_read_func_t) cfread, hmp_in, mid_out);
+
+    fclose(mid_out);
+    cfclose(hmp_in);
+
+    if (err) {
+      fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", err);
+      unlink(mid_filename);
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+  else {
+    if (MIX_MUSIC_DEBUG) printf("convert_hmp: %s already exists\n", mid_filename);
+  }
+}
+
+void mix_play_music(char *filename, int loop) {
+
+  loop *= -1; 
+  int i, t, got_end=0;
+  int fn_buf_len = strlen(DESCENT_DATA_PATH) + strlen(filename) + 16;
+
+  char real_filename[fn_buf_len];
+  char midi_filename[16];
+  char music_title[16];
+  char music_file_extension[8];
+
+  // Quick hack to filter out the .hmp extension
+  for (i=0; !got_end; i++) {
+    switch (filename[i]) {
+    case '.':
+    case '\0':
+      music_title[i] = '\0';
+      got_end = 1;
+      break;
+    default:
+      music_title[i] = filename[i];
+    }
+  }
+
+  // What is the extension of external files? If none, default to internal MIDI
+  t = FindArg(MUSIC_EXTENSION_ARG);
+  if (t > 0) {
+    sprintf(music_file_extension, "%.3s", Args[t+1]);
+    // Building absolute path to the file
+    sprintf(real_filename, "%s%s.%s", DESCENT_DATA_PATH, music_title, music_file_extension);
+  }
+  else {
+    sprintf(midi_filename, "%s.mid", music_title);
+    convert_hmp(filename, midi_filename);
+    // Relative path for now (we're using $HOME/.d1x-rebirth/ as working dir)
+    strcpy(real_filename, midi_filename);
+  }
+
+  if ((current_music = Mix_LoadMUS(real_filename))) {
+    printf("Now playing: %s\n", real_filename);
+    if (Mix_PlayingMusic()) {
+      // Fade-in effect sounds cleaner if we're already playing something
+      Mix_FadeInMusic(current_music, loop, MUSIC_FADE_TIME);
+    }
+    else {
+      Mix_PlayMusic(current_music, loop);
+    }
+    Mix_HookMusicFinished(music_done);
+  }
+  else {
+    printf("Music %s could not be loaded\n", real_filename);
+    Mix_HaltMusic();
+  }
+}
+
+void mix_set_music_volume(int vol) {
+  Mix_VolumeMusic(vol);
+}
+
+void mix_stop_music() {
+  Mix_HaltMusic();
+}