diff --git a/src/sound/i_sound.cpp b/src/sound/i_sound.cpp
index c2478ffef..f657182ef 100644
--- a/src/sound/i_sound.cpp
+++ b/src/sound/i_sound.cpp
@@ -520,3 +520,26 @@ SoundHandle SoundRenderer::LoadSoundVoc(BYTE *sfxdata, int length)
 	return retval;
 }
 
+
+SoundDecoder *SoundRenderer::CreateDecoder(BYTE *sfxdata, int length)
+{
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+
+// Default readAll implementation, for decoders that can't do anything better
+std::vector<char> SoundDecoder::readAll()
+{
+    std::vector<char> output;
+    size_t total = 0;
+    size_t got;
+
+    output.resize(total+32768);
+    while((got=read(&output[total], output.size()-total)) > 0)
+    {
+        total += got;
+        output.resize(total*2);
+    }
+    output.resize(total);
+    return output;
+}
diff --git a/src/sound/i_sound.h b/src/sound/i_sound.h
index adce8796b..fa419cf02 100644
--- a/src/sound/i_sound.h
+++ b/src/sound/i_sound.h
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ public:
 
 typedef bool (*SoundStreamCallback)(SoundStream *stream, void *buff, int len, void *userdata);
 
+struct SoundDecoder;
+
 class SoundRenderer
 {
 public:
@@ -150,6 +152,9 @@ public:
 	virtual short *DecodeSample(int outlen, const void *coded, int sizebytes, ECodecType type);
 
 	virtual void DrawWaveDebug(int mode);
+
+protected:
+    virtual SoundDecoder *CreateDecoder(BYTE *sfxdata, int length);
 };
 
 extern SoundRenderer *GSnd;
diff --git a/src/sound/i_soundinternal.h b/src/sound/i_soundinternal.h
index b0f42913a..c0282ee6b 100644
--- a/src/sound/i_soundinternal.h
+++ b/src/sound/i_soundinternal.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef __SNDINT_H
 #define __SNDINT_H
 
+#include <vector>
+
 #include "basictypes.h"
 
 // For convenience, this structure matches FMOD_REVERB_PROPERTIES.
@@ -101,5 +103,39 @@ struct FISoundChannel
 };
 
 
+enum SampleType
+{
+    SampleType_UInt8,
+    SampleType_Int16,
+    SampleType_Float32
+};
+enum ChannelConfig
+{
+    ChannelConfig_Mono,
+    ChannelConfig_Stereo,
+    ChannelConfig_Quad,
+    ChannelConfig_5point1,
+    ChannelConfig_7point1
+};
+
+struct SoundDecoder
+{
+    virtual bool open(const char *data, size_t length) = 0;
+
+    virtual void getInfo(int *samplerate, ChannelConfig *chans, SampleType *type) = 0;
+
+    virtual size_t read(char *buffer, size_t bytes) = 0;
+    virtual std::vector<char> readAll();
+    virtual bool seek(size_t ms_offset) = 0;
+    virtual size_t getSampleOffset() = 0;
+
+    SoundDecoder() { }
+    virtual ~SoundDecoder() { }
+
+private:
+    // Make non-copyable
+    SoundDecoder(const SoundDecoder &rhs);
+    SoundDecoder& operator=(const SoundDecoder &rhs);
+};
 
 #endif