diff --git a/simgear/sound/sample_openal.cxx b/simgear/sound/sample_openal.cxx
index 1fc11661..95a60775 100644
--- a/simgear/sound/sample_openal.cxx
+++ b/simgear/sound/sample_openal.cxx
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #include <stdlib.h>	// rand(), free()
 #include <cstring>
+#include <stdio.h>
 
 #include <simgear/debug/logstream.hxx>
 #include <simgear/structure/exception.hxx>
@@ -78,8 +79,12 @@ SGSoundSample::SGSoundSample() :
     _playing(false),
     _static_changed(true),
     _out_of_range(false),
-    _is_file(false)
+    _is_file(false),
+    _use_pos_props(false)
 {
+    _pos_prop[0] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[1] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[2] = 0;
 }
 
 // constructor
@@ -114,10 +119,14 @@ SGSoundSample::SGSoundSample(const char *file, const SGPath& currentDir) :
     _playing(false),
     _static_changed(true),
     _out_of_range(false),
-    _is_file(true)
+    _is_file(true),
+    _use_pos_props(false)
 {
     SGPath p = simgear::ResourceManager::instance()->findPath(file, currentDir);
     _refname = p.str();
+    _pos_prop[0] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[1] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[2] = 0;
 }
 
 // constructor
@@ -152,10 +161,14 @@ SGSoundSample::SGSoundSample( const unsigned char** data,
     _playing(false),
     _static_changed(true),
     _out_of_range(false),
-    _is_file(false)
+    _is_file(false),
+    _use_pos_props(false)
 {
     SG_LOG( SG_SOUND, SG_DEBUG, "In memory sounds sample" );
     _data = (unsigned char*)*data; *data = NULL;
+    _pos_prop[0] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[1] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[2] = 0;
 }
 
 // constructor
@@ -189,10 +202,14 @@ SGSoundSample::SGSoundSample( void** data, int len, int freq, int format ) :
     _playing(false),
     _static_changed(true),
     _out_of_range(false),
-    _is_file(false)
+    _is_file(false),
+    _use_pos_props(false)
 {
     SG_LOG( SG_SOUND, SG_DEBUG, "In memory sounds sample" );
     _data = (unsigned char*)*data; *data = NULL;
+    _pos_prop[0] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[1] = 0;
+    _pos_prop[2] = 0;
 }
 
 
@@ -203,9 +220,16 @@ SGSoundSample::~SGSoundSample() {
 
 void SGSoundSample::update_pos_and_orientation() {
 
-    _absolute_pos = _base_pos;
-    if (_relative_pos[0] || _relative_pos[1] || _relative_pos[2] ) {
-       _absolute_pos += _rotation.rotate( _relative_pos );
+    if (_use_pos_props) {
+        if (_pos_prop[0]) _absolute_pos[0] = _pos_prop[0]->getDoubleValue();
+        if (_pos_prop[1]) _absolute_pos[1] = _pos_prop[1]->getDoubleValue();
+        if (_pos_prop[2]) _absolute_pos[2] = _pos_prop[2]->getDoubleValue();
+    }
+    else {
+        _absolute_pos = _base_pos;
+        if (_relative_pos[0] || _relative_pos[1] || _relative_pos[2] ) {
+           _absolute_pos += _rotation.rotate( _relative_pos );
+        }
     }
 
     _orivec = SGVec3f::zeros();
diff --git a/simgear/sound/sample_openal.hxx b/simgear/sound/sample_openal.hxx
index 1266c249..fe3887ef 100644
--- a/simgear/sound/sample_openal.hxx
+++ b/simgear/sound/sample_openal.hxx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include <simgear/structure/SGReferenced.hxx>
 #include <simgear/structure/SGSharedPtr.hxx>
 #include <simgear/math/SGMath.hxx>
+#include <simgear/props/props.hxx>
      
 class SGPath;
 
@@ -334,7 +335,13 @@ public:
      * @param pos position in Cartesian coordinates
      */
     inline void set_position( const SGVec3d& pos ) {
-       _base_pos = pos; _changed = true;
+        _base_pos = pos; _changed = true;
+    }
+
+    inline void set_position_properties(SGPropertyNode_ptr pos[3]) {
+        _pos_prop[0] = pos[0]; _pos_prop[1] = pos[1]; _pos_prop[2] = pos[2];
+        if (pos[0] || pos[1] || pos[2]) _use_pos_props = true;
+        _changed = true;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -477,6 +484,7 @@ protected:
 private:
 
     // Position of the source sound.
+    SGPropertyNode_ptr _pos_prop[3];	// always absolute
     SGVec3d _absolute_pos;      // absolute position
     SGVec3d _relative_pos;      // position relative to the base position
     SGVec3d _direction;         // orientation offset
@@ -514,6 +522,7 @@ private:
     bool _static_changed;
     bool _out_of_range;
     bool _is_file;
+    bool _use_pos_props;
 
     std::string random_string();
 };
diff --git a/simgear/sound/xmlsound.cxx b/simgear/sound/xmlsound.cxx
index 7891bf78..fb3e7d73 100644
--- a/simgear/sound/xmlsound.cxx
+++ b/simgear/sound/xmlsound.cxx
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include <simgear/compiler.h>
 
 #include <string.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
 
 #include <simgear/debug/logstream.hxx>
 #include <simgear/props/props.hxx>
@@ -249,10 +250,27 @@ SGXmlSound::init( SGPropertyNode *root,
    //
    SGVec3f offset_pos = SGVec3f::zeros();
    SGPropertyNode_ptr prop = node->getChild("position");
+   SGPropertyNode_ptr pos_prop[3];
    if ( prop != NULL ) {
        offset_pos[0] = -prop->getDoubleValue("x", 0.0);
        offset_pos[1] = -prop->getDoubleValue("y", 0.0);
        offset_pos[2] = -prop->getDoubleValue("z", 0.0);
+
+       pos_prop[0] = prop->getChild("x");
+       if (pos_prop[0]) pos_prop[0] = pos_prop[0]->getNode("property");
+       if (pos_prop[0]) {
+           pos_prop[0] = root->getNode(pos_prop[0]->getStringValue(), true);
+       }
+       pos_prop[1] = prop->getChild("y");
+       if (pos_prop[1]) pos_prop[1] = pos_prop[1]->getNode("property");
+       if (pos_prop[1]) {
+           pos_prop[1] = root->getNode(pos_prop[1]->getStringValue(), true);
+       }
+       pos_prop[2] = prop->getChild("z");
+       if (pos_prop[2]) pos_prop[2] = pos_prop[1]->getNode("property");
+       if (pos_prop[2]) {
+           pos_prop[2] = root->getNode(pos_prop[2]->getStringValue(), true);
+       }
    }
 
    //
@@ -284,9 +302,11 @@ SGXmlSound::init( SGPropertyNode *root,
    _sample = new SGSoundSample(soundFileStr.c_str(), path);
    if (!_sample->file_path().exists()) {
       throw sg_io_exception("XML sound: couldn't find file: '" + soundFileStr + "'");
+      return;
    }
    
    _sample->set_relative_position( offset_pos );
+   _sample->set_position_properties( pos_prop );
    _sample->set_direction( dir );
    _sample->set_audio_cone( inner, outer, outer_gain );
    _sample->set_reference_dist( reference_dist );