diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index f841f29..d3c2cb7 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -56,37 +56,37 @@ function AudioEngine () {
 }
 
 /**
- * Load all sounds for a sprite and store them in the audioBuffers dictionary, indexed by md5
- * @param  {Object} sounds - an array of objects containing metadata for sound files of a sprite
+ * Decode a sound, decompressing it into audio samples.
+ * Store a reference to it the sound in the audioBuffers dictionary, indexed by md5
+ * @param  {Object} sound - an object containing audio data and metadata for a sound
  */
-AudioEngine.prototype.loadSounds = function (sounds) {
+AudioEngine.prototype.decodeSound = function (sound) {
+
     var storedContext = this;
-    for (var i=0; i<sounds.length; i++) {
 
-        var md5 = sounds[i].md5;
-        var buffer = new Tone.Buffer();
-        this.audioBuffers[md5] = buffer;
+    // if the format string is empty, assume the sound is a wav file and use the native decoder
+    if (sound.format === '') {
+        Tone.context.decodeAudioData(sound.data.buffer).then(
+            function (decodedAudio) {
+                storedContext.audioBuffers[sound.md5] = new Tone.Buffer(decodedAudio);
+            },
+            function (error) {
+                log.warn('audio data could not be decoded', error);
+            }
+        );
+    }
 
-        // Squeak sound format (not implemented yet)
-        if (sounds[i].format == 'squeak') {
-            log.warn('unable to load sound in squeak format');
-            continue;
-        }
-        // most sounds decode natively, but for adpcm sounds we use our own decoder
-        if (sounds[i].format == 'adpcm') {
-            log.warn('loading sound in adpcm format');
-            // create a closure to store the sound md5, to use when the
-            // decoder completes and resolves the promise
-            (function () {
-                var storedMd5 = sounds[i].md5;
-                var loader = new ADPCMSoundLoader();
-                loader.load(sounds[i].fileUrl).then(function (audioBuffer) {
-                    storedContext.audioBuffers[storedMd5] = new Tone.Buffer(audioBuffer);
-                });
-            }());
-        } else {
-            this.audioBuffers[md5] = new Tone.Buffer(sounds[i].fileUrl);
-        }
+    // if the format is adpcm, we use a custom decoder
+    if (sound.format === 'adpcm') {
+        var loader = new ADPCMSoundDecoder();
+        loader.decode(sound.data.buffer).then(
+            function (decodedAudio) {
+                storedContext.audioBuffers[sound.md5] = new Tone.Buffer(decodedAudio);
+            },
+            function (error) {
+                log.warn('adpcm audio data could not be decoded', error);
+            }
+        );
     }
 };