diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp b/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp
index e67d3e9153..29045195db 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp
@@ -744,56 +744,6 @@ void RageSound::SetFadeLength( float fSeconds )
 	fade_length = fSeconds;
 }
 
-void CircBuf::reserve(unsigned n)
-{
-	clear();
-	buf.erase();
-	buf.insert(buf.end(), n, 0);
-}
-
-void CircBuf::clear()
-{
-	cnt = start = 0;
-}
-
-void CircBuf::write(const char *buffer, unsigned buffer_size)
-{
-	ASSERT(size() + buffer_size <= capacity()); /* overflow */
-
-	while(buffer_size)
-	{
-		unsigned write_pos = start + size();
-		if(write_pos >= buf.size()) write_pos -= buf.size();
-		
-		int cpy = int(min(buffer_size, buf.size() - write_pos));
-		buf.replace(write_pos, cpy, buffer, cpy);
-
-		cnt += cpy;
-
-		buffer += cpy;
-		buffer_size -= cpy;
-	}
-}
-
-void CircBuf::read(char *buffer, unsigned buffer_size)
-{
-	ASSERT(size() >= buffer_size); /* underflow */
-	
-	while(buffer_size)
-	{
-		unsigned total = static_cast<unsigned>(min(buf.size() - start, size()));
-		unsigned cpy = min(buffer_size, total);
-		buf.copy(buffer, cpy, start);
-
-		start += cpy;
-		if(start == buf.size()) start = 0;
-		cnt -= cpy;
-
-		buffer += cpy;
-		buffer_size -= cpy;
-	}
-}
-
 /*
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Copyright (c) 2002-2003 by the person(s) listed below.  All rights reserved.
diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageSound.h b/stepmania/src/RageSound.h
index 902fb3bbda..45f2d4cddc 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/RageSound.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageSound.h
@@ -3,22 +3,7 @@
 
 #include <deque>
 #include "RageTimer.h"
-
-class CircBuf
-{
-	string buf;
-	unsigned cnt, start;
-	
-public:
-
-	CircBuf() { clear(); }
-	unsigned size() const { return cnt; }
-	unsigned capacity() const { return buf.size(); }
-	void reserve(unsigned n);
-	void clear();
-	void write(const char *buf, unsigned size);
-	void read(char *buf, unsigned size);
-};
+#include "RageUtil_CircularBuffer.h"
 
 class SoundReader;
 
@@ -40,7 +25,7 @@ public:
 	/* If cache == true (1), we'll preload the entire file into memory if
 	 * it's small enough.  If this is done, a large number of copies of the
 	 * sound can be played without much performance penalty.  This is useful
-	 * for BM (keyed sounds), and for rapidly-repeating  sound effects, such
+	 * for BM (keyed sounds), and for rapidly-repeating sound effects, such
 	 * as the music wheel.
 	 *
 	 * If cache == false (0), we'll never preload the file (always stream
@@ -90,7 +75,7 @@ private:
 	RageSound *original;
 
 	SoundReader *Sample;
-	CircBuf databuf;
+	CircBuf<char> databuf;
 	int FillBuf(int bytes);
 
 	/* Sound blocks we've sent out recently through GetPCM.  We keep track
diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageUtil_CircularBuffer.h b/stepmania/src/RageUtil_CircularBuffer.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4926e50b6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageUtil_CircularBuffer.h
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+#ifndef RAGE_UTIL_CIRCULAR_BUFFER
+#define RAGE_UTIL_CIRCULAR_BUFFER
+
+template<class T>
+class CircBuf
+{
+	basic_string<T> buf;
+	unsigned cnt, start;
+	
+public:
+	CircBuf() { clear(); }
+	unsigned size() const { return cnt; }
+	unsigned capacity() const { return buf.size(); }
+
+	void reserve( unsigned n )
+	{
+		clear();
+		buf.erase();
+		buf.insert( buf.end(), n, 0 );
+	}
+
+	void clear()
+	{
+		cnt = start = 0;
+	}
+
+	void write( const T *buffer, unsigned buffer_size )
+	{
+		ASSERT( size() + buffer_size <= capacity() ); /* overflow */
+
+		while( buffer_size )
+		{
+			unsigned write_pos = start + size();
+			if( write_pos >= buf.size() )
+				write_pos -= buf.size();
+			
+			const int cpy = int(min(buffer_size, buf.size() - write_pos));
+			buf.replace( write_pos, cpy, buffer, cpy );
+
+			cnt += cpy;
+
+			buffer += cpy;
+			buffer_size -= cpy;
+		}
+	}
+
+	void read( T *buffer, unsigned buffer_size )
+	{
+		ASSERT( size() >= buffer_size ); /* underflow */
+		
+		while( buffer_size )
+		{
+			const unsigned total = static_cast<unsigned>(min(buf.size() - start, size()));
+			const unsigned cpy = min( buffer_size, total );
+			buf.copy( buffer, cpy, start );
+
+			start += cpy;
+			if( start == buf.size() )
+				start = 0;
+			cnt -= cpy;
+
+			buffer += cpy;
+			buffer_size -= cpy;
+		}
+	}
+};
+
+#endif