> I have an application that uses DirectSound; it is a live-stage automation
> and control system for music and sound effects. Looking to the future I have
> begun to think about the next major revision...

> Windows Core Audio is a Vista+ API otherwise known as WASAPI. WASAPI has
> a
> high latency mixing mode plus a low latency exclusive mode.
>
> The more direct replacement for DirectSound is XAudio2 part of XACT. It
> is
> a simpler interface designed for games (playback only). You'll have to
> make the decision on which is better for your application.
>

>
> "Chris P." chrisnet.net> wrote in message
> news:1hd4epx80ceg$.aupqp7lopjr9.dlg@40tude.net...

>> Windows Core Audio is a Vista+ API otherwise known as WASAPI. WASAPI has
>> a
>> high latency mixing mode plus a low latency exclusive mode.
>>
>> The more direct replacement for DirectSound is XAudio2 part of XACT. It
>> is
>> a simpler interface designed for games (playback only). You'll have to
>> make the decision on which is better for your application.
>>

> Is the WASAPI available on XP? I need to keep the application working on
> both XP and Vista.

> I will check out XAudio2, hopefully it has some similarity to DirectSound
> API and won't be a whole new learning curve.

> It seems that WASAPI is only available on Vista.

>> I will check out XAudio2, hopefully it has some similarity to DirectSound
>> API and won't be a whole new learning curve.

>
> Is there a managed wrapper for XAudio2. Having that would make the
> transition from DirectSound to XAudio2 much simpler since I use a very thin
> wrapper on the DirectSound API in the application currently.
> Thanks,
> Sid.

> It's part of the managed XNA framework. I have not tested any of the
> managed interfaces.
>

> Thank you Chris, I have downloaded XNA Game Studio 2.0 and begun to examine
> the audio classes in the framework. What is unclear from the documentation
> is how to proceed to build an application...

> I believe there is a name space that should allow you to use XAudio2
> directly, which is probably what you want. The XACT stuff is fairly
> powerful but probably goes beyond what you need.
>
> This bit from the SDK should be a reasonable guide:
>
> "Using XAudio2 or XACT
> The Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) is a high-level
> game audio API with a rich content, designed for game developers who want
> a
> ready-made solution for content-driven game audio. XACT does not perform
> any signal processing or mixing, and does not work at the sample level. In
> contrast, XAudio2 is a low-level signal processing and mixing engine
> similar to DirectSound or XAudio. It is designed for developers who want
> to
> write their own game audio engines, or who prefer not to use a
> content-driven solution such as XACT.
> ...

>>

> Thanks again Chris, I can not find a namespace that contains the XAudio2
> APIs and everything in the DirectX SDK seems to refer to only the COM
> interfaced objects. So I guess I have gone full circle in my search, i.e.
> there appears to be no managed wrapper or namespace for the XAudio2 APIs. Am
> I correct? Are there any third party projects that would provide this
> functionality?