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XAudio2 - The replacement to DirectSound.

I have recently wanted to start a programming project which will involve sound manipulation on a Windows based PC. It looks like it is possible using DircetSound but as this is on it’s way out i didn’t want to spend time learning something that is at the end of its life. After a in-depth web searching session it was apparent that the new boy on the block is XAudio2 which is now part of the DirectX SDK. From my short time of reading i am under the impression that XAudio was written for the XBox360, but as DirectSound on the PC is nearing the end of its useful life and adding to that there is a need to update XAudio for the XBox, XAudio2 was born.

XAudio2 is a cross platform (Xbox and PC) sound API (Application Programmers Interface) which allows programmers/developers to be able to write programs that utilise the PC or Xbox’s sound system without having to interact with the actual hardware level of the device (like in the DOS days). From what i have read it is not an upgrade to DirectSound on the PC but a complete rewrite from the ground up.

Unfortunately at the time of writing this article i have been unable to start my project because there is a severe lack of learning resources for the new XAudio2 API. I have found that in the March 2008 update of the DirectX SDK from Microsoft there are 3 XAudio2 tutorials:

XAudio2BasicSound - Shows how to setup the engine and play WAV files.
XAudio2BasicStream - Demonstrates file streaming using asynchronous file I/O.
XAudio2Sound3D - How to use X3DAudio with XAudio2 API to play spatialised sounds and reverb effects.

These are useful, but quite limited. I am hoping the next release of the DirectX SDK will add to these.

I have also searched the web for 3rd party tutorials and even book, but at this point i see nothing that can help me learn the XAudio2 API. Unfortunatly i have to read an awful lot of tutorials and background to be able to learn something new.

Anyway here are some links to what i have found so far:

Microsoft’s MSDN pages for XAudio2.
Great XAudio2 overview at Gamasutra.

That’s about it until more learning resources and XAudio2 tutorials appear on the net.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Programming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “XAudio2 - The replacement to DirectSound.”

  1. XAudio2 - The replacement to DirectSound…

    Mircosoft is in the process of replacing DirectSound with a new audio API that is cross platform between the Xbox and PC. The new audio API is called XAudio2 and a short overview of the new XAudio2 API is available in this article….

  2. Microsoft FTL. Nice blog though mate!

  3. I am also searching about resources for the new XAudio2 API and yes, it is quite hard to find valuable learning info about new XAudio2 API but I will check out the tutorial links that you just shared here. Thanks!

  4. Great blog, subscribed to your rss feed. Thanks.

  5. I came across this blog the other day and you got some great info here - thanks.

  6. I love your site… But what’s going on - the last article you posted was written on April 18th… I hope you didn’t loose your enthusiasm!

  7. Been very busy, but will write more soon.

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