XAudio2

XAudio2
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseMarch 7, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-03-07)[1]
Stable release
2.9 / July 29, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-07-29)[2]
Operating systemWindows XP and later, Xbox 360, Windows Phone 8
TypeApplication programming interface (API)

XAudio2 is a lower-level audio API for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 8, the successor to DirectSound on Windows and a supplement to the original XAudio on the Xbox 360.[3][4][5]

XAudio2 operates through the XAudio API on the Xbox 360, through DirectSound on Windows XP, and through the low-level audio mixer WASAPI on Windows Vista and higher.

The RTM release of the XAudio2 library is included in the March 2008 DirectX SDK,[6] enabling a programmer with Visual Studio to use XAudio2 in a Windows, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 8 project. The latest version of XAudio2 is 2.9, released for Windows 10.[2]

XAudio2 versions have shipped for use on Xbox 360 and versions of Windows, and for as old as Windows XP using redistributable DLLs, with newer versions adding features only compatible with newer operating systems.[7] E.g. XAudio 2.8 shipped with Windows 8, and supports Windows Store apps, and isn't available for older Windows versions nor is it included in Windows Server 2012.

There are known issues with XAudio2 2.7 library that is "in the legacy DirectX SDK".[8]

"XAudio2: High Performance Considerations" (talk) supports Windows 7.[9]

  1. ^ "DirectX Software Development Kit (March 2008)". Microsoft.com. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on April 6, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Walbourn, Chuck (July 30, 2015). "Windows 10 SDK RTM". Microsoft.com. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  3. ^ Sherrod, Allen (2009). Ultimate Game Programming with DirectX. Cengage Learning. p. 283. ISBN 978-1584506201.
  4. ^ Kelly, Charles (2012). Programming 2D Games. CRC Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-1466508682.
  5. ^ "XAudio2 Introduction". Microsoft. October 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  6. ^ The XAudio 2 Beta Program is being retired! connect.microsoft.com (needs Microsoft account)
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference versions was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Known Issues: XAudio 2.7". Games for Windows and the DirectX SDK. Retrieved 2018-05-14. The XAudio2 library in the legacy DirectX SDK makes use of COM creation and reference counting for lifetime management, and a recent investigation has found a problem in this implementation. [..] This issue does not affect XAudio 2.8 (Windows 8 SDK), XAudio 2.9 (Windows 10 SDK)
  9. ^ "XAudio2: High Performance Considerations". Microsoft Download Center. Retrieved 2018-05-14.