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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Initial release | March 7, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-03-07)[1] |
| Stable release | |
| Operating system | WindowsXP and later,Xbox 360,Windows Phone 8 |
| Type | Application programming interface (API) |
XAudio2 is a lower-level audioAPI forMicrosoft Windows,Xbox 360 andWindows Phone 8, the successor toDirectSound 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 onWindows XP, and through the low-level audio mixerWASAPI onWindows Vista and higher.
TheRTM release of the XAudio2library is included in the March 2008 DirectXSDK,[6] enabling a programmer withVisual Studio to use XAudio2 in a Windows, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 8 project. The latest version of XAudio2 is 2.9, released forWindows 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 is not 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]
XAudio2 provides mixing andsignal processing for high-level audio APIs such asXACT and as well provides the programmer with high-level functions related tospatial processing.[5]
XAudio2abstracts audio generation by separating sound data from "voice", allowing each voice to be filtered by programmabledigital signal processing and effects processing functions. Voices can be "submixed" together into a single stream.
XAudio2 can natively decompressXMA on the Xbox 360,xWMA on Windows 10, and variousADPCM codecs on both platforms. XAudio2 2.8 supports Windows Store App development and can be used in C++/DirectX apps.[7]
On Xbox 360, XAudio2 ships as a static library that is compiled into the main game executable. On Windows, XAudio2 is provided as a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) installed into the system folders of the Operating System. [..] XAudio2 version 2.9 ships as part of Windows 10, XAUDIO2_9.DLL, alongside XAudio2.8 to support older applications, and does not require redistribution.
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)
Microsoft does not plan to make the Core Audio APIs that are described here available for use with earlier versions of Windows, including Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, and Windows 98.