Microsoft DirectX 9.0

Using WAV Data

Under the Windows driver model (WDM), DirectSound hardware buffers can play any uncompressed or compressed sound format that can be described in a WAVEFORMATEX or WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE structure, provided the format is supported by the hardware. Software buffers and non-WDM hardware buffers support only 8-bit and 16-bit uncompressed formats.

Waveform (or WAV) data is usually stored in files or resources in Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). The data includes a description of the WAV format, including parameters such as the sampling rate and number of output channels.

More information on WAV sounds is included in the following topics: