Capturing Waves

The DirectSoundCapture object (IDirectSoundCapture8) is used to query the capabilities of sound capture devices and to create buffers for capturing audio from an input source. DirectSoundCapture allows capturing of data in PCM or compressed formats.

The DirectSound capture buffer object (IDirectSoundCaptureBuffer8) represents a buffer used for receiving data from the input device. Like playback buffers, this buffer is conceptually circular: when input reaches the end of the buffer, it automatically starts again at the beginning.

The methods of IDirectSoundCaptureBuffer8 enable you to retrieve the properties of the buffer, start and stop audio capture, and lock portions of the memory, so that you can safely retrieve data for saving to a file or for some other purpose. On operating systems that support capture effects, it also provides methods for retrieving DMOs and ascertaining the status of effects.

More information about wave capture is found in the following topics:

• Enumeration of Capture Devices
• Creating the DirectSoundCapture Object
• Capture Device Capabilities
• Creating a Capture Buffer
• Capture Buffer Information
• Capture Buffer Notification
• Capture Buffer Effects
• Using the Capture Buffer
• Writing to a Wave File