Getting Started with DirectX Audio

Creating your first DirectX Audio application does not require a lot of setup. Presumably you have already installed the current version of DirectX and have the paths to the header files set up in your development environment. You must also be able to link to the DirectX library files in the \lib folder. The necessary DLLs and the default DLS collection (used by the software synthesizer) were placed in your system directory as part of the SDK installation.

Apart from that, all you need are a sound card, speakers or headphones, and some sounds. Any of the following will do:

• MIDI (.mid) files.
• Wave (.wav) files.
• Segment (.sgt) files from DirectMusic Producer. Sample files are installed along with that application, and others are included with the DirectX sample applications.

For now, you can ignore the other kinds of files you'll find with DirectMusic Producer. Chordmaps, styles, bands, and DLS files are building blocks for playable segments but aren't playable themselves. Segments can also be obtained from container files, but it requires a bit of extra work to extract them.

More information on getting started is included in the following topics:

• Basic Concepts of DirectX Audio
• Basic Steps in Playing Sounds
• Building DirectX Audio Projects