Virtual Device Driver vs Hardware Device Driver

[JBP]

All virtual audio drivers I know, can be identified as virtual.
Initially I thought all relies on the concept that any virtual audio driver must be based on a faked audio hardware in the system.
Now it seems as if virtual audio drivers exist in their own category!?

Some software for example the old SRS Audio Sandbox refuse to accept any kind of virtual driver.
Ok, in its readme you can find the information that only PCI-based (and PCMCIA) sound cards are supported.
But NVIDIA HDMI audio driver works (though it is not PCI-based - at least in my definition).

VAC by Eugene Muzychenko (and its Breakaway Pipeline clones), VB Virtual Audio Cable, VAIO, Bongiovi DPS, Spatial Sound Card,… whatever, all cannot be used in SRS Audio Sandbox (2008).

Obviously this cannot be based on blacklisting like in Breakaway Enhancer (drivers that did not exist in 2008 cannot be blacklisted then). The Sandbox and other programs can (somehow?) identify if an audio driver is for real hardware or virtual.

So my question is:

Would it be possible to create a virtual audio driver (PCI-based?) that cannot be distinguished from real hardware audio drivers?
Or would it be illegal to create and publish it?

[JBP]

Sorry, I have to ask again and pull this thread to the top, because I guess it was overlooked between Christmas and New Year.

Please, I desperately want to know the difference.


All virtual audio drivers I know, can be identified as virtual.
Initially I thought all relies on the concept that any virtual audio driver must be based on a faked audio hardware in the system.
Now it seems as if virtual audio drivers exist in their own category!?

Some software for example the old SRS Audio Sandbox refuse to accept any kind of virtual driver.
Ok, in its readme you can find the information that only PCI-based (and PCMCIA) sound cards are supported.
But NVIDIA HDMI audio driver works (though it is not PCI-based - at least in my definition).

VAC by Eugene Muzychenko (and its Breakaway Pipeline clones), VB Virtual Audio Cable, VAIO, Bongiovi DPS, Spatial Sound Card,… whatever, all cannot be used in SRS Audio Sandbox (2008).

Obviously this cannot be based on blacklisting like in Breakaway Enhancer (drivers that did not exist in 2008 cannot be blacklisted then). The Sandbox and other programs can (somehow?) identify if an audio driver is for real hardware or virtual.

So my question is:

Would it be possible to create a virtual audio driver (PCI-based?) that cannot be distinguished from real hardware audio drivers?
Or would it be illegal to create and publish it?

[Vincent Burel]

All virtual audio drivers I know, can be identified as virtual.

by what process ? An Audio application is not supposed to make the difference and may use any kind of Audio Driver.

[JBP]

An Audio application is not supposed to make the difference and may use any kind of Audio Driver.

Yes, that is the way it should be and I believed it before I learned that this cannot be the whole truth.

Why SRS Audio Sandbox and some other apps do not accept any virtual audio driver?
That is the question!
Breakaway Audio Enhancer uses a blacklist to disable virtual drivers as output.
So, if a new virtual driver is introduced later it can be used with (not updated) Breakaway Audio Enhancer.
Ok, this principle is easy to understand.

SRS Audio Sandbox (final update approx. 2009) accept Realtek HD Audio and NVIDIA High Definition Audio (HDMI), but no virtual audio driver!
No VAC, no VB Cable or VAIO, no DPS, no Spatial Sound Card,……!
There must be a logical explanation for this phenomenon.
Somehow SRS Audio Sandbox identifies any kind of virtual driver and disable it for its output selection.

I wonder if it is possible to make a virtual audio driver compatible with SRS Audio Sandbox and other similar apps, or not?
At the moment no virtual audio driver is compatible with SRS (plus some other apps) and there must be a reason for this!

[Vincent Burel]

At the moment no virtual audio driver is compatible with SRS (plus some other apps) and there must be a reason for this!

You might ask to the SRS developers. They should be able to reply quickly.

[JBP]

At the moment no virtual audio driver is compatible with SRS (plus some other apps) and there must be a reason for this!

You might ask to the SRS developers. They should be able to reply quickly.

LOL.
You know that SRS Labs is dead since years.
I would have to hire a bunch of private investigators to identify the names of the Sandbox developers.
Probably most of them are already dead, but I do not hope so.

I do not want to get on your nerves and waste your time, because I know you have to do more important things than to answer my silly questions.

But the phenomenon exists that SRS Audio Sandbox and some other audio apps ignore all kind of virtual audio drivers.
It is not blacklisting.
But there must be some kind of check to detect the real nature (hardware or virtual) of an audio driver.

My latest (conspiracy) theory:

Maybe Eugene Muzychenko has once introduced a significant footprint or pattern in his code for VAC?
A pattern or footprint that is necessary and used by every developer of virtual audio drivers from past until today?

Next experts I will ask:

1) Hans van Zutphen
then
2) Leiff Claesson
and then
3) Eugene Muzychenko

Someone must know the answer!

[Vincent Burel]

i don't know SRS stuff...
But it's maybe a conincidence, because for a client application, it makes no difference to use audio device interface from any device type, USB device, Network protocol, Virtual Cable, Codec, HDMI, PCI , Thunderbolt... all are expected to provide standard audio interfaces to applications (like MME, DirectX, KS, WASAPI...)