I don't quite have an answer on this, but do you know whether this happens on Vista SP1? Or Windows 7? This might help us narrow things down. Also, just to help me understand the impact, does this actually affect some scenario or are you looking at this just to check the fidelity of the audio core's processing? Obviously in general you can't rely on receiving unmodified data since at any time another sound might mix in or the user might change audio system effects settings. Frank Yerrace Microsoft This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. From: wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wdmaudiodev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of KS Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 7:02 AM To: wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [wdmaudiodev] Receiving unmodified audio data in Vista Hi, I'm trying to receive unmodified audio data in my audio driver in Vista. What I've already done is to disable the APO, set the format of the endpoint to the same format as the media file, and set all relevant volume control to 0dB level. I'm using WMP to play the audio file which is a wave file. What I'm seeing so far is that I can receive the unmodified data if the format is at 96kHz 24bit, but not when the format is at 48kHz 16bit. Is there additional settings that need to be set before a driver can receive 48kHz 16bit data without modification, or is there some background processing that is done in the audio stack for 16bit audio that resulted in drivers not being able to receive unmodified audio data for 16bit? Thanks KS