Low Level Audio Drivers & Virtual Routing (ASIO/WASAPI/+)

The problem

Writing audio drivers and virtual sound cards requires deep knowledge of OS-specific APIs and thread synchronization. Standard code often causes buffer underruns, kernel panics, or high latency due to blocking calls in the real-time path.

What it does

• Generates lock-free SPSC ring buffers for high-performance audio data transfer.
• Provides implementation patterns for Windows ASIO, WASAPI, and WDM Miniports.
• Scaffolds macOS CoreAudio HAL and DriverKit Audio Server Plug-ins.
• Configures Linux ALSA plugins, JACK callbacks, and PipeWire SPA modules.
• Implements MMCSS thread prioritization to ensure real-time audio stability.

Frameworks & tools

C++20, ASIO 2.3 SDK, CoreAudio HAL, DriverKit, ALSA, JACK, PipeWire, and Windows WDK.

Why this beats prompting it yourself

Generic LLMs often suggest blocking operations like mutexes inside audio callbacks, which kills real-time performance. This skill enforces lock-free architectures and OS-specific thread scheduling required for pro-audio stability.

Use cases

• Building a virtual audio cable for routing sound between applications.
• Developing a custom ASIO driver for high-performance USB audio hardware.
• Creating a system-wide audio DSP hook for macOS or Windows.
• Implementing a PipeWire SPA module for low-latency Linux audio processing.