Audio devices that comply with the Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) guidelines can rely entirely on the operating system for driver support. The hardware vendor does not need to provide a custom driver for a UAA-compatible device. The UAA guidelines contain hardware requirements for audio devices that connect to the system bus (PCI and PCI Express) and to external buses (USB and IEEE 1394).

To be UAA-compatible, a PCI audio adapter must conform to the Intel High Definition Audio specification, which is the successor to the Intel Audio Codec ’97 (AC'97) specification. Unlike AC'97, Intel High Definition Audio (Intel HD Audio) standardizes the bus controller, in addition to the codec devices and the serial interface link (the link that connects the controller to the codecs). The UAA design guidelines for Intel HD Audio devices contain additional requirements that are not part of the Intel High Definition Audio specification. Windows Vista provides complete driver support for UAA-compliant PCI audio adapters. In addition, UAA driver support for Intel HD Audio devices can be obtained from Microsoft for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.

To be UAA-compatible, a USB audio device must conform to both the USB audio specification and the UAA design guidelines for USB audio devices. USB audio devices can make use of the USBAudio class system driver (Usbaudio.sys), which is supplied as part of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Me/98. By definition, a USB audio device that is compatible with the USBAudio class system driver in Windows Vista is UAA-compliant.

To be UAA-compatible, an IEEE 1394 AV/C audio device must conform to both the relevant IEEE 1394 specifications and the UAA design guidelines for IEEE 1394 AV/C audio devices. IEEE 1394 audio devices can make use of the AVCAudio class system driver (Avcaudio.sys), which is supplied as part of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. By definition, an IEEE 1394 audio device that is compatible with the AVCAudio class system driver in Windows Vista is UAA-compliant.

For more information about the Microsoft UAA initiative, see the white paper titled Universal Audio Architecture on the audio technology page on the WHDC Web site. For more information about Intel HD Audio, see the Intel HD Audio Web site. For a list of related specifications for USB and IEEE 1394 audio devices, see USBAudio Class System Driver and AVCAudio Class System Driver.