I attempted to use the MSDN guide so that I could start playing sounds: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc308018(VS.85).aspx However, this seems to skip a lot of important initialization info, including whether or not certain functions can be performed within my own custom functions or the names of all the includes and libraries I need. I would like to use XAudio2, since DirectSound is no longer available, and should I choose to make money off of my games, I don't want to be limited by huge royalties (like with FMOD). tl;dr, Can someone give me some tips has to how to play sounds? I'd rather not have a noiseless game.

Or rather, is it possible to use something easier without paying money, such as DirectSound? Else, I need help with the above.

Hi,
I don't think DirectSound is "unavailable"--it's just "deprecated." I use it for my sounds since it seems to be more stable than XAudio2. I reserve XAudio2 for background music since it does really well with that--DirectSound only plays wave files.
Munawar