Detecting In-Use Audio Devices

Is there a way to detect audio devices that are in-use by the Audio Toolbox? For example, if I use audioDeviceWriter to create a deviceWriter object and initialize that object, is there a way to detect that the device is being used without referencing that variable/object?

Answer 1

[Pratyush]

Hi Brian,

Detecting if an audio device is in use by MATLAB's Audio Toolbox without referencing the specific "audioDeviceWriter" object is not directly supported. Workarounds include:

• Attempt to use the device with "audioDeviceWriter" and handle any errors, which might indicate the device is in use.
• Use platform-specific system calls or utilities to check the device's status outside MATLAB, though this method is complex and unreliable.
• Implement a logging system to track when applications or scripts use an audio device, requiring consistent application across all scripts.

Direct detection is not straightforward and requires indirect methods or external tools, with varying degrees of reliability and complexity.