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#1
How can I tell which program is taking exclusive control of audio?
Subject says it all.
Context: I have an Oculus Rift, and the sound used to pop in and out. Now, when I say "pop", I do not mean mute and unmute! Rather, it switches between 3D audio that rotates around me depending on which way I face, and standard Stereo audio with two dumb outputs resting on my ears that are in no way at all tracked.
To solve this, I got a new USB3.0 PCIe card that many people recommended to fix the issue, and it did!
However, I now have a new problem: Skype got an update just at the same time that I put this new card in, and now I entirely lose audio after about one minute of being in the Rift. Restarting the Rift completely does fix it, but only for a minute. I found out I can resolve this issue by going to the Rift's audio settings and unchecking "allow applications to take exclusive control of this device". It immediately brings sound back! Yay!.. But it also brings the popping back, and it reliably comes in after a minute of use, just like when audio would normally cut out.
Clearly there's another program trying to take control of the Rift's output and messing with its ability to reproduce proper sound. I want to know which program in particular so I can try uninstalling it to see if my theory is correct. Skype seems like the likely culprit, but exiting it doesn't solve the issue, so I have some doubts about it.
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