C#, DirectX, and XNA: Playing Audio, and Requirements for End-User

Question

I'm working on a C# desktop 2D game, and want to play audio.

1) If I use DirectX for the audio, would an end-user have to have DirectX installed on the computer? (I assume yes).

2) If I use XNA for the audio, would an end-user still require DirectX, or anything else other than the .NET Framework, in order to run my program?

I'm getting the sense that XNA is preferred for C# hobbyist game development. I've done everything thus far in pure .NET; I only recently decided the SoundPlayer that comes with the framework isn't acceptable because it cannot play multiple audio files simultaneously.

Answer 1

Both XNA (which is based on DirectX) and DirectX require the DirectX run time libraries to be installed to function.

And yes, XNA is preferred by Microsoft for game development on C#, however there are many good 3rd party alternatives such as Tao and SlimDX. Tao in particular has a good wrapper for OpenAL if you just want audio:

http://www.taoframework.com/