The buffer is a global sound buffer. With this flag set, an application using DirectSound can continue to play its buffers if the user switches focus to another application, even if the new application uses DirectSound. The one exception is if you switch focus to a DirectSound application that uses the DSSCL_EXCLUSIVE or DSSCL_WRITEPRIMARY flag for its cooperative level. In this case, the global sounds from other applications will not be audible.