I'm using sndPlaySound to play large (30MB+) sound files in VB6.  They work fine, but I need to either (a) start it immediately or (b) know WHEN the sound STARTS playing.

Is there a way to load it into memory first or a way to check the status of sndPlaySound (loading/ready/playing/etc)?

Just looking for a consistent/quicker way to start playing.

I will also be playing files in succession so I'd need to unload the file from memory before the next one plays if there is indeed another way to do this.

Are there any other APIs, DirectSound, ActiveX components that allow better control of sound playback?