> optional added effects
Right. so why are you pretending that this feature doesn't exist, or is not consequential? playback alone is not the same thing as playback with effects.
> for straight playback of audio data
who said that is the use case here? the original link is just to the man page itself. YOU DECIDED, that the only use case is straight playback with nothing else. that might apply TO YOU, but others might be keen on utilizing the other features, hence why they were added in the first place.