It sounds to me like both your proposals may be too complex and not sufficiently deterministic (I don't know for sure, maybe that's exactly what the RT people want).
This is the solution already employed in the real world by OSX. It works well, and the audio people have told me they are happy with it.
I could be completely off the rails though. I haven't really been following this thread so please shoot me in my foot if I have put it in my mouth.
If your foot is in your mouth and you ask me to shoot you in the foot it would blow your head off... Hmm it's tempting...
Cheers, Con
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