Private Type WAVEOUTCAPS
  wMid As Integer
  wPid As Integer
  vDriverVersion As Long
  szPname As String * MAXPNAMELEN
  dwFormats As Long
  wChannels As Integer
  dwSupport As Long
End Type

Private Type PROPVARIANT 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa380072(v=vs.85).aspx
  vt                                      As Integer 'VT_LPWSTR
  wReserved1                              As Integer
  wReserved2                              As Integer
  wReserved3                              As Integer
  pwszVal                                 As Long   ' union LPWSTR pwszVal;
                                                    'A pointer to a null-terminated Unicode string
                                                    'in the user default locale.
  Padding As Long ' 16 Bytes
...
                Dim varName As PROPVARIANT
                hr = Invoke_(hlPropertyStore, 5, VarPtr(PKEY_Device_FriendlyName), VarPtr(varName))

                Dim varName As PROPVARIANT
                hr = Invoke_(hlPropertyStore, 5, VarPtr(PKEY_Device_FriendlyName), VarPtr(varName))
...
                  the_listbox.AddItem PointerToString(varName.pwszVal)
...
Private Function PointerToString(lngPtr As Long) As String
'NOTE: THE ASSUMPTION IS THAT THE POINTER IS TO A UNICODE STRING
'IF NOT, CHANGE THE FUNCTION AS FOLLOWS (UNTESTED)
'-- Change lstrlenW to lStrLena
'-- Get rid of the * 2
'-- The replace statement should not be necessary, just return strTemp
'----------------------------------------------------------
   
   Dim strTemp As String
   Dim lngLen As Long

   
   If lngPtr Then
      lngLen = lstrlenW(lngPtr) * 2
      If lngLen Then
         strTemp = Space(lngLen)
         CopyMemory ByVal strTemp, ByVal lngPtr, lngLen
         PointerToString = Replace(strTemp, Chr(0), "")
      End If
   End If
End Function

CopyMemory ByVal strTemp

CopyMemory ByVal StrPtr(strTemp)

        CopyMemory ByVal StrPtr(strTemp), ByVal lngPtr, lngLen

         'PointerToString = Replace(strTemp, Chr(0), "")
         If InStr(strTemp, Chr(0)) > 0 Then
           strTemp = Left(strTemp, InStr(1, strTemp, Chr(0)) - 1)
         End If
         PointerToString = strTemp
         MsgBox Len(PointerToString)

for i=1 to "количество вариантов 2 в списке"
   if left ("вариант2", len ("вариант1")) = "вариант1" then
     отображаем "вариант2" 'вариант 1 сохраняем скажем в tag для реального далнейшего использования
     exit sub
   endif
next i
отображаем "вариант1"

Public Const CP_ACP = 0 'ANSI (default на данной конкретной системе в данный момент)
Public Declare Function WideCharToMultiByte Lib "kernel32" (ByVal CodePage As Long, _
                                                    ByVal dwFlags As Long, _
                                                    ByVal lpWideCharStr As Long, _
                                                    ByVal cchWideChar As Long, _
                                                    ByVal lpMultiByteStr As Long, _
                                                    ByVal cbMultiByte As Long, _
                                                    ByVal lpDefaultChar As Long, _
                                                    ByVal lpUsedDefaultChar As Long) As Long

Private Function PointerToString(lngPtr As Long) As String
  Dim lLenB As Long
  Dim bytBuffer() As Byte
  Dim lRet As Long
  Dim i As Long
  Dim str As String
  str = ""
  If lngPtr <> 0 Then
    lLenB = lstrlenW(lngPtr)
    If lLenB <> 0 Then
      ReDim bytBuffer(lLenB - 1) 'нулевой байт добавлять нет смысла
      lRet = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_ACP, 0&, ByVal lngPtr, -1, ByVal VarPtr(bytBuffer(0)), lLenB, 0&, 0&)
      For i = 0 To lLenB - 1
        If bytBuffer(i) = 0 Then Exit For 'страховка
        str = str & Chr(bytBuffer(i))
      Next i
    End If
  End If
  PointerToString = str
End Function

Private Function PointerToStringUnicode(lngPtr As Long) As String
   Dim strTemp As String
   Dim lngLen As Long


   If lngPtr Then
      lngLen = lstrlenW(lngPtr) * 2
      If lngLen Then
         strTemp = Space(lngLen)
         CopyMemory ByVal StrPtr(strTemp), ByVal lngPtr, lngLen
         PointerToStringUnicode = StrConv(strTemp, vbFromUnicode)
         MsgBox Len(PointerToStringUnicode)
      End If
   End If
End Function