Hello all!
I’m developing a cross-platform (read: linux, osx, windows) audio
playback program. I need it to support a large number (at least 8) of
outputs and I’ve been drawn to SDL because of its portability.
(surprise!)
However, after playing around for a little while with the audio
capabilities of SDL (using SDL_mixer) I’ve run up across a little
problem. SDL supports only 1ch, 2ch, 4ch, and 5.1 audio 
(Can you picture the moment when I realized "Oh, that’s why I can only
request 6 channels?!)
So here’s the question I’m posing to you SDL-experts/audio-gurus:
How difficult do you think it would be for me to use SDL to produce 8+
outputs? That is, if I were to access some of the lower-level functions
directly and rewrite my own functions to go on top of them?
Is there another library out there that I’m not aware of which would
better suit my needs?
Thanks
Matt Pelmear
I highly recommend FMOD (http://www.fmod.org/). I have no idea how
many channels it supports, but I believe it would make use of more
than 5.1, provided your hardware supports it. It’s also highly
cross-platform, though it is not free (as in beer) for commercial
software.
I’ve also integrated FMOD with SDL on windows, and been very happy.
Good luck.On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:43:55 -0500, Matt Pelmear wrote:
Hello all!
I’m developing a cross-platform (read: linux, osx, windows) audio
playback program. I need it to support a large number (at least 8) of
outputs and I’ve been drawn to SDL because of its portability.
(surprise!)
However, after playing around for a little while with the audio
capabilities of SDL (using SDL_mixer) I’ve run up across a little
problem. SDL supports only 1ch, 2ch, 4ch, and 5.1 audio
(Can you picture the moment when I realized "Oh, that’s why I can only
request 6 channels?!)
So here’s the question I’m posing to you SDL-experts/audio-gurus:
How difficult do you think it would be for me to use SDL to produce 8+
outputs? That is, if I were to access some of the lower-level functions
directly and rewrite my own functions to go on top of them?
Is there another library out there that I’m not aware of which would
better suit my needs?
Thanks
Matt Pelmear
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http://homepage.mac.com/codonnell/wxblogger/
Matt Pelmear wrote:
Hello all!
I’m developing a cross-platform (read: linux, osx, windows) audio
playback program. I need it to support a large number (at least 8) of
outputs and I’ve been drawn to SDL because of its portability.
(surprise!)
However, after playing around for a little while with the audio
capabilities of SDL (using SDL_mixer) I’ve run up across a little
problem. SDL supports only 1ch, 2ch, 4ch, and 5.1 audio
(Can you picture the moment when I realized "Oh, that’s why I can only
request 6 channels?!)
The 6 channel support is only for Linux, in case that horrible
realization hasn’t yet come to you.
So here’s the question I’m posing to you SDL-experts/audio-gurus:
How difficult do you think it would be for me to use SDL to produce 8+
outputs? That is, if I were to access some of the lower-level functions
directly and rewrite my own functions to go on top of them?
I didn’t provide for 8 as well as 6 channel sound for the two
reasons that Linux Alsa does not, so far as I know, have support
for 8 channels on any ordinary consumer sound card (like my Audigy),
and that I have only a 6 speaker system. So I wouldn’t have been
able to test 8 channel sound (having only a Linux system).
However, following the pattern of the 6 channel support I added,
I don’t think it would be terribly hard to extend it to 8 channelsi,
given operating system support and hardware to test it on. Just more
of the same.
Is there another library out there that I’m not aware of which would
better suit my needs?
I don’t. Doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Greg