sfplay(1) sfplay(1)
NAME
sfplay - play soundfile
SYNOPSIS
sfplay [ options ... ] soundfiles ...
where options are:
-printinfo
-reporterror
-inputraw [ input keywords ... ] end
-nice
-device <device>
-transpose <rate>
-match
DESCRIPTION
sfplay plays the given soundfile(s). It will play files in many formats
not supported by the audio hardware, by automatically converting the data
as it is played.
If invoked with no arguments, sfplay will display help.
By default, sfplay ignores any file specified that is not a valid
soundfile, reporting no error. The -reporterror (-r) option tells sfplay
to report an error in this case.
It is often useful to see information about soundfiles as they are
played. The -printinfo option prints this information in "sfinfo -s"-
format.
By default, sfplay will set the hardware sampling rate to the rate of the
file(s) being played. If the -nice option is specified and the audio
hardware is being used (that is, another application has an output port
open, or monitoring is enabled) at the time a given file is played,
sfplay will not change the hardware sampling rate. This may result in
the file sounding incorrect, but the application using the audio device
previously will not be disturbed. This can be remedied using the -match
argument, which tells sfplay to rate-convert the sound to match the
current output port setting. This implies -nice as well.
This program will play audio files in any recognized audio format (i.e.,
any sample width, byte order, sample type, channel count) including all
supported compression types. It will play sounds with any number of
channels (mixing them down as is appropriate), will play at any of the
standard sampling rates appearing on the Audio Control Panel, and will
convert any other rates to match. As a special case it will play codec-
rate (8012.8210513 Hz) files at 8000.00 Hz, and issue a warning to this
effect. The -transpose option tells sfplay to play a soundfile at an
alternate sampling rate, as set by <rate>.
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sfplay(1) sfplay(1)
RAW DATA
sfplay can also play soundfiles which contain raw (headerless) data. In
this case the data format must be specified, using the appropriate
keywords with the -inputraw (-i) option.
For example, many Macintosh and PC soundfiles are actually raw data files
containing 8-bit unsigned mono or interleaved stereo samples. For these
files, the sampling rate is generally 8 kHz or 22.05 kHz. So this
statement,
sfplay -i integer 8 unsigned chan 2 rate 8000 end raw.mac
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
will play such a raw data file at 8 kHz.
The keywords are underlined. Don't forget the 'end' ! It tells sfplay
when the keywords end and the other options and filenames begin.
See sfkeywords(1) for a complete description of the keywords used to
describe soundfile formats.
It is also possible, and perhaps preferable, to first convert the raw
data to a soundfile such as an aiff file with sfconvert(1), and then
simply say "sfplay file.aif" .
HARDWARE
sfplay works only on systems with Iris Audio Processor.
BUGS
sfplay will not play 4-channel files. It currently assumes the hardware
can only play mono and stereo files. This will be amended in a future
release. You can use playaifc to play 4-channel AIFF/AIFF-C files.
AUTHOR
Silicon Graphics Inc.; Apple Computer, Inc. for AIFF code.
SEE ALSO
intro(3a) for more about the audio library. sfinfo(1), sfconvert(1),
soundfiler(1), sfkeywords(1).
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