vplay(1)

vplay, vrec -- audio playback/recording utility

Synopsis

vplay [-qS] [-t secs] [filename1 ...]

vrec [-qvwrS] [-t secs] [-s Hz] [-b 8|12|16] [filename1 ...]

Description

vplay and vrec provide command line audio playback and recording capabilities, respectively. They both accept the same options (although some apply only to recording) and they run from the same binary. These programs can be used for recording and playing:

Creative Labs^® VOC files
Microsoft^® WAVE files
raw audio data

For a graphical playback and record utility, see scosound(X1).

vplay and vrec support:

the full Creative Labs VOC structure, including silence, repeat loops (on seekable input), stereo, ASCII blocks, and blocks with different sampling rate
non-stereo cards (SB 1.0 and 2.0); 8-bit stereo files will be played as mono (the first channel is used)
non-16-bit cards; 16-bit WAVE files will be played as 8 bit (you can play a 16-bit stereo WAVE file, on an SB 1.0)

vplay and vrec do not support:

packed VOC files
multi-block WAVE files
WAVE files not coded to PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)
multi-channel WAVE files

Options

If no filenames are given, vplay uses stdin and vrec uses stdout.

-q: quiet mode, console messages are not displayed
-s speed: sets the sampling rate in Hz; the default is 8000. If a rate less than 300 is entered, it will be multiplied by 1000.
-v: record a Creative Labs VOC file; this is the default.
-w: record a Microsoft WAVE file
-r: record raw data without header
-S: stereo; the default is mono.
-t seconds: sets the playback or recording time in seconds; the default is no time limit.
-b bits: sets sample size (bits per sample). Available values are 8, 12, and 16; the default is 8.

The options for speed, time, and sample size are only valid for raw data files. VOC and WAVE files include this information in their headers/internal structure.

The -t parameter applies to each file. For example:

vrec -r -t 1 a b c

records one second of audio data to each of the files a, b, and c

vplay -t 1 a b c

plays the first second of each of the files a, b and c (if they are raw audio).

Usage

Before playing or recording sound samples, you must:

physically install the audio adapter, speaker system, and any input devices, following the instructions in the hardware documentation
configure the audio adapter according to the instructions in ``Configuring audio adapters'' in the UnixWare 7 System Handbook
set volume levels and input/out channels using mixer(1)

Playing sound files

To play existing sound files, enter vplay file_name, with any desired options. The -s, -v, -w, -r, and -b options have no effect on playback; the -S option has no effect if your hardware does not support stereo of the sample is mono.

Recording sound samples

To record sound samples:

Ensure that an input device (such as a microphone or CD-player) is connected to your audio adapter's input jack.
Enter vrec file_name with appropriate options.
Start the sound input (for example, start talking or play the CD).
Stop the sound input and recording utility when complete.

NOTE: A ``recording overrun'' can result if the sound source generates data faster than the computer can process it. This generally happens when the -s (sample rate) and/or -b (sample size) options are set too high. If this happens, you might experience audio driver buffer overflows and missing audio sections in the recorded file. These error conditions are not usually detected by the audio driver, although you might see console error messages. Consult your sound card documentation for more information about your hardware's limits.

References

mixer(1), scosound(X1)

``Configuring audio adapters'' in the UnixWare 7 System Handbook