audioplay(1)
NAME
audioplay - play audio files
SYNOPSIS
audioplay [-iV] [-v vol] [-b bal] [-p speaker | headphone |
line] [-d dev] [file...]
DESCRIPTION
The audioplay utility copies the named audio files (or the
standard input if no filenames are present) to the audio
device. If no input file is specified and standard input is
a tty, the port, volume, and balance settings specified on
the command line will be applied and the program will exit.
The input files must contain a valid audio file header. The
encoding information in this header is matched against the
capabilities of the audio device and, if the data formats
are incompatible, an error message is printed and the file
is skipped. Compressed ADPCM (G.721) monaural audio data is
automatically uncompressed before playing.
Minor deviations in sampling frequency (that is, less than
1%) are ordinarily ignored. This allows, for instance, data
sampled at 8012 Hz to be played on an audio device that only
supports 8000 Hz. If the -V option is present, such devia-
tions are flagged with warning messages.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-i Immediate: If the audio device is unavailable (that
is, another process currently has write access),
audioplay ordinarily waits until it can obtain access
to the device. When the -i option is present,
audioplay prints an error message and exits immedi-
ately if the device is busy.
-V Verbose: Prints messages on the standard error when
waiting for access to the audio device or when sample
rate deviations are detected.
-v vol
Volume: The output volume is set to the specified
value before playing begins, and is reset to its pre-
vious level when audioplay exits. The vol argument is
an integer value between 0 and 100, inclusive. If this
argument is not specified, the output volume remains
at the level most recently set by any process.
-b bal
Balance: The output balance is set to the specified
value before playing begins, and is reset to its
previous level when audioplay exits. The bal argument
is an integer value between -100 and 100, inclusive. A
value of -100 indicates left balance, 0 middle, and
100 right. If this argument is not specified, the
output balance remains at the level most recently set
by any process.
-p speaker | headphone | line
Output Port: Selects the built-in speaker (the
default), headphone jack, or line out as the destina-
tion of the audio output signal. If this argument is
not specified, the output port will remain unchanged.
Please note: Not all audio adapters support all of the
output ports. If the named port does not exist, an
appropriate substitute will be used.
-d dev
Device: The dev argument specifies an alternate audio
device to which output should be directed. If the -d
option is not specified, the AUDIODEV environment
variable is consulted (see below). Otherwise,
/dev/audio is used as the default audio device.
-\? Help: Prints a command line usage message.
OPERANDS
file File Specification: Audio files named on the command
line are played sequentially. If no filenames are
present, the standard input stream (if it is not a
tty) is played (it, too, must contain an audio file
header). The special filename `-' may be used to read
the standard input stream instead of a file. If a
relative path name is supplied, the AUDIOPATH environ-
ment variable is consulted (see below).
USAGE
See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of
audioplay when encountering files greater than or equal to 2
Gbyte ( 2**31 bytes).
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
AUDIODEV
The full path name of the audio device to write to, if
no -d argument is supplied. If the AUDIODEV variable
is not set, /dev/audio is used.
AUDIOPATH
A colon-separated list of directories in which to
search for audio files whose names are given by rela-
tive pathnames. The current directory (".") may be
specified explicitly in the search path. If the
AUDIOPATH variable is not set, only the current
directory will be searched.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Architecture | SPARC, x86 |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWauda |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Interface Stability | Evolving |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
audioconvert(1), audiorecord(1), mixerctl(1), attributes(5),
largefile(5), usb_ac(7D), audio(7I), mixer(7I)
BUGS
audioplay currently supports a limited set of audio format
conversions. If the audio file is not in a format supported
by the audio device, it must first be converted. For exam-
ple, to convert to voice format on the fly, use the command:
example% audioconvert -f voice myfile | audioplay
The format conversion will not always be able to keep up
with the audio output. If this is the case, you should con-
vert to a temporary file before playing the data.
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