audioplay man page

User Commands                                        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  dev-
         ice.  When the -i option is present, audioplay prints an
         error message and exits immediately  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



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User Commands                                        audioplay(1)



         before  playing  begins,  and  is  reset to its previous
         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 previ-
         ous 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 destination 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  vari-
         able  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  com-
              mand  line are played sequentially. If no filenames
              are present, the standard input stream  (if  it  is



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User Commands                                        audioplay(1)



              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  environment  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 relative pathnames. The current
                     directory  (".") may be specified explicitly
                     in the search path. If the  AUDIOPATH  vari-
                     able  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)





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User Commands                                        audioplay(1)



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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