home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
rtsi.com
/
2014.01.www.rtsi.com.tar
/
www.rtsi.com
/
OS9
/
MM1
/
SOUNDUTILS
/
sox.man.Z
/
sox.man
Wrap
Text File
|
2009-11-06
|
14KB
|
330 lines
SOX(1)
NAME
sox - SOund eXchange - universal sound sample translator
SYNOPSIS
sox _i_n_f_i_l_e _o_u_t_f_i_l_e
sox _i_n_f_i_l_e _o_u_t_f_i_l_e [ _e_f_f_e_c_t [ _e_f_f_e_c_t _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ... ] ]
sox _i_n_f_i_l_e -e _e_f_f_e_c_t [ _e_f_f_e_c_t _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ... ]
sox [ _g_e_n_e_r_a_l _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ] [ _f_o_r_m_a_t _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ] _i_f_i_l_e [ _f_o_r_m_a_t _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ]
_o_f_i_l_e [ _e_f_f_e_c_t [ _e_f_f_e_c_t _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ... ] ]
_G_e_n_e_r_a_l _o_p_t_i_o_n_s: [ -V ] [ -v _v_o_l_u_m_e ]
_F_o_r_m_a_t _o_p_t_i_o_n_s: [ -t _f_i_l_e_t_y_p_e ] [ -r _r_a_t_e ] [ -s/-u/-U/-A ] [ -b/-w/-
l/-f/-d/-D ] [ -c _c_h_a_n_n_e_l_s ] [ -x ]
_E_f_f_e_c_t_s:
copy
rate
avg
stat
echo _d_e_l_a_y _v_o_l_u_m_e [ _d_e_l_a_y _v_o_l_u_m_e ... ]
vibro _s_p_e_e_d [ _d_e_p_t_h ]
lowp _c_e_n_t_e_r
band [ -_n ] _c_e_n_t_e_r [ _w_i_d_t_h ]
DESCRIPTION
_S_o_x translates sound files from one format to another, possibly doing a
sound effect.
OPTIONS
The option syntax is a little grotty, but in essence:
sox file.au file.voc
translates a sound sample in SUN Sparc .AU format into a SoundBlaster
.VOC file, while
sox -v 0.5 file.au -rate 12000 file.voc rate
does the same format translation but also lowers the amplitude by 1/2
and changes the sampling rate from 8000 hertz to 12000 hertz via the
rate _s_o_u_n_d _e_f_f_e_c_t loop.
File type options:
-t _f_i_l_e_t_y_p_e
gives the type of the sound sample file.
-r _r_a_t_e Give sample rate in Hertz of file.
-s/-u/-U/-A
The sample data is signed linear (2's complement), unsigned
linear, U-law (logarithmic), or A-law (logarithmic). U-law
and A-law are the U.S. and international standards for loga-
rithmic telephone sound compression.
-b/-w/-l/-f/-d/-D
The sample data is in bytes, 16-bit words, 32-bit longwords,
32-bit floats, 64-bit double floats, or 80-bit IEEE floats.
Floats and double floats are in native machine format.
1
SOX(1)
-x The sample data is in XINU format; that is, it comes from a
machine with the opposite word order than yours and must be
swapped according to the word-size given above. Only 16-bit
and 32-bit integer data may be swapped. Machine-format
floating-point data is not portable. IEEE floats are a fixed,
portable format. ???
-c _c_h_a_n_n_e_l_s
The number of sound channels in the data file. This may be 1,
2, or 4; for mono, stereo, or quad sound data.
General options:
-e after the input file allows you to avoid giving an output file
and just name an effect. This is only useful with the stat
effect.
-v _v_o_l_u_m_e Change amplitude (floating point); less than 1.0 decreases,
greater than 1.0 increases. Note: we perceive volume loga-
rithmically, not linearly. Note: see the stat effect.
-V Print a description of processing phases. Useful for figuring
out exactly how _s_o_x is mangling your sound samples.
The input and output files may be standard input and output. This is
specified by '-'. The -t _t_y_p_e option must be given in this case, else
_s_o_x will not know the format of the given file. The -t, -r, -s/-u/-U/-
A, -b/-w/-l/-f/-d/-D and -x options refer to the input data when given
before the input file name. After, they refer to the output data.
If you don't give an output file name, _s_o_x will just read the input
file. This is useful for validating structured file formats; the stat
effect may also be used via the -e option.
FILE TYPES
_S_o_x needs to know the formats of the input and output files. File for-
mats which have headers are checked, if that header doesn't seem right,
the program exits with an appropriate message. Currently, the raw (no
header), IRCAM Sound Files, Sound Blaster, SPARC .AU (w/header), Mac
HCOM, PC/DOS .SOU, Sndtool, and Sounder, NeXT .SND, Windows 3.1
RIFF/WAV, and Amiga/SGI AIFF and 8SVX formats are supported.
.aiff AIFF files used on Amiga and SGI. Note: the AIFF format sup-
ports only one SSND chunk. It does not support multiple sound
chunks, or the 8SVX musical instrument description format.
AIFF files are multimedia archives and and can have multiple
audio and picture chunks. You may need a separate archiver to
work with them.
.au SUN Microsystems AU files. There are apparently many types of
.au files; DEC has invented its own with a different magic
number and word order. The .au handler can read these files
but will not write them. Some .au files have valid AU headers
and some do not. The latter are probably original SUN u-law
2
SOX(1)
8000 hz samples. These can be dealt with using the .ul format
(see below).
.hcom Macintosh HCOM files. These are (apparently) Mac FSSD files
with some variant of Huffman compression. The Macintosh has
wacky file formats and this format handler apparently doesn't
handle all the ones it should. Mac users will need your usual
arsenal of file converters to deal with an HCOM file under
Unix or DOS.
.raw Raw files (no header).
The sample rate, size (byte, word, etc), and style (signed,
unsigned, etc.) of the sample file must be given. The number
of channels defaults to 1.
.ub, .sb, .uw, .sw, .ul
These are several suffices which serve as a shorthand for raw
files with a given size and style. Thus, ub, sb, uw, sw, and
ul correspond to "unsigned byte", "signed byte", "unsigned
word", "signed word", and "ulaw" (byte). The sample rate
defaults to 8000 hz if not explicitly set, and the number of
channels (as always) defaults to 1. There are lots of Sparc
samples floating around in u-law format with no header and
fixed at a sample rate of 8000 hz. (Certain sound management
software cheerfully ignores the headers.) Similarly, most Mac
sound files are in unsigned byte format with a sample rate of
11025 or 22050 hz.
.sf IRCAM Sound Files.
SoundFiles are used by academic music software such as the
CSound package, and the MixView sound sample editor.
.voc Sound Blaster VOC files.
VOC files are multi-part and contain silence parts, looping,
and different sample rates for different chunks. On input,
the silence parts are filled out, loops are rejected, and sam-
ple data with a new sample rate is rejected. Silence with a
different sample rate is generated appropriately. On output,
silence is not detected, nor are impossible sample rates.
.wav Windows 3.1 .WAV RIFF files.
These appear to be very similar to IFF files, but not the
same. They are the native sound file format of Windows 3.1.
Obviously, Windows 3.1 is of such incredible importance to the
computer industry that it just had to have its own sound file
format.
EFFECTS
Only one effect from the palette may be applied to a sound sample. To
do multiple effects you'll need to run _s_o_x in a pipeline.
copy Copy the input file to the output file.
This is the default effect if both files
have the same sampling rate, or the rates
3
SOX(1)
are "close".
rate Translate input sampling rate to output
sampling rate via linear interpolation to
the Least Common Multiple of the two sam-
pling rates. This is the default effect
if the two files have different sampling
rates. This is fast but noisy.
avg Mix 4- or 2-channel sound file into 2- or
1-channel file by averaging the samples
for different speakers.
stat Do a statistical check on the input file,
and print results on the standard error
file. stat may copy the file untouched
from input to output, if you select an
output file. The "Volume Adjustment:"
field in the statistics gives you the
argument to the -v _n_u_m_b_e_r which will make
the sample as loud as possible.
echo [ _d_e_l_a_y _v_o_l_u_m_e ... ] Add echoing to a sound sample. Each
delay/volume pair gives the delay in
seconds and the volume (relative to 1.0)
of that echo. If the volumes add up to
more than 1.0, the sound will melt down
instead of fading away.
vibro _s_p_e_e_d [ _d_e_p_t_h ] Add the world-famous Fender Vibro-Champ
sound effect to a sound sample by using a
sine wave as the volume knob. Speed gives
the Hertz value of the wave. This must be
under 30. Depth gives the amount the
volume is cut into by the sine wave, rang-
ing 0.0 to 1.0 and defaulting to 0.5.
lowp _c_e_n_t_e_r Apply a low-pass filter. The frequency
response drops logarithmically with _c_e_n_t_e_r
frequency in the middle of the drop. The
slope of the filter is quite gentle.
band [ -_n ] _c_e_n_t_e_r [ _w_i_d_t_h ] Apply a band-pass filter. The frequency
response drops logarithmically around the
_c_e_n_t_e_r frequency. The _w_i_d_t_h gives the
slope of the drop. The frequencies at
_c_e_n_t_e_r + _w_i_d_t_h and _c_e_n_t_e_r - _w_i_d_t_h will be
half of their original amplitudes. Band
defaults to a mode oriented to pitched
signals, i.e. voice, singing, or instru-
mental music. The -_n (for noise) option
uses the alternate mode for un-pitched
signals. Band introduces noise in the
shape of the filter, i.e. peaking at the
4
SOX(1)
_c_e_n_t_e_r frequency and settling around it.
_S_o_x enforces certain effects. If the two
files have different sampling rates, the
requested effect must be one of copy, or
rate, If the two files have different
numbers of channels, the avg effect must
be requested.
BUGS
The syntax is horrific. It's very tempting to include a default system
that allows an effect name as the program name and just pipes a sound
sample from standard input to standard output, but the problem of input-
ting the sample rates makes this unworkable.
FILES
SEE ALSO
NOTICES
The echoplex effect is:
Copyright (C) 1989 by Jef Poskanzer.
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and
its
documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,
provided
that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both
that
copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or
implied warranty.
5