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!CDSampler
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!Help
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1994-12-28
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CDSampler
=========
This application allows you to sample data directly from a standard audio CD
in a similar way to reading data off a CDROM without the use of any of the
normal audio digitising hardware.. It will transfer any section of a track
from an audio CD to a hard disc, saving as raw data, a Microsoft WAVE file,
an Acorn Replay file or an Armadeus file.
Requirements:
RISC OS 3.10 or greater.
CDFS
Supported CD-ROM drive (see below).
Note: Most CD-DA material is copyright. The only exception is discs
specifically created for sampling from. You may be infringing copyright if
you sample other discs. Especially if you distribute the results. You have
been warned.
To use:
=======
Double-click on the CDSampler icon to run it. It consists of one window only
and does not install on the icon bar.
The window is divided into 4 sections. When first run only 4 sections will be
visible. Click on the toggle size button to show the fourth section (export).
DRIVE SECTION
-------------
This section shows
- The drive number
- The drive manufacturer and type
To alter the drive then click on the arrow icons or type in a drive number
(from 0-6 as show under the CD on the iconbar) and press RETURN.
The track number will be set back to 1 and the information shown updated.
TRACK SECTION
-------------
This shows information about the current track.
To alter the track number, click on the arrow icons or type in a track number
(from 1-99) and press RETURN.
The other three fields are updated to show the start time of the track on the
disc and its length (both in minutes and seconds) and the track mode. If the
mode is 'Data' then you will not be able to save from CDSampler - use CDFS
instead!
CONTROL SECTION
---------------
This section gives you simple playback controls. Note this is not meant to be
a replacement for !CDPlayer which should have been supplied on disc with your
SCSI/CDFS upgrade or SLCD interface. It is merely there so you can find the
section of audio you wish to copy onto your hard disc.
Note that you can use CDSampler and CDPlayer at the same time. The time
display in each will upgrade in step with each other and either can be used
to control playback.
The controls are:-
- Stop
- Play selected area
- Toggle pause state
You can choose whether to play
- From start of current track to end of disc
- Current track
- Selected section of current track
There is also a time display which shows the current position relative to the
start of the disc whilst the disc is playing.
EXPORT SECTION
--------------
Clicking on the Toggle Size icon reveals the export section. From here you
choose how much of a track you wish to transfer and the data format.
- The In and Out fields specify the time in minutes, seconds and frames
(75ths of a second) as an offset into the track. Either click on the arrows
to adjust the time, type in a time and press RETURN or Click on the In or Out
buttons to the left to set the time to the current position.
- The file format field currently gives you the choice of
- Raw data
- Microsoft WAVE
- Acorn Replay
- Armadeus
In the first three cases the data is stored as 44.1kHz 16 bit linear stereo
audio, interleaved samples, little-endian byte order. Raw data means that no
header is created, purely the audio data itself is stored.
The Armadeus format only supports 8 bit mono samples so these are created by
mixing together the left and right channels and truncating the unused bits.
Click MENU over the format icon or SELECT on the popup icon to the right to
change the format.
- The filetype icon shows what kind of file will be saved. Drag this icon to a
hard disc to start transferring data.
- The name field underneath can be used to change the name by which the file
will be saved.
MENU
====
There is a short menu attached to CDSampler. The entries are :-
- Info. This leads to a standard application info box giving the version
number and creation date. Please quote this information if reporting any
problems.
- Quit. This will remove the application from memory. It has the same effect
as clicking on the close icon of the main window.
Problems
========
Note that this feature of the Sony drives doesn't seem to work 100% of the
time. Occasionally the drive locks up and the only way to regain control is
to reboot your machine. So we suggest that you ensure you have no unsaved
data in any other applications running whilst you use CDSampler.
Another possible problem is with slower hard drives. If the data is not read
from the CD fast enough it will give an error (although you won't see it) and
CDSampler will retry the read. Normally this gives no problems however Sony
advise that in these cases they cannot guarantee that the audio data will be
read cleanly.
So if your saved file seems to have jumps or clicks in it then try saving to
a faster hard drive or if all else fails to a RAM disc.
SCSI cards
==========
CDSampler has been tested with the following SCSI software. It is not
guaranteed to work with earlier versions.
Acorn
Cumana 1.17
Morley 1.10
Oak 1.36
Atomwide Parallel 1.03
Any Acorn compliant SCSI card should work OK. Some poorly written software
may give problems.
Supported CD-ROM drives
=======================
These are the drives currently recognised (name as returned by *devices).
- Sony CDU-561
- Sony CDU-8003A
- Toshiba XM-3401
- Toshiba XM-4101
- MediaVision CDR-93MV (requires firmware upgrade)
Many CD-ROM drives are sold under different names than their actual device
name. Use *devices to find the real drive name. Also some drives are given
small firmware changes and a different name but may still work with CDSampler
if the Supported file is edited to recognise the drive.
The Sony 561 is available from Cumana as the 600 series and is fitted in the
Acorn Multimedia Expansion Unit.
The Sony 8003A is sold as the Apple CD300.
The Toshiba drives are available from most other Acorn SCSI card
manufacturers sometimes under their own names, sometimes not.
Other drives may be supported in the future if :-
1) They do actually allow direct reading of audio tracks.
2) Information on how to do it or where to find this information can be
located.
If you have a drive that you think may work even though the name isn't
mentioned above (eg another variant on the Sony 561 under a different name)
then you can edit the text file 'Supported' within the !CDSampler
application. Double-click SELECT on !CDSampler whilst holding down the SHIFT
key, then double-click on the file named 'Supported'. Remember to take a copy
of the file as a mistake in editing may cause already supported drives to not
be recognised.
CDSampler 1.09 and later support the CD_ReadAudio SWI. If your version of
CDFS supports this it is automatically detected and used, otherwise the
Supported file is consulted for the access method.
To use CD_ReadAudio you need CDFSdriver 2.21 or later and a version of the
soft-loadable driver for your CDROM that supports the SWI. In the case
of the Acorn/Cumana CD300 drive this means CDFSSoftSLCD version 1.05 or
later. Contact Cumana for an upgrade if you don't have these versions.
Data Format
===========
The physical arrangement of the 16bit data in the raw data file is as
follows.
Offset 0 Offset 4
| ||
|-------------------------------||-------------------------------||---
| Sample pair 1 || Sample pair 2 ||
|-------------------------------||-------------------------------||---
| Left channel | Right channel || Left channel | Right channel ||
|-------------------------------||-------------------------------||---
| LSB | MSB | LSB | MSB || LSB | MSB | LSB | MSB ||
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LSB = least significant byte
MSB = most significant byte
Versions
========
October 1993 - Acorn World version
- created, only supports Sony CDU-561.
November 1993 - intermediate release
- better retrying when Sony drive gives errors (fixes problem with slower hard
drives).
- creates file first before recording into it (also helps with slow drives).
- added field showing CD-ROM type.
- fixed some problems with saving WAVE files.
December 1993 - intermediate release
- added RIFF sprites for WAVE files (from Paul LeBeau).
- added support for Toshiba 4101/3401 drives (thanks to Atomwide for loan).
- better behaviour when drive is empty or disc changed.
- doesn't try and save if unsupported drive or drive empty.
Version 1.00 - BETT show 94
- added a menu so I can give it a version number
Version 1.01
- added Armadeus format to save list.
Version 1.02
- changed size of replay block from 1 second to 0.6 second due to the extra
memory used playing back 16bit sound with the new sound scheme.
Version 1.03
- message format change.
Version 1.04
- 'Supported' file added to allow user configuration of which drives can
be used. AppleCD300 thus becomes useable.
Version 1.06
- tweaks to give (hopefully) sensible display when non-SCSI drive connected.
Demo version made
Version 1.07
- Support for Sanyo/MediaVision drive added.
- Fix: The names of drives after the first were shown but they were not
otherwise useable.
Version 1.08
- Whilst playing the track number updates to show the current track.
- Changed error reporting whilst reading DA data.
Version 1.09
- Added support for CDFSDriver 2.21 CD_ReadAudio command.
Version 1.10
- Added more error recovery to sort out problems with Cumana and other
interfaces that pass back Illegal Requests every so often.
Version 1.11
- Apparently &BF9 is not the correct RIFF filetype. So changed to using
&FB1, the new WAV filetype as used by Risc PC soundcard.
Also now compiled with C release 5.
Contact
=======
Uniqueway Ltd.
42 Crwys Road
CARDIFF
CF2 4NN
Voice: +44 1222 644611
Fax: +44 1222 644622
email: info@uniqway.demon.co.uk
Note this application is copyright © Uniqueway Ltd, 1994. All rights reserved.
Unauthorised copying is distinctly frowned upon and may incur prosecution, a
large fine AND having your liver torn out by harpies.
Simon Middleton
16th October 1994
eof CDSampler:!Help