This application requires at least System 7 and a 68020-based or better Macintosh with FPU. Playback of MPEG audio will, most likely, only be possible in real time on a Power Macintosh. (At least, it won't do so on a Quadra 650.) However, conversion will work on slower machines. It is distributed as a fat binary and is freeware under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (included).
2 What Is It?
This is a first attempt at something that will let you play MPEG audio files on a Macintosh. It supports Layer I and Layer II files. It will attempt to play files on any Mac, but playback will probably only be smooth on a Power Macintosh. Conversion into SoundApp-compatible NeXT .snd files is supported on Power Macs and 68020 or better Macs. On slower machines, e.g. a Mac II, conversion will be extremely slow.
3 Options
Sounds can be played or converted using the left or right channels only, or in stereo. Stereo playback requires more CPU power, of course. True 16-bit playback is supported on all Macs if the hardware supports it. To abort playback or conversion, type command-period. During playback, the application can be placed in the background. Pauses will occur if it does not get enough CPU, which is likely if anything else is done.
4 Information
This code has a terrible user interface, but it was a quick job. It is based on maplay1.2 by Tobias Bading (bading@cs.tu-berlin.de) for Suns and SGIs (thus the tty interface) which you can find on the Internet. I've included his README with this package. It was compiled with Metrowerks CodeWarrior Gold, a fine compiler. You can reach me via e-mail to franke1@llnl.gov.
SoundApp is a freeware sound playing and conversion application for the Macintosh which can be used to play or convert the resulting file. SoundApp supports the following file formats: (from SoundApp’s documentation)
SoundCap™ (including Huffman compressed), SoundEdit™ (including stereo), AIFF, AIFF-C, System 7 sound, Sun Audio AU and NeXT .snd (including µ-law, a-law, 8-bit linear, 16-bit linear, G.721 ADPCM and G.723 ADPCM), Windows™ WAVE (including MS ADPCM-compressed), Sound Blaster™ VOC, Amiga MOD (including Oktalyzer, MED/OctaMED and some other variations with up to 32 tracks), Amiga IFF/8SVX (including compressed), Sound Designer™ II, DVI ADPCM, Studio Session Instruments and any 'snd ' resource file. SoundApp can convert all of these formats to System 7 sound, sound suitcase, AIFF, WAVE and NeXT formats. Using QuickTime 1.6 or later, SoundApp can also convert QuickTime soundtracks and audio CD tracks to AIFF, System 7 sound or sound suitcase formats. MOD playback is PowerPC-accelerated on Power Macintoshes.
5 Version History
0.2, 10/11/94 First public release.
0.3 10/21/94 Fixed bug when run on non-FPU equipped Macs, added background support, playback doesn't open SIOUX window until after playback, added 16-bit playback support for 68K Macs, allow command-period to cancel.
0.3.1 10/25/94 Fixed popup menu to reflect how the program actually works.
0.3.2 11/10/94 Save dialog's default file name is now the original file with a ".snd" suffix, fixed bug which caused mono files to be converted incorrectly.
0.3.3 11/16/94 Fixed conversion bug for stereo files introduced in 0.3.2. :-(
