Hi Folks.
Although I am not much of a computer audio guy, I know that a number of you are, based on the discussions I have lurked over on this mailing list. However, I was watching the news the other day and I saw some interesting stuff about MP3, the new compressed audio format that all of the music companies are arguing over. There is a product(s?) that you can buy that lets you download and play these new files. It occurred to me that this whole concept could easily be embraced by Squeak. Squeak runs on everything, it has web accessing capabilities, and it already has significant audio and multi-media extensions. I wonder if you audio-philes are aware/interested in adding an MP3 extension to Squeak?
---==> Chris
PS> For those of you who may not know what MP3 is, I looked it up on the web and this is the definition I found:
"MPEG3 MP3 (MPEG Layer 3) is a method of compressing audio samples with minimal loss of quality, in fact compression of up to 12:1 is possible with no loss of quality. What this means is that a 3 minute song on a CD which would take up 30-40 Mb in normal .WAV format can be squashed down to 3-4Mb in Full 44khz Stereo. It will take about 15-20 minutes to download a file of this sizes, based on 28k Modem speed."
[Quotation "borrowed" from: "Universal MP3 Links" at http://members.tripod.com/~ump3links/index.htm]
PPS> On a related subject, has anyone looked into Squeak and DVD support? DVD (digital versatile disk, or digital video disk) promises to combine new compression techniques for both audio and video signals. Versions of DVD drives are already shipping with new PCs in the US. Combining the ability to decode and play DVD signals in Squeak with the exciting concept of running Squeak on a web page, could provide for a new, exciting kind of multi-media web page.... The future is getting brighter!
MP3 decoding is pretty compute-intensive and probably would not be a good candidate for C translation, which violates the Squeak Portability Commandment. Most, if not all, implementations use assembly to reduce the CPU load to an acceptable level. However, there's some Open Source for MP3 players at http://www.freeamp.org that could probably be wrapped in a platform independent primitive to decode an MP3 stream to a Squeak-compatible sound buffer, if somebody wanted to take a stab at it (Chris?).
A quick look leads me to believe it would probably take a day or so for an Intel-only version, and some more time to support each of the other platforms. Most of the code looks pretty clean and portable - it's just those nasty assembly routines that mean trouble.
Chris Norton writes:
Hi Folks.
Although I am not much of a computer audio guy, I know that a number of you are, based on the discussions I have lurked over on this mailing list. However, I was watching the news the other day and I saw some interesting stuff about MP3, the new compressed audio format that all of the music companies are arguing over. There is a product(s?) that you can buy that lets you download and play these new files. It occurred to me that this whole concept could easily be embraced by Squeak. Squeak runs on everything, it has web accessing capabilities, and it already has significant audio and multi-media extensions. I wonder if you audio-philes are aware/interested in adding an MP3 extension to Squeak?
=================================================== Duane Maxwell dmaxwell (at) launchpados.com CTO http://www.launchpados.com Launchpad, Inc. (619) 578-8500 x226
Information contained herein is my personal opinion and not necessarily that of Launchpad, Inc. ===================================================
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