A Freeware MacOS sound player and conversion utility.
Release Notes
August 13, 1998
What Is It?
Ever download a sound file from the Internet and not know what to do with it? Want to create a sound file for your WWW site or to give to your PC friend? SoundApp is the solution you have been looking for!
SoundApp can play and convert sound files from a variety of computer platforms and in many different formats. It can be used with WWW browsers to play sounds as SoundApp supports many more formats than any browser or other sound players.
SoundApp can play and convert from the following sound formats:
• SoundCap (including Huffman-compressed) and Studio Session Instruments
• SoundEdit (including stereo, MACE-3 and MACE-6),
• AIFF and AIFF-C (8-, 16-, 24- and 32-bit, MACE-3, MACE-6, IMA 4:1, µ-law and QuickTime codecs),
• System 7 sound and 'snd ' resource (including MACE-3, MACE-6, IMA 4:1 and µ-law),
• QuickTime MooV (soundtracks only, including MIDI movies),
• Sun Audio .au and NeXT .snd (including µ-law, a-law, 8-, 16-, 24- and 32-bit linear, 32- and 64-bit floating point, G.721 ADPCM and G.723 ADPCM),
• Windows WAVE (including GSM-, IMA- and MS ADPCM-compressed, µ-law and a-law, 8-, 16- and 32-bit linear),
• MPEG audio (layers I, II and III, requires a PowerPC processor for playback),
• Sound Blaster VOC,
• Atari AVR (including stereo and 8- and 16-bit),
• Many varieties of MODs, ScreamTracker 3 module (S3M), Multitracker module (MTM),
• MIDI (type 0, 1 and 2, including GS and XG; playback only),
• Amiga IFF/8SVX (including stereo and compressed),
• Sound Designer and Sound Designer II,
• Ensoniq PARIS,
• IRCAM (8- and 16-bit linear and 32-bit floating point), and
• Psion Series 3 and EPOC 32 (Psion Series 5) sounds.
Don’t know what those are? SoundApp does and will play them without you having to know!
What Does It Need?
SoundApp requires at least System 7.0 and Sound Manager 3.1 or greater (part of System 7.5.3). In addition, QuickTime features require QuickTime 2.0 or greater; however, QuickTime 2.5 or greater is recommended. Playback of MIDI files using GS instruments with QuickTime requires QuickTime 3.0 or later. If you wish to play MIDI files using an external MIDI synthesizer, then Opcode Systems’ Open Music System (OMS) MIDI driver version 2.1 or greater is required.
What Else Does It Do?
In addition to playing, it can convert sound files to the following formats: System 7 sound and sound suitcase (linear, µ-law, MACE-3, MACE-6 and IMA encodings), AIFF (linear, µ-law, MACE-3, MACE-6 and IMA encodings), WAVE (linear, µ-law, a-law and IMA encodings), Sun Audio and NeXT (linear, µ-law and a-law encodings), Sound Designer II, QuickTime (linear, µ-law, MACE-3, MACE-6 and IMA encodings), Psion Series 3 and EPOC 32 (Psion Series 5) formats. It also allows sample rate conversion, translation between mono and stereo and changing the bit-depth of samples. You can also group a set of conversion parameters and select them all at once from a menu. SoundApp comes with a setting to convert to the popular “.au” format used on the WWW.
SoundApp offers Play Lists which allow you to group a set of sounds together for playback or batch processing. Play Lists can be played in random order using the shuffle mode and/or can be set to repeat. Using the Get Info window, you can learn lots of technical information about a sound file.
SoundApp has extensive AppleScript support to allow you to use SoundApp as part of a custom solution. A feature only available to AppleScripters is the ability to play or convert portions of a sound file by defining start and end points. For more information on SoundApp’s AppleScript support, see the AppleScript topic in the Help window.
Playback is done smoothly in the background and you can pause and stop playback. By clicking in or dragging the progress bar, you can jump around in a sound file to skip over boring parts or listen to a portion again. SoundApp can also play MIDI files to your external OMS-compatible synthesizer or via QuickTime’s Musical Instrument facility.
How Do I Use It?
Launch SoundApp by double-clicking on it in the Finder. Then, select the SoundApp Help menu item from the Help menu and read the documentation that is displayed. The Help window has multiple topics which you can view by selecting them from the pop-up menu. You will also find extensive balloon help available throughout the application.
What’s It Cost To Use It?
Nothing! See below for distribution restrictions.
Translations
SoundApp is now available in the following translated versions:
• Japanese translation by Naotaka Morimoto at:
<http://www.naotaka.com/SoundApp/>,
• French translation by Franck Gazengel at:
<http://home.worldnet.fr/gazengel/>, and
• Swedish translation by Christofer Karlsson and Jonas Lindberg at:
<http://home3.swipnet.se/~w-32127/soundapp.html>.
What’s New?
The following is a list of changes for this version:
2.5.1, August 13 1998.
• Added support for the following formats:
◊ 8-, 16- and 24-bit Ensoniq PARIS files,
◊ AIFF/AIFF-C files encoded with arbitrary QuickTime codecs, e.g., QDesign and PureVoice™,
• SoundApp will now use Navigation Services if it is installed for file save and open dialogs,
• Export From QuickTime… can now export to all exportable formats supported by the version of QuickTime that is installed,
• Enhanced Get Info in the following ways:
◊ Added the ability to Get Info on the file currently being processed by option-clicking on the Get Info button in the Controls palette,
◊ Using Get Info on a non-sound file now displays a window noting this,
◊ Added another line to the “Where” field in the Get Info window,
• Enhanced SoundApp’s AppleScript support in the following ways:
◊ Implemented access to information and preference records,
◊ Recording usage of the Convert… dialog now includes the specified conversion parameters,
◊ Fixed some problems with the AppleEvent Terminology resource,
• Japanese characters in MPEG ID3 tags should now display properly,
• Processing files with the “Display Status Window” preference turned off no longer crashes,
• Fixed confusion with the time elapsed in the Status window when playing MPEG files and immediately pausing,
• 24-bit file support now works properly,
• SoundApp now processes the last event in a MIDI file,
• SoundApp now generates Sound Designer II files that better conform to the standard,
• Playback of MPEG Layer II files will no longer stop when it encounters a corrupted frame,
• Better support for AIFF-C files that are corrupted at the end and those with non-standard instrument chunks,
• Made some improvements in the stability of MPEG playback,
• MIDI files with control change parameters that are out of range are now clipped,
• QuickTime movies are now properly closed after playing or converting,
• MOD files from an Amiga that have a “mod.” prefix will now be recognized by SoundApp,
• The Quit command is now enabled during playback,
• The processing status indicator now follows an entry if it is dragged in a Play List,
• Fixed a cosmetic update problem with Balloon Help in the Play List, and
• Updated my contact address in the Notes section.
You expressly acknowledge and agree that use of SoundApp is at your exclusive risk. SoundApp, any related files and documentation are provided “AS IS” and without any warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
If you wish to include SoundApp on a CD-ROM as part of a freeware/shareware collection, Web browser or book, I ask that you send me a complimentary copy of the product to the address in the Notes topic of the About window. Also, if you are interested in licensing all of or part of the SoundApp playback and conversion routines see the “Licensing” section of the Notes topic.
