multichannel audio

multichannel audio

• nkoranda

  Hi, thanks for the response.

  I already looked into xact, but didn't find much information about my specific needs.
  To be more specific about those needs:
  What i need to do is create a system for a zoo.
  They are going to build a tunnel with speakers built into it.
  What they want is play random wav sounds sent to random speakers all the time to create a continuous spatial soundscape.
  That's why i thought that if i can use a 5.1 soundcard as 6 mono channels, i can already address 6 speakers with only one soundcard and maybe have panning effects and the like as well.

  Thanks,
  Patrick

  
  

• Kyaw N Paing

  Greetings Patrick,

  Have you had any luck with finding source for this project.

  I have exactly the same problem, (Interactive Kiosk, Client now wants stereo sound on both sides of the display)

  Thanks, Colin

  
  

• mattman206

  I havn't tried much, just starting out with audio in DirectX, but you might want to have a look at the Xact systems for your audio needs.

  "The Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool beta is now available! XACT allows composers and sound designers to create dynamic, non-repetitive sound effects and more easily take advantage of sophisticated, real-time effects processing, while providing optimized bundling and multi-streaming interfaces for programmers. The tool and engine also support real-time in-game auditioning, editing, mixing, and monitoring of audio content, allowing for rapid prototyping with minimal programming resources. "

  Here is the link to the forums for it...

  http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx ForumID=323&SiteID=1

  
  
  

• GregStroud

  vjFlexx wrote:

  I'm wondering if it is possible to program a soundcard with e.g. 5.1 option as if it had 6 mono channels.

  You'll want to use the standard Windows multimedia functions in the Platform SDK. You'll either need to use the old WAVEFORMATEX structure with nChannels set to 6 or the new WAFEFORMATEXTENSIBLE structure which specifically supports multi-channel audio. It's possible that your soundcard won't support either of these options. You might not be able to use the .1 channel because that's the low frequency channel.

  
  

• Henry Chan

  hey,

  thanks all for the responses. It's really helpfull.
  I'll play with the suggested options.
  For ppl who like to know: i bumped into an opensource project which might also be helpfull: http://ac3filter.sourceforge.net/
  It has a matrix mixer built in which to me confirmes the possibility of controlling the outputs individually.
  I'll have to look into the code how it's done.

  
  

• antho

  I think that whether or not you can use the channels in 'raw' mode will be dependent on your hardware. I've not come across anyone doing this before and I don't know whether the average card supports it; I imagine it probably doesn't but I'm by no means a sound expert.
  
  What you could do is to get three cheapo sound cards that just do stereo sound (i.e. 2-channel output). Create a seperate DirectSound device per card and then pan a sound all the way left or all the way right to pick a specific output speaker.
  
  
  
• multichannel audio