Subject: Re: [alsa-devel] Re: [linux-audio-dev] Re: Toward a modularizationofaudio component
From: Karl MacMillan (karlmac_AT_peabody.jhu.edu)
Date: Sat May 05 2001 - 19:43:00 EEST
On Sat, 5 May 2001, Abramo Bagnara wrote:
> Karl MacMillan wrote:
> >
> > One of the design decisions of LADSPA and the proposed LAAGA is that all
> > audio data will be floating point. This is not a limitation of the api
> > but a good design decision. You have described conversion between formats
> > as having no cost in the past - this is not true.
>
> ??? One of us must be drunk that day. Are you abstemious? ;-))))
>
> This is obviously not true, conversion costs. What I'm saying is that
> it's not needed.
>
> An audio component may treat only *one* format, nothing force it to
> handle all.
>
Right, but it seems in your proposal to let alsa-lib do implicit
conversions - am I mis-understanding?
> > What drawbacks to you see to multiple api layers?
>
> - the need to write different input module (in every application) if I
> want to read from a file, a PCM capture stream, an FX that read from a
> PCM capture stream, the output from an arbitrary other audio component.
> - simmetric with output
> - less standardization of audio components
> - less flexybility (you can't have arbitrary links, it's like to have
> tools in your sound studio that use different connectors)
> - more complex full API for developers (as they need to understand/learn
> several)
>
I think my question wasn't clear - I was suggesting that all developers
use one api but that api can be one level above alsa (or oss, directx, sgi
al, etc.).
> > What are the chances that the kernel developers will accept the alsa lib
> > (which is stated to be necessary to the alsa kernel api) if it contains a
> > complex application framework?
>
> The discussion is completely orthogonal to this: alsa-lib is fully
> modular and this might be a different shared object (in my mind
> *several* different shared object). I'm advocating an API not a bloated
> alsa-lib.
>
Ok.
Karl
> --
> Abramo Bagnara mailto:abramo_AT_alsa-project.org
>
> Opera Unica Phone: +39.546.656023
> Via Emilia Interna, 140
> 48014 Castel Bolognese (RA) - Italy
>
> ALSA project http://www.alsa-project.org
> It sounds good!
>
_____________________________________________________
| Karl W. MacMillan |
| Computer Music Department |
| Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University |
| karlmac_AT_peabody.jhu.edu |
| www.peabody.jhu.edu/~karlmac |
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