Programming Forums > Application Development > C++

brophster · Mar 22nd, 2006, 12:34 PM

I am working on a project that requires me to analyse an audio signal and output a text file as to the status of the signal. I have limited programming experience as im more of an electronics guy.
My question is how do get my programme to read the audio which will be plugged into the audio in port on my sound card.
Is there a more suiteable language for doing this than C++.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

nnxion · Mar 22nd, 2006, 12:50 PM

It depends on how (which format) you get the audio information. I don't think other languages are especially better than C++, but I can tell you it's not easy job.
You say you have limited programming experience, but you might want to take a look at this and see if you understand it. If you think that is easy, then you can move on and make your program. If you don't then I'd recommend you to either learn a lot more of some language until you can make something like it, or you can hire a guy to do it for you.

I'd rent some person from http://www.rentacoder.com or so, they often do things very cheap.

brophster · Mar 22nd, 2006, 1:02 PM

I think your one step ahead of me.
I dont have the audio in any digital format. Its coming in raw through the sound card. I need to be able to moniter this audio in real time.

DaWei · Mar 22nd, 2006, 1:49 PM

Well, one does it differently with a PC than with a pair of headphones. You haven't given any clues. I recommend you read the forum's rules/FAQ (there's a link to "Asking questions the smart way" there) and the "How to Post a Question" at the top of the C forum.

brophster · Mar 22nd, 2006, 2:07 PM

sorry for not making myself clear and thankyou for your atention.

What i want to do.
I wish to read in a raw audio signal straight from an amplifier into a pc. I need a program to periodically check the audio to determine if it is still transmitting.
If it is not transmiting the program will update a text file to register a fault.

My problem.
If i were dealing with an audio file i would have some idea of how to procede but im not.
So my question is how do i go about deealing with an audio signal in real time.
and how to i direct my program to an input port rather than a text file.

I hope this is considered an appropriate question for this forum and you dont all think im daft; but any help would be greatly appreciated.

DaWei · Mar 22nd, 2006, 2:31 PM

Get the technical documents on the sound card in your system from the manufacturer. On a typical desktop PC, you have to know what you're doing to get into the driver arena, but your manufacturer will probably supply you with software or documentation for the existing driver that lets you access the card via some API. Your card will take care of a lot of your problems. Analog audio is (obviously) translated to digital audio for recording and measurement (this is where you want to be) and digital is translated to analog for output or playback. As an electronics guy you are no doubt familiar with the terms ADC and DAC.

Animatronic · Mar 22nd, 2006, 2:32 PM

How are you connecting the amp to the pc... line in / mic? If so I would still treat that as an audio stream.

I would use FMOD to do this (just because I've used it before), you can get it to output the sound to a file (if you need that), and get it to do some simple analysis on the sound to check if its silent or near silent, i.e. stopped.

As for lanuages FMOD provides a managed wrapper, so you could choose C# for speed of development.

brophster · Mar 23rd, 2006, 7:22 AM

thanks Animatronic that fmod program looks great. hopefully it will do what i want it to. But ill need to play around with it for a while.

nnxion · Mar 23rd, 2006, 7:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brophster

thanks Animatronic that fmod program looks great. hopefully it will do what i want it to. But ill need to play around with it for a while.

If you had searched the forums you would have found that FMOD has been recommended numerous times before.

Mar 22nd, 2006, 12:34 PM	#1
brophster Newbie Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	read in audio I am working on a project that requires me to analyse an audio signal and output a text file as to the status of the signal. I have limited programming experience as im more of an electronics guy. My question is how do get my programme to read the audio which will be plugged into the audio in port on my sound card. Is there a more suiteable language for doing this than C++. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mar 22nd, 2006, 12:50 PM	#2
nnxion Programming Guru Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: elemental plane Posts: 1,429 Rep Power: 5	It depends on how (which format) you get the audio information. I don't think other languages are especially better than C++, but I can tell you it's not easy job. You say you have limited programming experience, but you might want to take a look at this and see if you understand it. If you think that is easy, then you can move on and make your program. If you don't then I'd recommend you to either learn a lot more of some language until you can make something like it, or you can hire a guy to do it for you. I'd rent some person from http://www.rentacoder.com or so, they often do things very cheap. __________________ "Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -- Socrates

Mar 22nd, 2006, 1:49 PM	#4
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	Well, one does it differently with a PC than with a pair of headphones. You haven't given any clues. I recommend you read the forum's rules/FAQ (there's a link to "Asking questions the smart way" there) and the "How to Post a Question" at the top of the C forum. __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

Mar 22nd, 2006, 2:31 PM	#6
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	Get the technical documents on the sound card in your system from the manufacturer. On a typical desktop PC, you have to know what you're doing to get into the driver arena, but your manufacturer will probably supply you with software or documentation for the existing driver that lets you access the card via some API. Your card will take care of a lot of your problems. Analog audio is (obviously) translated to digital audio for recording and measurement (this is where you want to be) and digital is translated to analog for output or playback. As an electronics guy you are no doubt familiar with the terms ADC and DAC. __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

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Mar 22nd, 2006, 1:02 PM	#3
brophster Newbie Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	I think your one step ahead of me. I dont have the audio in any digital format. Its coming in raw through the sound card. I need to be able to moniter this audio in real time.

Mar 22nd, 2006, 2:07 PM	#5
brophster Newbie Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	sorry for not making myself clear and thankyou for your atention. What i want to do. I wish to read in a raw audio signal straight from an amplifier into a pc. I need a program to periodically check the audio to determine if it is still transmitting. If it is not transmiting the program will update a text file to register a fault. My problem. If i were dealing with an audio file i would have some idea of how to procede but im not. So my question is how do i go about deealing with an audio signal in real time. and how to i direct my program to an input port rather than a text file. I hope this is considered an appropriate question for this forum and you dont all think im daft; but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mar 22nd, 2006, 2:32 PM	#7
Animatronic Programmer Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 99 Rep Power: 4	How are you connecting the amp to the pc... line in / mic? If so I would still treat that as an audio stream. I would use FMOD to do this (just because I've used it before), you can get it to output the sound to a file (if you need that), and get it to do some simple analysis on the sound to check if its silent or near silent, i.e. stopped. As for lanuages FMOD provides a managed wrapper, so you could choose C# for speed of development.

Mar 23rd, 2006, 7:22 AM	#8
brophster Newbie Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	thanks Animatronic that fmod program looks great. hopefully it will do what i want it to. But ill need to play around with it for a while.

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Programming Forums > Application Development > C++

read in audio