Sound Player Tester

The PlayerTester is a tool for testing the sound player and sound samples. You can select the player parameters (such as sample rate, channels, devices, etc.) and you can load samples and play them.

The player tester is started with the gpPlayerTester command with no arguments. For example:

  gpPlayerTester
It will bring up the main window:

[example image of PlayerTester window]
Fig. 1: An example of a player tester window.

The window has two menus Player and Samples. They are used for player and sample operations. Below then there is a list that shows the samples that are currently loaded.

A Player Log Window will pop up also. It will display debug messages from the external player and the java module. You can close it with the close button in the top left. If you want to see it again, select show log window from the player menu.

[example image of PlayerTester
log window]
Fig. 2: An example of a player tester log window.

Player menu

The player menu can be used to select the parameters of the player. The sample rate, channels, audio device and launch mode must be set before starting the player (launch), they cannot be changed after the player has been started.
Sample rate:
Some preselected sample rates available are listed. Select desired sample rate from the list to use that rate. Default is 44.1kHz.
Channels:
Select number of output channels, 1, 2, 4 or 8 are listed. The number of channels that is available depends on the audio device used. Default is 2.
Audio device:
The audio device name to use. The default is 'default' which uses the default audio device selected with apanel. Some devices may not be available on your system.
Master volume:
Set player's output level correction. Some preselected choices are listed. The level can be set any time. Default is 0dB.
Virtual players:
Allocate new virtual player with specified number of channels within a real player. The player must be running already for this to work. Example: first start player with 8 output channels via ADAT Out interface. Then allocate four 2-channel virtual players. Now load several stereo samples and assign them to various virtual players (see later).
Launch mode:
Select the mode that the soundplayer communicates with the external player program. The default is 'socket'.
Launch:
Start the player. The player parameters must be before launch to take effect.
Connect:
Connect to a player that is already running and waiting for a connection. You usually should use launch above.
Stop:
Stop and quit player player.
Quit:
Stop and quit player program and exit PlayerTester.
Show Log Window:
Show log window if you have closed it.

Samples menu

The samples menu is used to load samples and combine several samples. The menu only works after when the player has been started.
Load Soundsample:
Load a sound sample file. It will pop up a file selection dialog to get the file name. It will then load the sample, add the name of the sample to the sample list and starts a sample window for the sample.
Load serialized sample:
The same as above but reads the properties from a serialized file and loads the sample.
Load property sample:
The same as above but reads the properties from a text properties file and loads the sample.
Make parallel:
Create a new parallel sample. First select the samples you want to combine from the sample list and then select 'make parallel'. A new sample window will come up.

Sample window

When sample is loaded, a new window for the sample is created:

[example image of PlayerTester
sample window]
Fig. 3: An example of a player tester sample window.

The volume of the sample can be changed with the scrollbar on the top left. The 'start' and 'stop' button can be used to start/stop the sample (surprise). On the bottom left is a sample meter that shows the current position in the sample. You can jump to any position on the sample by clicking at a position or dragging and releasing an indicator to desired position. On bottom right is shown which virtual player is used. The default is 'master player' which is the real player. If virtual players have been allocated with the player-menu, you can assign the sample to a virtual player. To unload the sample, close the window with the close-button on the top left.

Parallel sample

A parallel sample is a sample that is a combination of several samples. At any time only one of the samples is playing and the others are silent. When an other sample in a parallel sample is selected, the switch is done using a cross-fade. The window for parallel sample is almost the same as in regular sample window. Only the virtual player selection is replaced a selection of samples that consist this sample. Selecting one of the samples switches to the other sample using a cross-fade. Here is a figure of the parallel window:

[example image of PlayerTester
parallel sample window]
Fig. 4: An example of a player tester parallel sample window.


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Last modified: Wed Aug 18 18:12:45 EEST 1999