audioplay(1) User Commands audioplay(1)
NAME
audioplay - play audio files
SYNOPSIS
audioplay [-iV] [-v vol] [-b bal] [-p speaker | headphone | line] [-d dev] [file...]
DESCRIPTION
The audioplay utility copies the named audio files (or the standard input if no filenames are present) to the audio device. If no input
file is specified and standard input is a tty, the port, volume, and balance settings specified on the command line will be applied and the
program will exit.
The input files must contain a valid audio file header. The encoding information in this header is matched against the capabilities of the
audio device and, if the data formats are incompatible, an error message is printed and the file is skipped. Compressed ADPCM (G.721)
monaural audio data is automatically uncompressed before playing.
Minor deviations in sampling frequency (that is, less than 1%) are ordinarily ignored. This allows, for instance, data sampled at 8012 Hz
to be played on an audio device that only supports 8000 Hz. If the -V option is present, such deviations are flagged with warning mes-
sages.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-i
Immediate: If the audio device is unavailable (that is, another process currently has write access), audioplay ordinarily waits until
it can obtain access to the device. When the -i option is present, audioplay prints an error message and exits immediately if the
device is busy.
-V
Verbose: Prints messages on the standard error when waiting for access to the audio device or when sample rate deviations are detected.
-v vol
Volume: The output volume is set to the specified value before playing begins, and is reset to its previous level when audioplay exits.
The vol argument is an integer value between 0 and 100, inclusive. If this argument is not specified, the output volume remains at the
level most recently set by any process.
-b bal
Balance: The output balance is set to the specified value before playing begins, and is reset to its previous level when audioplay
exits. The bal argument is an integer value between -100 and 100, inclusive. A value of -100 indicates left balance, 0 middle, and 100
right. If this argument is not specified, the output balance remains at the level most recently set by any process.
-p speaker | headphone | line
Output Port: Selects the built-in speaker (the default), headphone jack, or line out as the destination of the audio output signal. If
this argument is not specified, the output port will remain unchanged. Please note: Not all audio adapters support all of the output
ports. If the named port does not exist, an appropriate substitute will be used.
-d dev
Device: The dev argument specifies an alternate audio device to which output should be directed. If the -d option is not specified, the
AUDIODEV environment variable is consulted (see below). Otherwise, /dev/audio is used as the default audio device.
-?
Help: Prints a command line usage message.
OPERANDS
file File Specification: Audio files named on the command line are played sequentially. If no filenames are present, the standard input
stream (if it is not a tty) is played (it, too, must contain an audio file header). The special filename `-' may be used to read
the standard input stream instead of a file. If a relative path name is supplied, the AUDIOPATH environment variable is consulted
(see below).
USAGE
See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of audioplay when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2**31 bytes).
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
AUDIODEV The full path name of the audio device to write to, if no -d argument is supplied. If the AUDIODEV variable is not set,
/dev/audio is used.
AUDIOPATH A colon-separated list of directories in which to search for audio files whose names are given by relative pathnames. The
current directory (".") may be specified explicitly in the search path. If the AUDIOPATH variable is not set, only the cur-
rent directory will be searched.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Architecture |SPARC, x86 |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Availability |SUNWauda |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Interface Stability |Evolving |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO
audioconvert(1), audiorecord(1), mixerctl(1), attributes(5), largefile(5), usb_ac(7D), audio(7I), mixer(7I)
BUGS
audioplay currently supports a limited set of audio format conversions. If the audio file is not in a format supported by the audio device,
it must first be converted. For example, to convert to voice format on the fly, use the command:
example% audioconvert -f voice myfile | audioplay
The format conversion will not always be able to keep up with the audio output. If this is the case, you should convert to a temporary file
before playing the data.
SunOS 5.10 16 Feb 2001 audioplay(1)