File: mixtest.zip Author: Marco Nelissen Release: 1.0 (November 17th, 1997) Compatibility: Preview Release Location: contrib/audio Description: Test other applications for correct mixing Notes: "Mixtest" is a simple program to expose applications that do not mix correctly into the audio stream, or depend on fixed-size buffers. There is a frightening number of such badly-behaved applications out there, including several well-known audio-players, games and even the Terminal beep. If your favourite application fails the "mixtest" test, go harass the author for a newer version. Usage: WARNING-WARNING-WARNING!!!! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOUR SPEAKERS, AMPLIFIER, COMPUTER OR ANYTHING ELSE WITHIN A 6000 MILE RADIUS BLOWS UP, DO NOT BLAME ME! You'll hear a fairly hard popping-noise when mixtest starts, you might want to turn down your speaker/amplifier. It's also a bad idea to leave it running for a long period, as some amplifiers don't like being fed a signal with a large DC-offset. First start the program you want to test, then start mixtest. Mixtest will place itself at the start of the stream, and will fill it with the value 24000, thus creating a DC offset in the audio signal. Mixtest will also change the size of the buffers at regular intervals. When run together with mixtest, a program that does not mix correctly will produce very loud noises, caused by the sampledata wrapping from 32767 to -32768 and vice versa. A program that mixes correctly will not do this, although because of extreme DC-offset and the resulting clipping, the sound will not be as good as it is normally. A program that depends on fixed-size buffers will appear to stutter when run together with mixtest. A sample program that is switchable between correct and incorrect mixing is provided, as well as sourcecode for both programs. Enjoy! Marco Nelissen