shaar

i'd like to build an 8-track soundfile player, and i'm wondering which way to go with it..

the soundfiles i'll be using will be 24/96 and a few minutes long, so i'm afraid i'll run out of ram (i have 4gb in my macbook) if i use groove~, and that sfplay~ might be better

but i really want a detailed waveform display on my players, so that i can select certain sections of the soundfiles and loop them.

combining sfplay~ with waveform displays is still tricky, from what i can tell.

i really want to visually know where i am in the soundfile and where the transients are etc.

what else are the pros and cons of sfplay vs. groove (disk-based vs. ram-based) playback?

is there maybe a third, better option that i'm unaware of? i've just upgraded to max 6..

i'd like to build an 8-track soundfile player, and i'm wondering which way to go with it.. 

but i really want a detailed waveform display on my players, so that i can select certain sections of the soundfiles and loop them.
combining sfplay~ with waveform displays is still tricky, from what i can tell.
i really want to visually know where i am in the soundfile and where the transients are etc. 

some-advice-on-building-a-soundfile-player-needed

well, you're right on all points and you're expecting problems where you should expect them. To do that you'll need to find a way to render a waveform from a soundfile not loaded in ram, which is not easy to do ; then use something like a rslider and get the starting/endpoints as your start and endpoints. There is probably something done somewhere though. You should try the jitter route to keep in memory the waveform.

Maybe there is a really easier solution which i don't knoiw, but indeed for reading long soundfiles relying on buffer~ may lead you to using too much ram. You should try that first though, because reading from disk means displaying soundwave will be a problem (at least in Max).

well, you're right on all points and you're expecting problems where you should expect them. To do that you'll need to find a way to render a waveform from a soundfile not loaded in ram, which is not easy to do ; then use something like a rslider and get the starting/endpoints as your start and endpoints. There is probably something done somewhere though. You should try the jitter route to keep in memory the waveform.
Maybe there is a really easier solution which i don't knoiw, but indeed for reading long soundfiles relying on buffer~ may lead you to using too much ram. You should try that first though, because reading from disk means displaying soundwave will be a problem (at least in Max).


it's a little frustrating that, in the world of pro tools, live, traktor etc. etc. it's so difficult to replicate some of these functions in max, particularly when it comes to visualizing a substantial soundfile's shape and selecting parts of it for playback, which seems like a universal digital-audio convention at this point.

are there any sound-quality differences between sfplay~, groove~, play~ and any other playback objects that might exist?

it's a little frustrating that, in the world of pro tools, live, traktor etc. etc. it's so difficult to replicate some of these functions in max, particularly when it comes to visualizing a substantial soundfile's shape and selecting parts of it for playback, which seems like a universal digital-audio convention at this point. 

are there any sound-quality differences between sfplay~, groove~, play~ and any other playback objects that might exist?


some advice on building a soundfile player needed..