Java Sound Resources: FAQ: General

Have a look at the Java Sound Resources: Examples. Some small code snippets can be found in the Java Developers Almanac: javax.sound.sampled examples - javax.sound.midi examples.

Another possibility (rather for advanced users) is to download the JavaSoundDemo from Sun's Java Sound Homepage. (Matthias)

The question you have may have been answered already. Please check the following resources:

If you decide to ask a new question, it is recommended to follow best practise in describing your problem. Some hints can be found at Java Sound Resources: Contact: Question Guidelines and Sending Messages to javasound-interest (Matthias)

Search the Sun website: Java(TM) Technology Site Search. (Matthias)

Welcome to Java! The way to invoke the Java Virtual Machine is 'java SimpleAudioPlayer sound.wav', not 'java SimpleAudioPlayer.class sound.wav'. This behaviour is not specific to Java Sound. (Matthias)

There are three possibilities:

(Matthias)

It is possible. We cannot provide all concepts of digital audio in this FAQ. There are many good books on this subject. I recommend "the computer music tutorial" from Curtis Roads, from MIT press. For simple examples how to do streaming audio with Java Sound, see the Java Sound Resources: Examples.

For streaming audio (and possibly video), have a look at Java Media Framework (JMF). It provides a high-level API with streaming protocols and codecs. See also next question. (Florian)

The Java Media Framework (JMF) is a high-level API, designed mainly for easy playback of multimedia files, video as well as audio. Java Sound, on the other hand, is a rather low-level API, designed for detailed control of the audio and MIDI hardware.

The 'performance pack' versions of JMF use Java Sound to play and capture sound data. Because of this, they include the Java Sound implementation. This implementation is the same as in the JDK (but sometimes a bit newer). The 'all-java' version of JMF uses sun.audio classes to playback sound (capture is not possible here). So this version doesn't include a Java Sound implementation.

JMF has several features that Java Sound doesn't have:

The advantages of using Java Sound are:

Regarding applets, JMF is easier to use. This is because JMF can run on JDK 1.1. This means that JMF can run on older browser VMs. In opposite to that, Java Sound requires either JRE 1.3 or higher and a browser that can use the system's VM or the Java plug-in 1.3 or higher. (Matthias)

You can make specification requests to Sun. To read how to do that, go to http://java.sun.com/aboutJava/communityprocess/submit.html. You may want to discuss the feature on the javasound-interest mailing list before. (Florian)

This is a matter of time. Sun will improve the Java Sound implementation (and also the API). Other people will provide service providers to extend Java Sound. The Tritonus team will release parts of Tritonus as service providers so that everybody can take advantage of Tritonus' achievements. A native port of Tritonus to Windows is planned, too. (Florian)

For the Sun implementation, you can submit it as a bug on http://java.sun.com/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi (needs a registration to the developer connection). See also the list of open bugs. To get a bug fixed soon, you can put your votes on it and encourage others to do so.

For Tritonus, use their bug reporting system on http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?group_id=1390. (Florian)

Apple is responsible for the Java Sound implementation on their operating systems. So if you need a feature there, bug Steve Jobs. (Matthias)

See Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, Version 1.5.0 Summary of New Features and Enhancements - Java Sound Technology. (Matthias)

For the Sun implementation of Java Sound, you can get the JDK source code under the Sun Community Source License (SCSL). See Sun Community Source Licensing.

For the Tritonus implementation of Java Sound, you can get the source code under the GNU Library General Public License. See Tritonus. See also Q: 8 (Matthias)

No. However, there is the Mobil Media API (MMAPI), which is developed for J2ME. The "audio building block" of MMAPI is also part of MIDP 2.0. The design of MMAPI is similar to JMF. (Matthias)

A quote from Warren Dale, Java 3D Team, Sun Microsystems:

(Matthias)

You can, but propably not the way you have in mind. The Java Sound API provides you with the facility to record audio. Everything needed to process this audio data to get text from it has to be done yourself. Obviously, it is possible to code that in Java. However, if you just want to call some methods, use the Java Speech API (JSAPI). See also Q: 4 (Matthias)

The lastest available release of the JDK for Mac OS X is version 1.4.2. When or if Apple will release a 1.5 version is unknown. With the current release (1.4.2), audio is reported to work ok with good overall latency. MIDI is not implemented. However, you can use the plum-stone project to access MIDI devices (not as a sequencer). Apple also provides direct access to its "coreaudio" library via a Java packet com.apple.audio. Obviously, using this packet rather than the Java Sound API will make your program non-portable.

See also What should I do if I have a problem with Java Sound on Mac OS or Mac OS X? (Matthias)

The Java Sound documentation is part of the documentation bundle of the JDK. You can download it or view it online. (Matthias)