+
++ Libsndfile is a C library for reading and writing files containing sampled sound + (such as MS Windows WAV and the Apple/SGI AIFF format) through one standard + library interface. It is released in source code format under the + Gnu Lesser General Public License. +
+ ++ The library was written to compile and run on a Linux system but should compile + and run on just about any Unix (including MacOS X). + There are also pre-compiled binaries available for 32 and 64 bit windows. +
++ It was designed to handle both little-endian (such as WAV) and big-endian + (such as AIFF) data, and to compile and run correctly on little-endian (such as Intel + and DEC/Compaq Alpha) processor systems as well as big-endian processor systems such + as Motorola 68k, Power PC, MIPS and Sparc. + Hopefully the design of the library will also make it easy to extend for reading and + writing new sound file formats. +
+ ++ It has been compiled and tested (at one time or another) on the following systems: +
+ ++ At the moment, each new release is being tested on i386 Linux, x86_64 Linux, + PowerPC Linux, Win32 and Win64. +
+ + + + ++ libsndfile has the following main features : +
++ libsndfile has a comprehensive test suite so that each release is as bug free + as possible. + When new bugs are found, new tests are added to the test suite to ensure that + these bugs don't creep back into the code. + When new features are added, tests are added to the test suite to make sure that + these features continue to work correctly even when they are old features. +
++ The following table lists the file formats and encodings that libsndfile can read + and write. + The file formats are arranged across the top and encodings along the left + edge. +
+| + | Micro- soft WAV |
+ SGI / Apple AIFF / AIFC |
+ Sun / DEC / NeXT AU / SND |
+ Header- less RAW |
+ Paris Audio File PAF |
+ Commo- dore Amiga IFF / SVX |
+ Sphere Nist WAV |
+ IRCAM SF |
+ Creative VOC |
+ Sound forge W64 |
+ GNU Octave 2.0 MAT4 |
+ GNU Octave 2.1 MAT5 |
+ Portable Voice Format PVF |
+ Fasttracker 2 XI |
+ HMM Tool Kit HTK |
+ Apple CAF |
+ Sound Designer II SD2 |
+ Free Lossless Audio Codec FLAC |
+
| Unsigned 8 bit PCM | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | +R/W | R/W | + | + | ||||||||||
| Signed 8 bit PCM | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | + | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +|||||||
| Signed 16 bit PCM | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | +|
| Signed 24 bit PCM | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | R/W | R/W | R/W | +||||||
| Signed 32 bit PCM | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | + | R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | |||||
| 32 bit float | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | R/W | R/W | R/W | + | R/W | + | ||||||
| 64 bit double | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | ||||||||
| u-law encoding | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | R/W | + | |||||||
| A-law encoding | +R/W | R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | R/W | R/W | +R/W | + | R/W | + | |||||||
| IMA ADPCM | +R/W | + | R/W | ++ | + | |||||||||||||
| MS ADPCM | +R/W | + | R/W | + | + | |||||||||||||
| GSM 6.10 | +R/W | R/W | R/W | + | R/W | + | + | |||||||||||
| G721 ADPCM 32kbps | +R/W | R/W | + | + | + | |||||||||||||
| G723 ADPCM 24kbps | +R/W | + | + | + | ||||||||||||||
| G723 ADPCM 40kbps | +R/W | + | + | + | ||||||||||||||
| 12 bit DWVW | +R/W | R/W | + | + | + | |||||||||||||
| 16 bit DWVW | +R/W | R/W | + | + | + | |||||||||||||
| 24 bit DWVW | +R/W | R/W | + | + | + | |||||||||||||
| Ok Dialogic ADPCM | +R/W | + | + | + | ||||||||||||||
| 8 bit DPCM | ++ | + | R/W | + | ||||||||||||||
| 16 bit DPCM | ++ | + | R/W | + |
+From version 1.0.18, libsndfile also reads and writes + FLAC +and + Ogg/Vorbis. +
+ + + ++ Some of the file formats I am also interested in adding are: +
++ I have decided that I will not be adding support for MPEG Layer 3 (commonly + known as MP3) due to the patent issues surrounding this file format. + See + + the FAQ + for more. +
++ Other file formats may also be added on request. +
+ + + + ++ My first attempt at reading and writing WAV files was in 1990 or so under Windows + 3.1. + I started using Linux in early 1995 and contributed some code to the + wavplay + program. + That contributed code would eventually mutate into this library. + As one of my interests is Digital Signal Processing (DSP) I decided that as well as + reading data from an audio file in the native format (typically 16 bit short integers) + it would also be useful to be able to have the library do the conversion to floating + point numbers for DSP applications. + It then dawned on me that whatever file format (anything from 8 bit unsigned chars, + to 32 bit floating point numbers) the library should be able to convert the data to + whatever format the library user wishes to use it in. + For example, in a sound playback program, the library caller typically wants the sound + data in 16 bit short integers to dump into a sound card even though the data in the + file may be 32 bit floating point numbers (ie Microsoft's WAVE_FORMAT_IEEE_FLOAT + format). + Another example would be someone doing speech recognition research who has recorded + some speech as a 16 bit WAV file but wants to process it as double precision floating + point numbers. +
++ Here is the release history for libsndfile : +
++ libsndfile is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, + of which there are two versions; + version 2.1 + and + version 3. + To maximise the compatibility of libsndfile, the user may choose to use libsndfile + under either of the above two licenses. + You can also read a simple explanation of the ideas behind the GPL and the LGPL + here. +
++ You can use libsndfile with + Free Software, + Open Source, + proprietary, shareware or other closed source applications as long as libsndfile + is used as a dynamically loaded library and you abide by a small number of other + conditions (read the LGPL for more info). + With applications released under the GNU GPL you can also use libsndfile statically + linked to your application. +
++ I would like to see libsndfile used as widely as possible but I would prefer it + if you released software that uses libsndfile as + Free Software + or + Open Source. + However, if you put in a great deal of effort building a significant application + which simply uses libsndfile for file I/O, then I have no problem with you releasing + that as closed source and charging as much money as you want for it as long as you + abide by the license. +
+ + ++ Here is the latest version. It is available in the following formats: +
++The Win32 installer was compiled for Windows XP but should also work on Windows +2000, Vista and Windows 7. +
+ ++ Pre-release versions of libsndfile are available + here + and are announced on the + libsndfile-devel + mailing list. +
+ + ++ The latest version of this document can be found + here. +
++Author : + + Erik de Castro Lopo +
+ +
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