AudioLib is a library for Visual C++ intended to simplify the programming of audio applications. Dealing with the waveform audio interface of Windows can be less than fun and this library will hide a lot of the ugly details.

In general, programs using AudioLib will have a noticeable latency when processing audio inputs in real-time. When creating console apps, latencies of 250-280 milliseconds will be experienced at best, with a bare minimum of processing.

Installing the AudioLib libary is simple. Simply place the file AudioLib.h in the include directory, and AudioLib.lib in the lib directory. You will also need to link the AudiLib library and the winmm.lib multimedia library.

Two example programs have also been included which you can use to understand how AudioLib works and test it. Both programs are intended to be created as a console applications which can be run under the MS-DOS terminal. The first program is a simple sinewave generator, and the second takes a stereo input and outputs the difference of the two input channels.

The library has only been tested with console applications and may not work 100% correctly with Windows applications. Because AudioLib is being made available at no charge, there is very limited support for it. The author notes that it's not that he doesn't want to hear about any problems encountered (if you encounter any bugs or have ideas for features you would like to see, he definitely wants to know), but he makes no guarantees on producing speedy bug fixes or adding new features in a timely fashion.

The author has choosen not to make the source code available, but you are welcome to e-mail him if you are interested in seeing the source.

Features

• Clean interface for recording and playing back audio data
• Two C++ example programs
• Short and clear documentation
• A simple set of documented functions including:
  • ALCreateConfig
  • ALSetSamplingRate
  • ALSetSampleWidth
  • ALSetSampleFormat
  • ALSetNumChannels
  • ALSetNumQueueFrames
  • ALSetFrameLength
  • ALOpenPort
  • ALWriteSamples
  • ALReadSamples
  • ALClosePort
  • ALFreeConfig
  • ALGetErrorText
  • ALIsFrameFree
  • ALIsFrameReady
  • ALIsQueueEmpty

Requirements

• Windows 95/98/NT
• Microsoft Visual C++ or compatible compiler
• 16-bit sound card