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OpenAL for sound emulation

blueshogun96

blueshogun96

A lowdown dirty shame
Hey yall, I had a question about OpenAL and sound emulation. Since OpenAL is the only sound API that I am good at (I suck at DirectSound and FMOD, and Bass, I can't find any tutorials on that), I was wondering if it is a suitable sound API for emulation of sound. Any comments welcome, thanks.
 
ShizZy

ShizZy

Emulator Developer
It's pretty good. Personally, I'm an sdl geek - it handles everything fine and simple, and works in software mode on just about any computer ever invented.
 
Blargg

Blargg

New member
I just looked at the OpenAL home page and documentation and it's definitely not something to use in an emulator. It seems best suited for 3D games with sophisticated sound positioning. For an emulator which just needs a sound interface along the lines of "set sample rate" and "play this sample buffer" it would be a major overkill; just take a look at the operation overview.

I second the recommendation of SDL. It has a straightforward interface and decent documentation.
 
S

Slougi

New member
OpenAL is like OpenGL for sound, I wouldn't recommend it for an emulator, unless you want to simulate dolby surround or something... Go for SDL.
 
OP
blueshogun96

blueshogun96

A lowdown dirty shame
OpenAL is capable of playing static stereo sounds just like SDL and DirectSound. It is possible to write sound data to a void* data pointer and use it to create a sound buffer. I think I will try to use OpenAL in one sound emulation project just for fun, lol, like writing an emu in visual basic, catch my drift. :S I've been studying and experimenting with OpenAL for quite a while and it has been a blast so far.

Anyway, I'll look into SDL. I didn't know that it was also a sound API :) I hear its easy too.
 
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