Re: Jack and CoreAudio (was Mirroring Audio Output)
Re: Jack and CoreAudio (was Mirroring Audio Output)
- Subject: Re: Jack and CoreAudio (was Mirroring Audio Output)
- From: "Peter Kirn" <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:06:53 -0500
(I'll preface this by saying that, if these questions about inter-app
audio are inappropriate for this list, I'm happy to discuss them
elsewhere; I'm just passing along feedback I've gotten myself)
First, I'll say that I do really respect the responses from Apple, the
fact that they're willing to listen to these concerns and respond
frankly. What Apple has done with Core Audio is a triumph; it's
changed our lives and it's one of the key advantages of the Mac
platform. So none of this is a criticism of Core Audio; I simply see
it as an opportunity to make the OS even better.
I'm looking back at that post now from Jeff:
"The plain truth is that there really hasn't been enough of a demand
for this feature to make it a priority. Couple that with the DRM
minefield and the fact that others have seemingly come up with their
own solution, and you are left with a very complicated feature that
has very little bang for the buck."
I can pretend to know about kernel programming to about the same
degree that I can pretend to know about neuroscience. Maybe Apple has
good technical reasons for not implementing this.
But to say "the plain truth is that there really hasn't been enough of
a demand"? That, to me, just isn't correct, and if Apple hasn't gotten
the message from the users who do want this functionality, that's
really too bad. Consider this:
1. There's not one but FOUR major third-party solutions to the problem
of inter-app audio: Soundflower, JACK, WireTap, and Audio Hijack.
There are plenty of Windows tools, too. Clearly, someone wants this.
Do they want it to rip off music? I don't think so: Google any one of
those and you're bound to find class notes from college music classes
instructing people to use these tools in their own work.
2. You can randomly pencil-drop a phonebook of audio developers and
get them to talk about the frustrations with ReWire: support costs,
implementation difficulties, and the inflexibility of the system. So
why are they doing it at all? Again, the need for sophisticated
inter-app audio and sync.
3. Anecdotally, you can talk to a broad variety of users who want to
combine apps by routing audio between them. I don't think I've ever
done a lecture or a class where someone didn't ask about it, for
everyone from people on the Macworld show floor to music students.
They wanted to route audio from GarageBand to Live, or they wanted to
record audio out of an app with no record feature.
4. Every time I write about inter-app audio on my own site, the story
becomes popular. We get constant comments, Google hits, and page views
on Soundflower, for instance -- and often frustration when these
features break with new OS releases.
5. Third-party solutions are less than ideal, because of all the
stability and reliability problems Jeff (correctly) points out, and
because they break with OS releases, and because they're unsupported
by Apple.
Please, don't get me wrong. None of this is intended to second-guess
Apple's decision. But I have to say, the demand is clearly there. So
then it comes down to two remaining questions: the DRM "minefield",
and performance/reliability.
Apple's Core Audio team is certainly most qualified to determine the
performance and reliability cost, though I can say, if you find a
solution, we'll make use of it, and I'll personally evangelize the
solution to the widest audience possible.
The DRM question, of course, is another story, but everyone I've
talked to is just trying to route audio between apps for their own
work -- the digital content they're creating.
I certainly agree development is about trade-offs, so maybe ultimately
this doesn't make sense, but certainly if it's possible, there are
real advantages to having OS integration and real demand from users.
Peter Kirn
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Coreaudio-api mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden