I have a list of short wav files. Two of these files do not play on either the simulator or the device itself. All are wav files 1 second long.
This is how I play the files
SystemSoundID soundID;
NSString *filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"sound1" ofType:#"wav"];
NSURL *fileUrl = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath];
AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID((CFURLRef)fileUrl, &soundID);
AudioServicesPlaySystemSound(soundID);
Can someone please tell me what the problem could be. Thanks.
P.S. When I view the files in Finder, the files not playing show the default player as QuickTime and the others show the default player as iTunes if that helps in any way.
The solution as Alan suggested is to use AIFF files. To convert wav to AIFF, open the sound file in iTunes. In iTunes, select Preferences->General->Import Settings->Import using AIFF Encoder. Select the sound file and in Advanced menu option select the option "Create AIFF version"
The iPhone only supports the following codecs:
AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate, a speech codec)
iLBC (internet Low Bitrate Codec, also a speech codec)
IMA/ADPCM (also known as IMA-4)
Linear PCM
µLaw and aLaw
Your WAV files may contain audio that is in a different format, so even though the iPhone supports WAV files, it might not support your specific WAV file.
The best option is normally to use the command line program "afconvert" to convert everything to CAF files (which is Apple's default format). e.g.:
afconvert sound1.wav sound1.caf
the full set of conversion options can be listed by running:
afconvert -h
This conversion will be lossless from most formats. The CAF file format is normally the fastest and lowest overhead to use on the iPhone.
See this question
Trying to play sound through iPhone Simulator
I've had a lot more success with .aiff files.
It would be good to know what exactly AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID is checking when a file is passed to it.
Related
I am using a AVAudioRecorder instance to record with the setting for AVFormatIDKey set to kAudioFormatMPEG4AAC. It records the audio in AAC format but a .caf audio container packages the audio file. (I can see the caff header in the recorder file).
How do I record so that the caff container is not there but in pure m4a format so that I can use the files across platforms.
Found the answer.
There is a weird way the AVAudioRecorder works.
The format in which the AVAudioRecorder will save your file depends on the URL/string you specify for the file you save. It depends on the extension of the file name you are saving.
If you don't specify any extension or one that the recorder can't understand then it will add the Core Audio container.
So, basically see to that the extension and the AVFormatIDKey match.
Like for aac use format use .aac extension with kAudioFormatMPEG4AAC as the AVFormatIDKey
I am trying to use the AVAudioPlayer to play a simple sound and I keep getting this error in the console:
2011-09-02 20:29:07.369 MusicLog[967:10103] Error loading /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleHDAHALPlugIn.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AppleHDAHALPlugIn: dlopen(/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleHDAHALPlugIn.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AppleHDAHALPlugIn, 262): Symbol not found: ___CFObjCIsCollectable
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/Versions/A/Security
Expected in: /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator5.0.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/CoreFoundation
in /System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/Versions/A/Security
Here is my code that should play a sound when my button is pressed:
NSString *soundPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"tick" ofType:#"caf"];
NSError *error;
NSURL *soundURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:soundPath];
AVAudioPlayer *tickPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:soundURL error:&error];
[tickPlayer setDelegate:self];
[tickPlayer setNumberOfLoops:0];
[tickPlayer prepareToPlay];
if (tickPlayer == nil)
{
NSLog(#"%#", [error description]);
}
else
{
[tickPlayer play];
}
Do I somehow have the file in the wrong place? I just dragged the file into the project and selected copy if needed.
EDIT: After more testing I found that I do not get this error when running IOS 4.2 simulator, only on the IOS 5 simulator. Can I assume that this is a bug in iOS 5?
Thanks,
I've had the same problem. It only seems to be a problem on iOS5 in simulator. I haven't tested on an iOS 5 device yet. I keep hoping XCode upgrades will make the error go away, but so far no luck.
I've had the same error, but the sound played nonetheless after I keep the variable as a class attribute. If the code that you put here is written inside a method, try moving this variable. I guess the sound didn't play because the audioPlayer instance is lost after the method went out of scope.
#implementation SomeAudioController {
AVAudioPlayer *tickPlayer;
}
Make your AVAudioPlayer a property w/ a strong reference.
Source: AVAudioPlayer refuses to play anything, but no error, etc
The above answer helped me to play the .wav file in my simulator, but I haven't gotten it to work on my device yet. Something about missing codecs..?
Edit:
For the audio to play on the device, I also had to add the following line to AppDelegate.m's didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];
Try to check if you have enabled the "All Exceptions" breakpoint, which will result in the debugger breaks at the exception instead. Just disable this feature and built it again.
I also had the same type of error when I tried to play some mp3 files on button click and compiled to iOS5. The error disappeared when I compiled to iOS4 but the sound still doesn't come out. There was no runtime error and the NSLogs printed properly in the debug console. Did you find a way to play your mp3 files?
From Multimedia Programming Guide:
Preferred Audio Formats in iOS For uncompressed (highest quality)
audio, use 16-bit, little endian, linear PCM audio data packaged in a
CAF file. You can convert an audio file to this format in Mac OS X
using the afconvert command-line tool, as shown here:
/usr/bin/afconvert -f caff -d LEI16 {INPUT} {OUTPUT}
The afconvert
tool lets you convert to a wide range of audio data formats and file
types. See the afconvert man page, and enter afconvert -h at a shell
prompt, for more information.
For compressed audio when playing one sound at a time, and when you
don’t need to play audio simultaneously with the iPod application, use
the AAC format packaged in a CAF or m4a file.
For less memory usage when you need to play multiple sounds
simultaneously, use IMA4 (IMA/ADPCM) compression. This reduces file
size but entails minimal CPU impact during decompression. As with
linear PCM data, package IMA4 data in a CAF file.
Have few short sound effect samples, which play just fine in emulator, but not at all in real iPhone 3GS. Here's the code, about as-is from Apple SysSound sample:
CFBundleRef mb = CFBundleGetMainBundle ();
CFURLRef soundFileURLRef = CFBundleCopyResourceURL
(mb, CFSTR("mySound"), CFSTR ("caf"), NULL);
SystemSoundID sid;
AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID(soundFileURLRef, &sid);
AudioServicesPlaySystemSound(sid);
When using iPhone, I can hear keyclicks and music from iTunes (not trying to use at same time as playing my sound) - but cannot hear my sound at all. Vibra works ok, so even Framework should be set up correctly.
Tried even the SoundEffect.h/m sample code, no change. Used same sound files, but shouldn't CAF be ok, especially when it plays in emulator?
What can I try next?
Try converting to a different format such as wav or mp3, then play again. If you want to use caf, Make sure you are formatting the caf correctly in Terminal.app:
afconvert -f caff -d ima4 mysound.wav
Just as a sidenote - I was having the exact same problem and spent probably close to an hour on converting files to the correct format, etc.. Yet the problem was the "mute" switch on the iPad. So even though the volume was up, and I could hear other sounds on the iPad, because the mute switch was turned on, it wasn't playing system sounds.
To add to the confusion, this app uses text-to-speech and the volume coming from the transcription was perfectly fine, it was only the sounds coming from AudioServicesPlaySystemSound() that I couldn't hear.
kind of a long shot, but remember that the phone's file system is case sensitive, while the mac's usually isn't. Double check your file name
Found an easier solution: use AIF sound files:
Click iTunes > Preferences
Click on "General" tab
Click "Import Settings" button
In "Import Using" dropdown, choose "AIFF Encoder"
Save your changes
Select your sound files and choose "Create AIFF version"
Here's code I'm using, together with SoundEffect.h and SoundEffect.m from Apple sample BubbleLevel:
NSBundle *mainBundle = [NSBundle mainBundle];
buzzerSound = [[SoundEffect alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[mainBundle pathForResource:#"buzzerSound" ofType:#"aif"]];
[buzzerSound play];
Now same code - and sound effects - work in both emulator and hardware. Btw don't forget to switch back your original iTunes settings!
I'm using the following to play an m4a file:
NSString *path = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath] stringByAppendingPathComponent: fileName];
SystemSoundID soundID;
NSURL *filePath = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path isDirectory:NO];
AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID((CFURLRef)filePath, &soundID);
AudioServicesPlaySystemSound(soundID);
It works fine on the simulator but I hear nothing on the device. Sounds files I'm using all stay in the bundle. Here is what filePath looks like from the device:
file://localhost/var/mobile/Applications/418945F3-3711-4B4D-BC65-0D78993C77FB/African%20Adventure.app/Switch%201.m4a
Is there an issue with the file path or any thing different I need to do for the device?
Just as a sidenote - I was having the exact same problem and spent probably close to an hour on converting files to the correct format, etc.. Yet the problem was the "mute" switch on the iPad. So even though the volume was up, and I could hear other sounds on the iPad, because the mute switch was turned on, it wasn't playing system sounds.
To add to the confusion, this app uses text-to-speech and the volume coming from the dictation was perfectly fine, it was only the sounds coming from AudioServicesPlaySystemSound() that weren't being played.
I had trouble with this too. Finally I realised it was because AudioServices can only play audio with the following constratints.
Sound files that you play using this
function must be:
- No longer than 30 seconds in duration
- In linear PCM or IMA4 (IMA/ADPCM) format
- Packaged in a .caf, .aif, or .wav file
From Apple docs: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/AudioToolbox/Reference/SystemSoundServicesReference/Reference/reference.html
You might want to use the AVAudioPlayer instead of AudioServices.
The following code will take an audio file (.m4a) and play the audio file 1 time. Don't forget to release "audioPlayer" when you're done with it.
NSString *urlAddress = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"filename" ofType:#"m4a"];
NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:urlAddress];
NSError *error;
AVAudioPlayer *audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url error:&error];
audioPlayer.numberOfLoops = 0;
if (audioPlayer == nil)
{
NSLog([error description]);
}
else
{
[audioPlayer play];
}
Hope this example helps you with playing audio on the actual device. It might also be a good idea to increase the device audio when the file is playing.
Note: You will need to add the AVFoundation framework to your project if you have not already done so. As well as import the header file.
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>
Update:
From Apple's Core Audio Overview Document
Audio Session Services
Audio Session Services lets you manage audio sessions in your application—coordinating the audio behavior in your application with background applications on an iPhone or iPod touch. Audio Session Services consists of a subset of the functions, data types, and constants declared in the AudioServices.h header file in AudioToolbox.framework.
The AVAudioPlayer Class
The AVAudioPlayer class provides a simple Objective-C interface for playing sounds. If your application does not require stereo positioning or precise synchronization, and if you are not playing audio captured from a network stream, Apple recommends that you use this class for playback. This class is declared in the AVAudioPlayer.h header file in AVFoundation.framework.
Start by error-checking your returns. Is filePath nil? Do either of the AudioServices functions return an error? The most likely cause is case-sensitivity. The iPhone filesystem is case sensitive while the Mac is not. But the first step in debugging is to look at the errors the system is providing.
The simulator uses regular QuickTime for playback, so it's easy to have media assets which work in the sim, but fail on the device due to missing / unsupported codecs. The test is if you can play the file at all on the device, eg through Safari or the iPod app.
I've gotten to play a single sound in the iPhone app I've started, but I now desire to play multiple sounds based on a button. To create a separate set of .m and .h files for each audio sounds, and then including them all, doesn't seem the most efficient way to tackle this in terms of coding...then again, I'm just starting out with Cocoa and only just completed my first app ever.
Any help is appreciated. The key here is multiple sounds, each triggered by its own button or image. Thanks.
If the files are MP3 or AAC format, then you can only play one at a time. This is a limitation of core audio on the iPhone.
In terms of playing multiple sounds at once, that's easy, just create a new player instance for every one that you want to play (and remember to release them when you're done)
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"dream" ofType:#"m4a"];
AVAudioPlayer* theAudio=[[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:path] error:NULL];
theAudio.delegate = self;
[theAudio play];
To convert an MP3 into something like IMA4 (which you can play more than one at once) you would run the following (in terminal, in leopard):
/usr/bin/afconvert -f caff -d ima4 sound.mp3 sound.caf
The above code is firmware 2.2 only, but you can do the same with the AudioQueue files if you want to support older firmwares (it's just a lot more complex, so I haven't listed the code here).
If you have access to the iPhone developer network, then there are a bunch of code samples that show you how to play audio.
All you need to do is make one class that has a function called
-(void)Play:(NSString*)sSoundFile {
// play sound file here
}
I don't have any direct experience with iPhone development, but in theory could you create a single large sound file with all your sounds in it? Each sound could be separated by just enough silence to be individually accessed by a time index. Of course, the downside is that you'd have to load the entire file into memory, unless you could figure out a way to load chunks in a random-access fashion...
#rustyshelf - does this work in the simulator? I'm using that code, and using #import but neither audioPlayerDidFinishPlaying nor audioPlayerDecodeErrorDidOccur ever get called. Very annoying to try to debug.
http://www.icodeblog.com/2009/05/04/iphone-game-programming-tutorial-part-4-basic-game-audio/
in this example in ios5 you have to put
CFURLRef soundurl=(__bridge CFURLRef)[NSURL fileURLWithPath:objstring];
in place of
CFURLRef soundurl=(CFURLRef)[NSURL fileURLWithPath:objstring];
Hardik Mamtora