Ubuntu Manpage: out123 - send raw PCM audio or a waveform pattern to an output device

NAME

       out123 - send raw PCM audio or a waveform pattern to an output device

SYNOPSIS

       cat audio.raw | out123 [ options ]

       out123 --wave-freq freq1[,freq2,...]  [ options ]

DESCRIPTION

       out123  reads  raw  PCM  data  (in  host byte order) from standard input and plays it on the audio device
       specified by given options.  Alternatively, it can generate periodic signals for playback itself.

OPTIONS

out123 options may be either the traditional POSIX one letter options, or the GNU style long options.
POSIX style options start with a single ``-'', while GNU long options start with ``--''. Option
arguments (if needed) follow separated by whitespace (not ``=''). Note that some options can be absent
from your installation when disabled in the build process.

--name name
Set the name of this instance, possibly used in various places. This sets the client name for JACK
output.

-o module, --output module
Select audio output module. You can provide a comma-separated list to use the first one that
works.

--list-modules
List the available modules.

-a dev, --audiodevice dev
Specify the audio device to use. The default is system-dependent (usually /dev/audio or
/dev/dsp). Use this option if you have multiple audio devices and the default is not what you
want.

-s, --stdout
The audio samples are written to standard output, instead of playing them through the audio
device. The output format is the same as the input ... so in this mode, out123 acts like the
standard tool cat. This shortcut is equivalent to ``-o raw -a -''.

-O file, --outfile
Write raw output into a file (instead of simply redirecting standard output to a file with the
shell). This shortcut is equivalent to ``-o raw -a file''.

-w file, --wav
Write output as WAV file file , or standard output if - is or the empty string used as file name.
You can also use --au and --cdr for AU and CDR format, respectively. Note that WAV/AU writing to
non-seekable files or redirected stdout needs some thought. The header is written with the first
actual data. The result of decoding nothing to WAV/AU is a file consisting just of the header when
it is seekable and really nothing when not (not even a header). Correctly writing data with
prophetic headers to stdout is no easy business. This shortcut is equivalent to ``-o wav -a
file''.

--au file
Write to file in SUN audio format. If - or the empty string is used as the filename, the AU file
is written to stdout. See paragraph about WAV writing for header fun with non-seekable streams.
This shortcut is equivalent to ``-o au -a file''.

--cdr file
Write to file as a CDR (CD-ROM audio, more correctly CDDA for Compact Disc Digital Audio). If -
is or the empty string used as the filename, the CDR file is written to stdout. This shortcut is
equivalent to ``-o cdr -a file''.

-r rate, --rate rate
Set sample rate in Hz (default: 44100). If this does not match the actual input sampling rate, you
get changed pitch. Might be intentional;-)

-c count, --channels count
Set channel count to given value.

-e enc, --encoding enc
Choose output sample encoding. Possible values look like f32 (32-bit floating point), s32 (32-bit
signed integer), u32 (32-bit unsigned integer) and the variants with different numbers of bits
(s24, u24, s16, u16, s8, u8) and also special variants like ulaw and alaw 8-bit. See the output
of out123's longhelp for actually available encodings. Default is s16.

-m, --mono
Set for single-channel audio (default is two channels, stereo).

--stereo
Select stereo output (2 channels, default).

--list-encodings
List known encoding short and long names to standard output.

--test-format
Check if given format is supported by given driver and device (in command line before encountering
this), silently returning 0 as exit value if it is the case.

--test-encodings
Print out the short names of encodings supported with the current setup.

--query-format
If the selected driver and device communicate some default accepted format, print out a command
line fragment for out123 setting that format, always in that order: --rate <r> --channels <c>
--encoding <e>

-o h, --headphones
Direct audio output to the headphone connector (some hardware only; AIX, HP, SUN).

-o s, --speaker
Direct audio output to the speaker (some hardware only; AIX, HP, SUN).

-o l, --lineout
Direct audio output to the line-out connector (some hardware only; AIX, HP, SUN).

-b size, --buffer size
Use an audio output buffer of size Kbytes. This is useful to bypass short periods of heavy system
activity, which would normally cause the audio output to be interrupted. You should specify a
buffer size of at least 1024 (i.e. 1 Mb, which equals about 6 seconds of usual audio data) or
more; less than about 300 does not make much sense. The default is 0, which turns buffering off.

--preload fraction
Wait for the buffer to be filled to fraction before starting playback (fraction between 0 and 1).
You can tune this prebuffering to either get sound faster to your ears or safer uninterrupted web
radio. Default is 0.2 (changed from 1 since version 1.23).

--devbuffer seconds
Set device buffer in seconds; <= 0 means default value. This is the small buffer between the
application and the audio backend, possibly directly related to hardware buffers.

--timelimit samples
Set playback time limit in PCM samples if set to a value greater than zero. out123 will stop
reading from stdin or playing from the generated wave table after reaching that number of samples.

--wave-freq frequencies
Set wave generator frequency or list of those with comma separation for enabling a generated test
signal instead of standard input. Empty values repeat the previous one.

--wave-pat patterns
Set the waveform patterns of the generated waves as comma-separated list. Choices include sine,
square, triangle, sawtooth, gauss, pulse, and shot. Empty values repeat the previous one.

--wave-phase phases
Set waveform phase shift(s) as comma-separated list, negative values inverting the pattern in time
and empty value repeating the previous.

--wave-limit samples
Set a custom soft limit on the wave table size. Small values cause larger changes in actual
frequencies to make whole periods fit.

-t, --test
Test mode. The audio stream is read, but no output occurs.

-v, --verbose
Increase the verbosity level.

-q, --quiet
Quiet. Suppress diagnostic messages.

--aggressive
Tries to get higher priority

-T, --realtime
Tries to gain realtime priority. This option usually requires root privileges to have any effect.

-?, --help
Shows short usage instructions.

--longhelp
Shows long usage instructions.

--version
Print the version string.

AUTHORS

       Maintainer:
              Thomas Orgis <maintainer@mpg123.org>, <thomas@orgis.org>

       Creator (ancestry of code inside mpg123):
              Michael Hipp

       Uses code or ideas from various people, see the AUTHORS file accompanying the source code.

LICENSE

       out123 is licensed under the GNU Lesser/Library General Public License, LGPL, version 2.1 .

WEBSITE

       http://www.mpg123.org
       http://sourceforge.net/projects/mpg123

                                                   26 May 2016                                         out123(1)