[PD] audio dropouts when loading samples

Olaf Matthes olaf.matthes at gmx.de
Thu Feb 27 17:55:08 CET 2003


Tim Blechmann schrieb:

> as far as i could follow your conversation, readsf~ seams to be a
> threaded soundfiler.
>
> but: doesn't readsf~ play back and soundfiler write sounds into
> buffers? i don't know much about the source code of these two objects,
> but to me they seem to be quite different objects.
> ...well, i hope that i am wrong :-)

Your're not wrong. soundfiler loads files into arrays (and thus has to read soundfiles
faster than realtime), readsf~ plays soundfiles in realtime (and is threaded, whereas
soundfiler [in the 'normal' pd version] is not).

The fact that an 'ideal' soundfiler would write a complete file in no time into an
array makes it so difficult to code. In pd every action performed by an external (that
is not threaded) has to fit into one dsp cycle (i.e. usually 64 samples = the
blocksize). Reading a soundfile usually takes longer, that's where the dropouts come
from. And the longer the file the longer the dropouts...,

I think the confusion in my last mail was caused by the fact I tried to answer two
not-that-much-related questions in one single mail.

Olaf





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