Slashdot Mirror


Sonique To Come To Linux

chrisbolt writes: "Check this out ... according to DMusic, the FAQ for the next version of Sonique says Sonique 2 will run on Linux! On top of that it will run on BeOS and MacOS, making it the most cross-platform mp3 player available." I'm still in love with XMMS, but have been playing around with other players recently -- and I've heard good stuff about Sonique.

9 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Sonique has it's problems by jon_c · · Score: 3

    If you remember a while back it was exposed that winamp has a bug in it's "nitrone" engine that f*cks up mp3 decompression. Well from a link (i can't find offhand) Sonique has the similare problem; it doesn't decode the audio correctly.

    It's supprising that the two most popular mp3 players in the world can't do this correctly. XMMS which uses mpg123 works flawlessly, a dozen or so players based of the Xing Decoder or Xaudio decoder work fine. Why they use there own faulty mpeg decompression is beyond me.

    Another interesting thing about Sonique is it's visulazation SDK, it's being used or memiced is Real Jukebox and Windows Media Player 7. From what i understand you create a function that formats an array based of PCM data. that way it's platform, and format independet (if not a little slower). also the client app can host it in it's own window. Winamp by contrast simply gives you the PCM data and expects you to make a window and draw stuff on the screen. Personally i like winamps approch better, sience it opens up optinos for the plug-in writer like using directX or fullscreen mode, with Sonique and the like you don't have that control.

    On the other hand, porting a Sonique plugin to Linux may just mean recompiling it. so we'll see.

    I don't think Sonique will be better then XMMS, it's MP3 decompression is flawed, and is less open, (from a plug-in point of view, as well as OpenSource(tm)). XMMS is bassicly a winamp clone, it just needs more people to develop for it, make more DSP and visulation plugins. otherwise Sonique may be the one to use.

    -Jon

    --
    this is my sig.
  2. mp3 Decoder Tests Call Sonqiue "Terrible" by pbryan · · Score: 3
    According to an extensive set of quality tests (see here), Sonique's results are terrible.

    Among the anomolies:

    • Skips samples during the first second of file, resulting in audible click.
    • Audible low frequency glitches in many files.
    • Faults in the decoding engine itself include audible mistakes below 15 kHz and a few mistakes above too.
    • The right channel is decoded correctly (only occasional 1-bit difference from l3dec), but the left channel is destroyed...
    • Sonique HQ decode mode also inverts the signal.
    It's overall recommendation:

    "Until the mp3 decoding is fixed, Sonique is a player to avoid. If you're using it to decode mp3s, stop!"
    --

    My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it!

  3. Note to moderators. by TheReverand · · Score: 3
    That was not a troll. That was flamebait. Please moderate it accordingly. Here is an example of a troll (for future reference)

    Well now that Sonique is on Linux, We can look forward to RMS screaming about how their source license violates the GPL. I'm tired of his communist antics. That bastard.

    Note, I am not a very good troll, for better ones, see the troll homepage.

    Thank you.

  4. Here's one approach for the RIAA to take re: mp3 by Froid · · Score: 3

    Why don't they declare mp3 encoding to be a form of encryption, thereby making all mp3 players (like Sonique) an illegal device whose sole purpose is to circumvent that encryption and decode the RIAA's copyrighted works? Since there are no legal definitions of what a legitimate encryption standard must entail, and since we're all aware that mp3s are entirely effective at preventing people with old Linux boxes from decoding them (less so for PCs and Macs, but the principle holds), it just might work. And more importantly, it would give the RIAA a legal leg to stand on in criminalizing all those copyright violations occurring right now, where non-DMCA law has been slow to act.

    Cheers,
    Froid

  5. Wow. Multi-platform==Linux! by be-fan · · Score: 3

    You really do know what the appropriate title for this article should have been, don't you? Sonique to become multi-platform. I'm sure it wouldn't have been accepeted had it read like this...

    Sonique to come to BeOS:
    .......
    ....
    .....
    ......
    .....
    .....
    .....
    Oh, yea, and it will run on Linux and MacOS too.

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  6. Re:I don't get it. by paRcat · · Score: 3

    I'll continue to use the mpg123

    only thig is, most mp3 players that use mpg123, including xmms, are memory hogs.

    Most good graphical players support WinAmp skins...How will Sonique be different

    Try taking a look at Sonique. It's nothing like what you've probably seen if you think WinAmp is all there is. Sonique's interface is much prettier. And personally, I like it's UI better than any other player out there. It does have support for skins, but I'd rather leave it at the default.


    _______________
    you may quote me

  7. "Ported to Linux"? by pen · · Score: 4
    I've seen my share of "we're porting it to Linux" press releases, claims, and announcements. Does anyone know what this generally means? What libc libraries, X libraries, KDE, Gnome, MS-Linux-Extensions, what? Is there some sort of "standard" configuration that one should have so that most of these ports will work? The latest version of RedHat at the time, perhaps?

    It seems to me that one of Linux's strong points, its wide array of choices and openness, also happens to be one of its weak points at the same time. Please note, that I'm not trying to say that Linux sucks, or even anything remotely resembling that.

    What I want to ask is: Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of the bad aspects of that quality, while preserving its good aspects?

    --

  8. File Formats by Nailer · · Score: 3

    Sonique currently does MP3, plus a number of more closed file formats like WMA [Windows Media Audio].

    How will Linux Sonique support these file formats under Linux? Currently thes best technology has been the open soucrce reverse engineered version of Microsofts AviFile [http://divx.euro.ru/], which uses a small part of WINE and TWIN to call Windows-based media codecs, for MS MPEG 4, Intel Indeo, Cinepak, DivX, and other Windoes based file formats.

    Will Sonique port these file formats, or create a similar implementation to AviFile, or soemthing else?

  9. Clarification by Cuthalion · · Score: 4
    Note: I am a coder at sonique. (proof)

    Let me clarify this a bit..
    1. Sonique2 is extremely portable and modular.
    2. We have had linux and BeOS versions compiling and running in the past. I think it's been a month or two since the BeOS version worked.
    3. We're not even going to try to support MacOS versions prior to MacOS X. Hell, the memory management isn't even thread-safe in MacOS 9!
    4. The linux version does not rely on libwine or anything dumb like that. Since we're doing all the Window stuff ourselves pretty much (except for the final blit to the screen) keeping things portable isn't so bad.

    Given our current user base, obviously the main development work happens on Windows boxes. However, we are all committed to portability.

    Oh, and WRT opening the source: We'd like to, but don't own the IP (when Lycos bought Sonique, well that made them own it.) so that question is not ours to decide. :(
    --
    Trees can't go dancing
    So do them a big favor
    Pretend dancing stinks!