December 93 - SOMEWHERE IN QUICKTIME
SOMEWHERE IN QUICKTIME
WHAT'S NEW WITH SOUND MANAGER 3.0
JIM REEKES
Sound Manager 3.0, a vastly improved call-for-call replacement for the Sound
Manager in System 7, provides QuickTime and other sound clients with a set of new and
improved features, including higher frame rates and better quality sound. Sound
Manager 3.0 is an extension that entirely replaces the older Sound Manager; the
extension is included along with a new Sound control panel on this issue's CD. We
released it as an extension without changing the API so that you won't have to recode
your existing applications. With Sound Manager 3.0 installed in your system, your
applications will transparently take advantage of the Sound Manager's greater
dependability, speed, and other new features.
The soon-to-be-available Inside Macintosh: Sound(or Inside Macintosh Volume VI,
Chapter 22) is the main source of Sound Manager documentation. This column will
discuss some of the new features of Sound Manager 3.0 and describe how to use them.
OVERVIEW OF MAJOR NEW FEATURES
Sound Manager 3.0 provides four major new features:
• support for 16-bit audio samples
• support for third-party audio hardware
• support for plug-in audio codecs
• better performance and quality
Previous versions of the Sound Manager could only support stereo 8-bit audio samples
with sample rates up to 22 kHz. Sound Manager 3.0 removes this limitation by
allowing stereo 16-bit audio samples with sample rates up to 65 kHz, providing
CD-quality audio in QuickTime movies and other audio applications. Sound Manager 3.0
will also automatically convert 16-bit sounds into 8-bit sounds on Macintosh
computers that don't have 16-bit audio hardware.
Third-party sound cards can be installed in your Macintosh to allow playback and
recording of CD- quality audio. Sound Manager 3.0 makes this possible by providing a
driver mechanism and a new Sound control panel that allows the user to redirect sound
to any available audio device. Audio card developers can license the Sound Manager 3.0