Re: New svn module: gnome-sound-theme

[Lennart Poettering <mztabzr 0pointer de>]

On Mon, 11.08.08 20:50, Brian Cameron (Brian Cameron Sun COM) wrote:

> We should update our spec so that FLAC is the recommended uncompressed
> format.  It is superior from a technology standpoint, saves disk space,
> and comes from the free software community (WAV was written by IBM and
> Microsoft and is based on the older IFF format from Commodore-Amiga).
>
> We should work harder to replace the legacy WAV format with newer, more
> exciting technologies that are available from the free software
> community.

We support Vorbis and .WAV in the spec. I see no reason to support
anything else. Vorbis is compressed, has good quality and is
free. .WAV is high quality too and well established.

Both formats might have their limitations (size, quality, ...). But
those limitations don't really matter for event sounds, since they are
short, and don't need to have ultra-high hifi quality. People who are
into gold cables won't enable event sounds anyway, right?

>>         The mandatory supported sound file formats are WAV/PCM 8-48kHz,
>>         8/16bits, and OGG/Vorbis. WAV at 48kHz/Stereo is the recommended
>>         uncompressed format, and OGG/Vorbis is the recommended
>>         compressed format. The sample must be normalized, in order to be
>>         mixed down nicely with a suitable average replay level.
>
> You should probably define what you mean by "normalized".  My
> understanding of what normalized means is that you ensure that the
> maximum volume is at a particular level.  However, this says nothing
> about the average volume level, since a relatively low-volume clip can
> have a single moment with an unusually high volume, and therefore not
> be adjusted much by normalization.

It is actually defined in the spec:

<snip>
  The sound samples must be normalized with a suitable average replay
  level, in order to be properly mixed down. For more informations,
  please read http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org/calculationg_rg.html
  and check that your volume level is reasonable.  
</snip>

Lennart

-- 
Lennart Poettering                        Red Hat, Inc.
lennart [at] poettering [dot] net         ICQ# 11060553
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