Module java.desktop
Package javax.sound.sampled

Class AudioFormat

java.lang.Object
javax.sound.sampled.AudioFormat
public class AudioFormat extends Object
AudioFormat is the class that specifies a particular arrangement of data in a sound stream. By examining the information stored in the audio format, you can discover how to interpret the bits in the binary sound data.

Every data line has an audio format associated with its data stream. The audio format of a source (playback) data line indicates what kind of data the data line expects to receive for output. For a target (capture) data line, the audio format specifies the kind of the data that can be read from the line.

Sound files also have audio formats, of course. The AudioFileFormat class encapsulates an AudioFormat in addition to other, file-specific information. Similarly, an AudioInputStream has an AudioFormat.

The AudioFormat class accommodates a number of common sound-file encoding techniques, including pulse-code modulation (PCM), mu-law encoding, and a-law encoding. These encoding techniques are predefined, but service providers can create new encoding types. The encoding that a specific format uses is named by its encoding field.

In addition to the encoding, the audio format includes other properties that further specify the exact arrangement of the data. These include the number of channels, sample rate, sample size, byte order, frame rate, and frame size. Sounds may have different numbers of audio channels: one for mono, two for stereo. The sample rate measures how many "snapshots" (samples) of the sound pressure are taken per second, per channel. (If the sound is stereo rather than mono, two samples are actually measured at each instant of time: one for the left channel, and another for the right channel; however, the sample rate still measures the number per channel, so the rate is the same regardless of the number of channels. This is the standard use of the term.) The sample size indicates how many bits are used to store each snapshot; 8 and 16 are typical values. For 16-bit samples (or any other sample size larger than a byte), byte order is important; the bytes in each sample are arranged in either the "little-endian" or "big-endian" style. For encodings like PCM, a frame consists of the set of samples for all channels at a given point in time, and so the size of a frame (in bytes) is always equal to the size of a sample (in bytes) times the number of channels. However, with some other sorts of encodings a frame can contain a bundle of compressed data for a whole series of samples, as well as additional, non-sample data. For such encodings, the sample rate and sample size refer to the data after it is decoded into PCM, and so they are completely different from the frame rate and frame size.

An AudioFormat object can include a set of properties. A property is a pair of key and value: the key is of type String, the associated property value is an arbitrary object. Properties specify additional format specifications, like the bit rate for compressed formats. Properties are mainly used as a means to transport additional information of the audio format to and from the service providers. Therefore, properties are ignored in the matches(AudioFormat) method. However, methods which rely on the installed service providers, like (AudioFormat, AudioFormat) isConversionSupported may consider properties, depending on the respective service provider implementation.

The following table lists some common properties which service providers should use, if applicable:

Audio Format Properties
Property key Value type Description
"bitrate" Integer average bit rate in bits per second
"vbr" Boolean true, if the file is encoded in variable bit rate (VBR)
"quality" Integer encoding/conversion quality, 1..100

Vendors of service providers (plugins) are encouraged to seek information about other already established properties in third party plugins, and follow the same conventions.

Since:
1.3
See Also:

  • Nested Class Summary

    Nested Classes
    Modifier and Type
    Class
    Description
    static class 
    AudioFormat.Encoding
    The Encoding class names the specific type of data representation used for an audio stream.

  • Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type
    Field
    Description
    protected boolean
    bigEndian
    Indicates whether the audio data is stored in big-endian or little-endian order.
    protected int
    channels
    The number of audio channels in this format (1 for mono, 2 for stereo).
    protected AudioFormat.Encoding
    encoding
    The audio encoding technique used by this format.
    protected float
    frameRate
    The number of frames played or recorded per second, for sounds that have this format.
    protected int
    frameSize
    The number of bytes in each frame of a sound that has this format.
    protected float
    sampleRate
    The number of samples played or recorded per second, for sounds that have this format.
    protected int
    sampleSizeInBits
    The number of bits in each sample of a sound that has this format.

  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor
    Description
    AudioFormat(float sampleRate, int sampleSizeInBits, int channels, boolean signed, boolean bigEndian)
    Constructs an AudioFormat with a linear PCM encoding and the given parameters.
    AudioFormat(AudioFormat.Encoding encoding, float sampleRate, int sampleSizeInBits, int channels, int frameSize, float frameRate, boolean bigEndian)
    Constructs an AudioFormat with the given parameters.
    AudioFormat(AudioFormat.Encoding encoding, float sampleRate, int sampleSizeInBits, int channels, int frameSize, float frameRate, boolean bigEndian, Map<String,Object> properties)
    Constructs an AudioFormat with the given parameters.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    int
    getChannels()
    Obtains the number of channels.
    AudioFormat.Encoding
    getEncoding()
    Obtains the type of encoding for sounds in this format.
    float
    getFrameRate()
    Obtains the frame rate in frames per second.
    int
    getFrameSize()
    Obtains the frame size in bytes.
    Object
    getProperty(String key)
    Obtain the property value specified by the key.
    float
    getSampleRate()
    Obtains the sample rate.
    int
    getSampleSizeInBits()
    Obtains the size of a sample.
    boolean
    isBigEndian()
    Indicates whether the audio data is stored in big-endian or little-endian byte order.
    boolean
    matches(AudioFormat format)
    Indicates whether this format matches the one specified.
    Map<String,Object>
    properties()
    Obtain an unmodifiable map of properties.
    String
    toString()
    Returns a string that describes the audio format, such as: "PCM SIGNED 22050 Hz 16 bit mono big-endian".

    Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

    clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

  • Field Details

    • encoding

      protected AudioFormat.Encoding encoding
      The audio encoding technique used by this format.

    • sampleRate

      protected float sampleRate
      The number of samples played or recorded per second, for sounds that have this format.

    • sampleSizeInBits

      protected int sampleSizeInBits
      The number of bits in each sample of a sound that has this format.

    • channels

      protected int channels
      The number of audio channels in this format (1 for mono, 2 for stereo).

    • frameSize

      protected int frameSize
      The number of bytes in each frame of a sound that has this format.

    • frameRate

      protected float frameRate
      The number of frames played or recorded per second, for sounds that have this format.

    • bigEndian

      protected boolean bigEndian
      Indicates whether the audio data is stored in big-endian or little-endian order.

  • Constructor Details

    • AudioFormat

      public AudioFormat(AudioFormat.Encoding encoding, float sampleRate, int sampleSizeInBits, int channels, int frameSize, float frameRate, boolean bigEndian)
      Constructs an AudioFormat with the given parameters. The encoding specifies the convention used to represent the data. The other parameters are further explained in the class description.
      Parameters:
      encoding - the audio encoding technique
      sampleRate - the number of samples per second
      sampleSizeInBits - the number of bits in each sample
      channels - the number of channels (1 for mono, 2 for stereo, and so on)
      frameSize - the number of bytes in each frame
      frameRate - the number of frames per second
      bigEndian - indicates whether the data for a single sample is stored in big-endian byte order (false means little-endian)

    • AudioFormat

      public AudioFormat(AudioFormat.Encoding encoding, float sampleRate, int sampleSizeInBits, int channels, int frameSize, float frameRate, boolean bigEndian, Map<String,Object> properties)
      Constructs an AudioFormat with the given parameters. The encoding specifies the convention used to represent the data. The other parameters are further explained in the class description.
      Parameters:
      encoding - the audio encoding technique
      sampleRate - the number of samples per second
      sampleSizeInBits - the number of bits in each sample
      channels - the number of channels (1 for mono, 2 for stereo, and so on)
      frameSize - the number of bytes in each frame
      frameRate - the number of frames per second
      bigEndian - indicates whether the data for a single sample is stored in big-endian byte order (false means little-endian)
      properties - a Map<String, Object> object containing format properties
      Since:
      1.5

    • AudioFormat

      public AudioFormat(float sampleRate, int sampleSizeInBits, int channels, boolean signed, boolean bigEndian)
      Constructs an AudioFormat with a linear PCM encoding and the given parameters. The frame size is set to the number of bytes required to contain one sample from each channel, and the frame rate is set to the sample rate.
      Parameters:
      sampleRate - the number of samples per second
      sampleSizeInBits - the number of bits in each sample
      channels - the number of channels (1 for mono, 2 for stereo, and so on)
      signed - indicates whether the data is signed or unsigned
      bigEndian - indicates whether the data for a single sample is stored in big-endian byte order (false means little-endian)

  • Method Details

    • getEncoding

      public AudioFormat.Encoding getEncoding()
      Obtains the type of encoding for sounds in this format.
      Returns:
      the encoding type
      See Also:

    • getSampleRate

      public float getSampleRate()
      Obtains the sample rate. For compressed formats, the return value is the sample rate of the uncompressed audio data. When this AudioFormat is used for queries (e.g. AudioSystem.isConversionSupported) or capabilities (e.g. DataLine.Info.getFormats), a sample rate of AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED means that any sample rate is acceptable. AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED is also returned when the sample rate is not defined for this audio format.
      Returns:
      the number of samples per second, or AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED
      See Also:

    • getSampleSizeInBits

      public int getSampleSizeInBits()
      Obtains the size of a sample. For compressed formats, the return value is the sample size of the uncompressed audio data. When this AudioFormat is used for queries (e.g. AudioSystem.isConversionSupported) or capabilities (e.g. DataLine.Info.getFormats), a sample size of AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED means that any sample size is acceptable. AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED is also returned when the sample size is not defined for this audio format.
      Returns:
      the number of bits in each sample, or AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED
      See Also:

    • getChannels

      public int getChannels()
      Obtains the number of channels. When this AudioFormat is used for queries (e.g. AudioSystem.isConversionSupported) or capabilities (e.g. DataLine.Info.getFormats), a return value of AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED means that any (positive) number of channels is acceptable.
      Returns:
      The number of channels (1 for mono, 2 for stereo, etc.), or AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED
      See Also:

    • getFrameSize

      public int getFrameSize()
      Obtains the frame size in bytes. When this AudioFormat is used for queries (e.g. AudioSystem.isConversionSupported) or capabilities (e.g. DataLine.Info.getFormats), a frame size of AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED means that any frame size is acceptable. AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED is also returned when the frame size is not defined for this audio format.
      Returns:
      the number of bytes per frame, or AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED
      See Also:

    • getFrameRate

      public float getFrameRate()
      Obtains the frame rate in frames per second. When this AudioFormat is used for queries (e.g. AudioSystem.isConversionSupported) or capabilities (e.g. DataLine.Info.getFormats), a frame rate of AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED means that any frame rate is acceptable. AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED is also returned when the frame rate is not defined for this audio format.
      Returns:
      the number of frames per second, or AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED
      See Also:

    • isBigEndian

      public boolean isBigEndian()
      Indicates whether the audio data is stored in big-endian or little-endian byte order. If the sample size is not more than one byte, the return value is irrelevant.
      Returns:
      true if the data is stored in big-endian byte order, false if little-endian

    • properties

      public Map<String,Object> properties()
      Obtain an unmodifiable map of properties. The concept of properties is further explained in the class description.
      Returns:
      a Map<String, Object> object containing all properties. If no properties are recognized, an empty map is returned.
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:

    • getProperty

      public Object getProperty(String key)
      Obtain the property value specified by the key. The concept of properties is further explained in the class description.

      If the specified property is not defined for a particular file format, this method returns null.

      Parameters:
      key - the key of the desired property
      Returns:
      the value of the property with the specified key, or null if the property does not exist
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:

    • matches

      public boolean matches(AudioFormat format)
      Indicates whether this format matches the one specified. To match, two formats must have the same encoding, and consistent values of the number of channels, sample rate, sample size, frame rate, and frame size. The values of the property are consistent if they are equal or the specified format has the property value AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED. The byte order (big-endian or little-endian) must be the same if the sample size is greater than one byte.
      Parameters:
      format - format to test for match
      Returns:
      true if this format matches the one specified, false otherwise

    • toString

      public String toString()
      Returns a string that describes the audio format, such as: "PCM SIGNED 22050 Hz 16 bit mono big-endian". The contents of the string may vary between implementations of Java Sound.
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      a string representation of the audio format