I have been looking for a decent ABX application for OS X for close to a year now, but still have not found any.
These are the two applications I have found so far:
* Java ABC/HR 0.4b (http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/abchr-java.zip). Work pretty good, but crash almost every time it plays to the end of a song.
Its also making some nasty popping noise when I switch audio streams.
* MacABX 1.0 (http://goldbarterholdings.com/todd/macabx-1.0.sit). Just to simple for my taste.
Unable to stop playback, cant select a part of the song to playback.
I know Java ABC/HR 0.5a is out. But since it requires JRE 1.5, which is not released for Mac OS X yet, I am unable to test it!
So do anybody know if there are other alternatives out there?
Thanks!
I know Java ABC/HR 0.5a is out. But since it requires JRE 1.5, which is not released for Mac OS X yet, I am unable to test it!
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=287067")
Could you give [a href="http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro2.zip]this[/url] a try? It's a retroweaved (http://retroweaver.sourceforge.net/) version of ABC/HR-Java 0.5a. You have to select "Java Sound Audio Engine" in the playback settings before playing sound. If you still encounter these crashes at the end of a sample, I'd appreciate it if you could run it from a console and tell me about any error messages that appear. Thanks.
I know Java ABC/HR 0.5a is out. But since it requires JRE 1.5, which is not released for Mac OS X yet, I am unable to test it!
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=287067")
Could you give [a href="http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro.zip]this[/url] a try? It's a retroweaved (http://retroweaver.sourceforge.net/) version of ABC/HR-Java 0.5a. You have to select "Java Sound Audio Engine" in the playback settings before playing sound. If you still encounter these crashes at the end of a sample, I'd appreciate it if you could run it from a console and tell me about any error messages that appear. Thanks.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287255"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Seems to work perfectly here!
I have tested the new version for 30 min. and have not had a single crash, so its definatelly more stable than the 0.4 version.
But I still have the same popping noise when I switch between the audio streams. Or is it supposed to be so?
Dont know how its on a Windows computer...
Another problem, which I also had in the 0.4 version is that I cant get it to take anything else than .wav files. Example; I have the flac executables in my path, but when I load up a .flac file the decode popup window stay up forever and nothing happends. Haven´t tried mp3 since I have not compiled and installed madplay yet.
Thanks, solaris and Busemann, for trying this out.
But I still have the same popping noise when I switch between the audio streams. Or is it supposed to be so?
Dont know how its on a Windows computer...[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287276"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
That's because of the Java Sound software mixer. In 1.5 Java Sound can use native hardware mixers which have far less latency and don't have these clicking and popping noises. In JRE 1.4 these are not available, though. So, unfortunately, you'll have to wait for Apple's implementation of JRE 1.5 to get rid of these issues.
Another problem, which I also had in the 0.4 version is that I cant get it to take anything else than .wav files. Example; I have the flac executables in my path, but when I load up a .flac file the decode popup window stay up forever and nothing happends. Haven´t tried mp3 since I have not compiled and installed madplay yet.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287276"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Could you start ABC/HR-Java from a console ("java -jar abchr.jar") and see if it prints any error messages when you have it decode a file? That might help me find the problem. Thanks.
That's because of the Java Sound software mixer. In 1.5 Java Sound can use native hardware mixers which have far less latency and don't have these clicking and popping noises.
I understand.
There are rumours that Apple is going to release Mac OS 10.4 any day now, with Java 1.5. So a fix is close by.
Could you start ABC/HR-Java from a console ("java -jar abchr.jar") and see if it prints any error messages when you have it decode a file?
I load up a .wav and a .flac or .mp3 file, then press "Start Test", exactly when the "Decoding Sample B" window pop up this lines appear in the Terminal (I have the flac and madplay executables in my path):
java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: java.lang.String.replace(Ljava/lang/CharSequence;Ljava/lang/CharSequence;)Ljava/lang/String;
at abchr.audio.CLIProcessor.process(Unknown Source)
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory$Decoder.process(Unknown Source)
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory.createSample(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$SampleLoader.run(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$4.construct(Unknown Source)
at guiutils.SwingWorker$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:552)
Hope this error messages is for some help.
May it be because of the outdated Java version?
I´m ready for instructions if you need me to test some more!
Hope this error messages is for some help.
May it be because of the outdated Java version?
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=287412")
Thanks, this was indeed quite helpful. You can get a fixed version [a href="http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro2.zip]here[/url]. These crashes appear when the code uses some method which didn't exist before JDK 1.5, so you might encounter some more of them (I haven't tested with 1.4). If you do, just tell me the error message, and I'll try to fix it.
There are rumours that Apple is going to release Mac OS 10.4 any day now, with Java 1.5.
It'll ship with 1.4.2 I'm afraid
Get it here (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a-retro2).
Getting a 404 error.
Get it here (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro2.zip).
Getting a 404 error.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287457"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Whoops. Fixed.
@schnofler. I picked up the last build, but still get an error message when it tries to decode flac or mp3 files.
It look pretty close to the previous one:
java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: java.util.Arrays.toString([Ljava/lang/Object;)Ljava/lang/String;
at abchr.audio.CLIProcessor.process(Unknown Source)
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory$Decoder.process(Unknown Source)
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory.createSample(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$SampleLoader.run(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$4.construct(Unknown Source)
at guiutils.SwingWorker$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:552)
@Busemann. I sure hope you´re wrong, since we really need an updated Java version on Mac OS X!
Heh. Now, that's stupid. This new bug is actually caused by a line I put in there to test the fix for the last bug and then forgot to comment out.
Should work now. Get fixed version here (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro3.zip).
We are getting closer. This time it dont crash, but displayed this error message.
OK, I'm not sure where this comes from. Maybe you could try again with this version (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro4.zip)? It won't fix the problem, but it might give some more information.
New output:
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac could not be decoded.
Call to flac failed.
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory$Decoder.process(Unknown Source)
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory.createSample(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$SampleLoader.run(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$4.construct(Unknown Source)
at guiutils.SwingWorker$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:552)
javax.sound.sampled.UnsupportedAudioFileException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac could not be decoded.
Call to flac failed.
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory.createSample(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$SampleLoader.run(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$4.construct(Unknown Source)
at guiutils.SwingWorker$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:552)
So it cant find my flac executable.
I copied flac into the abchr-java directory, but that did not change anything either...
Perhaps its other Mac OS X users around here that can give it a go?
Edit: I should tell that both flac and madplay are working fine in Terminal
So it cant find my flac executable.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=287561")
I don't think that's the problem. Anyway, I've built [a href="http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro5.zip]another version[/url], which prints the output of the CLI app to the console. Sorry for bothering you so much with testing my program. Your help is definitely appreciated.
I don't think that's the problem. Anyway, I've built another version (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro5.zip), which prints the output of the CLI app to the console. Sorry for bothering you so much with testing my program. Your help is definitely appreciated.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287577"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
No problem.
Its highly usable for me to get this fixed as well!
Here are the important parts of the output from the last build:
ERROR: -o/--output-name cannot be used with multiple files
Type "flac" for a usage summary or "flac --help" for all options
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac could not be decoded.
Call to flac failed.
---------------------
MPEG Audio Decoder 0.15.2 (beta) - Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Robert Leslie et al.
audio: "./abchrtemp/tmp5p6ez5.wav": No such file or directory
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3 could not be decoded.
Call to madplay failed.
OK, here's another build (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro7.zip).
Hmmm, this seems to be a hard one!
cmdarray: flac -d -s -o abchrtemp/tmpetazke.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac"
Message_From_Silence.flac": ERROR initializing decoder
state = FLAC__FILE_DECODER_ERROR_OPENING_FILE
An error occurred opening the input file; it is likely that it does not exist
or is not readable.
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac could not be decoded.
Call to flac failed.
--------------------
cmdarray: madplay -o wave:abchrtemp/tmp9us65h.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3"
MPEG Audio Decoder 0.15.2 (beta) - Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Robert Leslie et al.
"/Users/krmathis/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3": No such file or directory
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3 could not be decoded.
Call to madplay failed.
Could you try executing the command lines ABC/HR uses (flac -d -s -o abchrtemp/tmpetazke.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac" and madplay -o wave:abchrtemp/tmp9us65h.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3") manually in a console from the ABC/HR directory?
Could you try executing the command lines ABC/HR uses (flac -d -s -o abchrtemp/tmpetazke.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac" and madplay -o wave:abchrtemp/tmp9us65h.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3") manually in a console from the ABC/HR directory?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287595"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
None of the command lines above work in Terminal, but these two work fine:
"flac -d -s -o abchrtemp/tmpetazke.wav /Users/**/Downloads/ABX\ Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac"
"madplay -o wave:abchrtemp/tmp9us65h.wav /Users/**/Downloads/ABX\ Testing/Message_From_Silence.mp3"
So the decoders dont accept
"/folder name/filename.ext", but use
/folder\ name/filename.ext instead?
Edit:
Still dont work if I move all the files to a directory without spaces.
cmdarray: madplay -o wave:abchrtemp/tmp9us65h.wav "/Users/krmathis/Downloads/1.mp3"
MPEG Audio Decoder 0.15.2 (beta) - Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Robert Leslie et al.
"/Users/**/Downloads/1.mp3": No such file or directory
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/1.mp3 could not be decoded.
Call to madplay failed.
Even if the "madplay -o wave:abchrtemp/tmp9us65h.wav "/Users/**/Downloads/1.mp3"" command works fine
Aaah.. very good. I think we're getting close. This (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro8.zip) might actually work.
Aaah.. very good. I think we're getting close. This (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/abchr-java-0.5a_retro8.zip) might actually work.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287603"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
W O R K I N G !
Both flac and mp3 decoded, offset correction, gain correction and playing just fine.
But its not 100% yet.
Its only working if I launch it from Terminal, not if I double-click the abchr.jar
W O R K I N G !
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287611"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Nice.
Its only working if I launch it from Terminal, not if I double-click the abchr.jar
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287611"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
That's strange. Double-clicking the jar file should do exactly the same as starting it from a terminal, shouldn't it?
That's strange. Double-clicking the jar file should do exactly the same as starting it from a terminal, shouldn't it?
I thought so as well. But obviously there is some difference.
Could it be because this debug build is trying to write the output from the external decoders to the Terminal, which obviously is not running?
But its not 100% yet.
Its only working if I launch it from Terminal, not if I double-click the abchr.jar
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287611"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Works by double-clicking it here.
Works by double-clicking it here.
Yes, it launches fine on double-click.
But I get the message "File blablabla.flac could not be decoded" when I try to play from a compressed audio format (ex. flac, mp3). Wave files is working fine.
Can you play from a compressed format, when you double-click to start?
Works by double-clicking it here.
Yes, it launches fine on double-click.
But I get the message "File blablabla.flac could not be decoded" when I try to play from a compressed audio format (ex. flac, mp3). Wave files is working fine.
Can you play from a compressed format, when you double-click to start?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287654"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
you're right, it doesn't decode anything other than wav. I thought you meant the app didn't open..
Sorry, I didn't express myself clear enough.
Maybe Mac OS doesn't run the application from the directory the jar file is in. This little program (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/userdir.jar) will tell you its working directory. If it's different from the directory the jar file was in, you could try moving ABC/HR's clicodec.cfg and the abchrtemp directory there.
That dont seem to be the problem.
When I launch userdir.jar it tells me that the User Directory is the same directory where userdir.jar is located. Even if I move it deep into subfolders, the User Directory follow...
I'm no coder, but are you sure its not the debug code you added yesterday that is causing this?
Because when I launch abchr.jar from Terminal it writes the output from the external decoders to the terminal window. Which it cant do when I launch abchr.jar directly
I'm no coder, but are you sure its not the debug code you added yesterday that is causing this?
Because when I launch abchr.jar from Terminal it writes the output from the external decoders to the terminal window. Which it cant do when I launch abchr.jar directly
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=287797"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
It's possible, yes. But actually, it should just dump the output to null, which wouldn't produce any problems. And if it doesn't (but rather fills some buffer which might overflow), I'd expect it to hang or crash, rather than produce error messages. Anyway, I'm only guessing here. I'll make a version without debug messages later.
Here are the output to console.log when I launch it with double-click:
===== Sat Apr 02 2005 ===== 16:06:46 Europe/Oslo =====
cmdarray: flac -d -s -o abchrtemp/tmpetazke.wav /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac
abchr.audio.DecodeFailedException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac could not be decoded.
I/O error while processing Message_From_Silence.flac: flac: not found
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory$Decoder.process(Unknown Source)
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory.createSample(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$SampleLoader.run(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$4.construct(Unknown Source)
at guiutils.SwingWorker$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:552)
javax.sound.sampled.UnsupportedAudioFileException: File /Users/**/Downloads/ABX Testing/Message_From_Silence.flac could not be decoded.
I/O error while processing Message_From_Silence.flac: flac: not found
at abchr.audio.SampleFactory.createSample(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$SampleLoader.run(Unknown Source)
at abchr.gui.ABXPanel$4.construct(Unknown Source)
at guiutils.SwingWorker$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:552)
Looks familiar..
Bump!
Are there really no other ABX applications that run on Mac OS X out there?
ABC/HR for Java is pretty good. But its unusable for me because it creates those nasty popping noices when switching audio tracks...
Oh well!
A year has passed (almost), and I'm still looking for a "decent" ABX application for Mac OS X!
Any new application out there?
A year has passed (almost), and I'm still looking for a "decent" ABX application for Mac OS X!
Any new application out there?
Another year (and more) have passed, and I'm still looking for an ABX application for Mac OS X!
It would be great if we had a native OS X application, with these features:
* Lossy audio support (MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Musepack, ...)
* Lossless/Uncompressed audio support (Apple Lossless, WavPack, FLAC, PCM (AIFF and WAVE), ...).
* Gain correction.
* Offset correction.
* Select playback range.
* Sessions.
i am interested too... anyone?
i am interested too... anyone?
Me too !
Any suggestions for which (audio) Mac developers to ask ?
I'm always surprised by the little interest in ABX applications, even (especially) by audio professionals.
It might be quite some work to develop an ABX and/or ABC/HR tool. Nevertheless I hope someone is willing to take the challenge. Mac (OSX) is very popular in the (professional) audio community.
Me too !
Any suggestions for which (audio) Mac developers to ask ?
I have asked Stephen Booth (http://sbooth.org/) (the Max and Play developer). But not quite sure if I ever got a reply.
He already have the needed playback frameworks running, and have shown that he can handle audio applications. So I really think he is the right guy for this task.
We just have to convince him!
I have asked Stephen Booth (http://sbooth.org/) (the Max and Play developer).
Since I like Max a lot, I came up with the same idea
I've posted a request on his forum. Please post a message there if you want to support this request.
http://sbooth.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1369 (http://sbooth.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1369)
Maybe Mac OS doesn't run the application from the directory the jar file is in. This little program (http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~bkuckuck/userdir.jar) will tell you its working directory. If it's different from the directory the jar file was in, you could try moving ABC/HR's clicodec.cfg and the abchrtemp directory there.
I know this is an old thread (sorry - just joined recently!) but if anyone is still looking for a workaround to make this software run on OS X 10.4, try this: move its folder as high in the hierarchy as you can. Then try to double-click the JAR file. For me, at least, some Java apps do not run if they're buried too deep in the directory tree. I moved the folder directly into the "Applications" folder and abchr ran just fine. Sticking it any lower caused similar exception logs to those listed. Give it a try - can't hurt.
I know this is an old thread (sorry - just joined recently!)
Well, AFAIK there still isn't an ABX application for OS X so this thread is still actual
Thanks for your input.
FWIW, WinABX seems to run ok under CrossOver (http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/) (wine) under OS X so that could be an option until a real OS X application becomes available.
Hi, Found this thread and I'm too interested into a solution OSX based.
But in the same time I found the solution for this problem of decoding. In fact on OSX when launched from Terminal all variables like PATH and some others are set so flac can be found. But when launched with a double click all these Environment variable are not set so flac can't be found.
And finally the solution is to change the way the file are decoded in Options > Settings > Decoders
You just have to write the complete path to your flac or XXX binary decoder.
If installed with macports should be something like /opt/local/bin/MYDECODER
Below an example that worked for me. (With 2 different path to get a better explanation)
(http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3618/image1dr9.th.png) (http://img260.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image1dr9.png)
bump!
afaik there still is no osx abx tool out there?!
bump!
afaik there still is no osx abx tool out there?!
Unfortubately not. but add your wish here:
http://forums.sbooth.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1369 (http://forums.sbooth.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1369)
The recently fixed ABC/HR for Java build is supposed to work fine on OS X:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=77573 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=77573)
Please report in the linked thread if you find any problems.
Edit
The new program files are available in this reply: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=683924 (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=77573&view=findpost&p=683924)
foobar2000 for OSX (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=77261&st=0) works with the ABX component. (ABX link at bottom of page 1)
Foobar ABX under WINE used to click heavily while switching between samples. That could severely dilute results. Is this fixed?
Foobar ABX under WINE used to click heavily while switching between samples. That could severely dilute results. Is this fixed?
It isn't entirely silent and smooth on my system - Not uselessly bad.
It seems that my java version doesn't accept files with more than 16 bits.
Which formats can be used ?
That's a problem with Foobar on OS X also. The WINE emulation layer cannot output anything higher than 16 bit and at best silently truncates.
http://emptymusic.com/software/ABXer.html (http://emptymusic.com/software/ABXer.html)
^^^
That works for mac
ABXer is not good enough, for the following reasons:
It is undocumented, without source code, without developer contact information, and with practically no ability to set preferences. I simply do not know what its practice is with regard to offset correction, level matching, handling of different formats etc.
It takes a very long time to get ready at the beginning of every test. Even If I do the same test twice in a row, it repeats this delay.
It has no continuous-play capability -- you cannot switch selections on the fly to get a feel for change in overall color. When you switch selections, it returns to the preset starting point, which is very hard to adjust with any precision.
It doesn't have a training mode in which A and B would be clearly identified and immediate feedback would be given as to whether a guess is correct.
It doesn't document the time of each guess and the starting point set for that guess.
Plus, it has an audible click at the beginning of playback.
I simply do not know what its practice is with regard to offset correction, level matching, handling of different formats etc.
You've made some excellent points but offset correction and level matching are not exactly exactly part of the the ABX plug-in for foobar2000, which is by far and away the tool most commonly used by the members of this forum. foobar2000 does enable one to use replaygain. It does not, in any way whatsoever, do anything with offsets. Typical ABX comparison generally does not need either offset correction or level matching. When it becomes an issue, it can easily be handled with a wave editor.
My experience is with ABX/HR for Java, which performs level-matching at 16 bits by default. I prefer not to have the ABX program perform level-matching. All of the samples that I have ever attempted to compare have been perfectly aligned, but there were times when I wasn't sure if the conversion I had performed had maybe introduced an offset; the fact that ABX/HR for Java had offset correction saved me a step of double-checking. In these two cases, it would be fine with me if the program were documented not to have the feature. My other objections are more serious.
I don't really want to install an awkward port of foobar2000 onto my Mac just in order to do ABX at 96kHz.