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Nice! I (ab)use FLAC to store waveform data that isn't audio, but compresses better using audio codecs than with general purpose compression algorithms. This wi
by pavon 4y ago
Nice! I (ab)use FLAC to store waveform data that isn't audio, but compresses better using audio codecs than with general purpose compression algorithms. This will let me remove some hacks to compress 32-bit data as multiple channels.
- colejohnson66 4y agoWhat data are you compressing?
- nimish 4y agoI've used it to record oscilloscope captures. Especially useful since audio cards are cheap high res adc's.
- mywittyname 4y agoI'm amazed that consumer-grade audio cards are still available and cheap, to be honest. I can't recall having seen one in years, then again, I haven't had a reason to look for them in years either.
- wheels 4y agoTo be clear: actual "PCI-slot"-ish audio cards are now rare. But USB / Thunderbolt (and previously Firewire) external interfaces are a dime a dozen. Serious audio mostly uses them now.
- baybal2 4y agoMicrochips are cheap, once initial investment is made. I guess, it only costs ~10¢ for new SoundBlasters at 90nm-130nm. The price of 10 sound cards will be enough to pay for a whole wafer.
- zymhan 4y agoCreative is still marketing them to gamers, amazingly. Can't say I haven't been tempted.
- ska 4y agoPretty common for any hobbiest who wants to record things too.
- nimish 4y agoAnything with a mic input will work. Audio interfaces over USB are plentiful these days though the discrete PC sound card is pretty rare :(
- leetcrew 4y agoit's a weird market segment. the inside of a computer is not a great place to put a DAC, due to the EMI from all the other components. an audio enthusiast is going to strongly prefer running optical or USB to an external DAC/amp. a non-enthusiast is likely to be happy with whatever comes with their motherboard. it's hard to imagine a scenario that actually makes sense for a high-end audio card, but I'm sure some people buy them anyway.
- aidenn0 4y agoNow that 24b/192kHz cards are widely available, I wonder if you could hook a loopstick antenna up to one and get WWVB (60kHz carrier)? In theory as long as the signal is above -144dB you should be able to tease it out...
- jmole 4y agoSNR even on the best converters is unlikely to be better than 120dB, but still - seems likely.
- pavon 4y agoA variety of sensor data. Nothing coming straight off an ADC needs 32-bits, but I do have need for it in various cases. * The sensor system wants to do unit conversion for me. This data doesn't really have 32-bits of dynamic range, but for archival purposes I'd like to store the exact bits without adding another quantization step - that can happen later. * The sensor system combines multiple ADC channels HDR style. I'd rather get the raw readings and do the combining myself, but don't always have access to it. * Some more advanced preprocessed results, akin to a GPS solution. Linear predictor based algorithms are perfect here since the full possible set of values does have high dynamic range, but the upper bits change very slowly.
- messe 4y agoI'm kinda curious. What kind of sensors? (If you're able to divulge it that is; which given how you've phrased it, I wouldn't be surprised if you're under NDA or similar)