multi module format players under the hood \ VOGONS

multi module format players under the hood

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First post, by ElBrunzy

Posted on 2016-09-05, 06:58

ElBrunzy Offline

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I wonder about how they where made. It was not a trend back then to be open-source so I dont know... There must be a central "kernel" that understand all different module type and can deal with them most specificality, right ? because every module format had a reason to exist. Also when they used hardware mixer there was some other limitation to consider in the output. I wonder if it's a super player that can understand all the format the player can read and translate them, it must have a lot of exceptions. Anyway, what's your view about it ?

Reply 1 of 2, by xjas

Posted on 2016-09-05, 18:26

xjas Offline

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What players are you talking about? A lot of modern ones use the libraries BASS (xmplay) and libopenmpt (Modplug Tracker), both of which are excellent. Cubic Player (ocp) uses its own engine and went open-source a while ago, it's still around too.

Early players were all over the place - you had some true multi-format stuff like DMP which had an internal playback engine (DSMI) that could be licensed for use in other software (e.g. Inertia Player). A lot of old trackers could load multiple formats but tended to convert them internally to whatever their native format was; usually it was close enough to get the job done, if not particularly accurately.

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Reply 2 of 2, by ElBrunzy

Posted on 2016-09-30, 05:16

ElBrunzy Offline

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Location: Québec / Canada

xjas wrote:
What players are you talking about? A lot of modern ones use the libraries BASS (xmplay) and libopenmpt (Modplug Tracker), both of which are excellent. Cubic Player (ocp) uses its own engine and went open-source a while ago, it's still around too.

Early players were all over the place - you had some true multi-format stuff like DMP which had an internal playback engine (DSMI) that could be licensed for use in other software (e.g. Inertia Player). A lot of old trackers could load multiple formats but tended to convert them internally to whatever their native format was; usually it was close enough to get the job done, if not particularly accurately.

Thank to help me clarify my messed up mind. I think you nailed it at "native format". Can you be more specific ? 😉

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