[MPlayer-DOCS] [PATCH] mplayer advanced audio usage guide

[Corey Hickey]

There's a new patch attached. Mostly I just added your suggestions.

-Corey

The Wanderer wrote:
> Um... on my system, I adjust the volume using the / and * keys (on the
> number pad), and to the best of my awareness I've never modified the
> input configuration from its default; I've just checked the man page in
> mid-paragraph and found that 9 and 0 are also listed, but it might -
> repeat, *might* - be a good idea to say something like "by default 9 or
> / and 0 or *".

I felt like I ought to choose only one of them for the sake of brevity.
I don't know which one has historical precedence, but I chose 9 and 0
because they're in the same region of the keyboard as most of the other
variable-level controls (contrast, brightness, hue, etc.).

>>+The <option>-softvol-max</option> option specifies the maximum percentage of the
>>+original volume. For example, <option>-softvol-max 200</option> would allow the
>>+file to be played up to twice as loud.
> 
> How about "specifies the maximum allowable volume as a percentage of the
> original volume"? I think that manages to be more comprehensible while
> avoiding the problems I've usually encountered trying to explain it.

That's actually very good.

> I might choose to say "would allow the volume to be adjusted up to twice
> its original level", but that may be more technically phrased than you
> want to go with here.

That's good too.

>>It is safe to specify a large value with
>>+<option>-softvol-max</option>; the higher volume will not be used until you
>>+use the volume adjustment keys. The only disadvantage of a large value is that,
>>+since <application>MPlayer</application> adjusts volume by percentage of the
>>+maximum, you will not have as precise control when using the volume adjustment
>>+keys.
> 
> 
> It might be worth making note, here, of the -volstep option (which I
> personally didn't realize existed before yesterday) - it allows you to
> choose exactly *what* percentage of the maximum will be used for the
> adjustment increment. It isn't possible to increase the available
> precision very much by that option, since its default is only 3 (minimum
> 0, minimum practical 1) and it appears to take only an integer argument,
> but some people still might find it useful.

I guess it's really time for me to RTFM for something like the fifth
time. Features have been sneaking in without me noticing.

I don't think there's anything stopping me from changing -volstep to
accept a float (af_volume already uses floats), but it shouldn't be
necessary. Even with "-softvol-max 1000", "-volstep 1" seems to offer
reasonable precision.

>>+This will play the file with a ten decibel gain. Be careful when using the
>>+<option>volume</option> filter - you could easily hurt your ears if you use
>>+too high a value. Start low and work your way up gradually until you get a feel
>>+for how much adjustment is required. Also, if you specify excessively high
>>+values <option>volume</option> may need to clip the signal to avoid sending your
>>+sound card data that is outside the allowable range. You will hear distortion
>>+when this happens.
> 
> I'm not particularly happy with the feel of that last sentence - it
> seems a little off in some way I'm not sure of. How about inserting a
> comma after "values" and saying "allowable range; this will result in
> distortion" (or even "distorted audio")?

I think actually a comma is required there.

-Corey
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