4 SoX should compile and run on any POSIX compatible system (Linux, BSD,
5 Solaris, Xcode on Mac OS X, Cygwin on MS-Windows, etc.). For other
6 compilers/systems, it is often possible to manually construct a custom
7 `soxconfig.h' and `Makefile' for that system (the minimum requirements
8 are 32-bit CPU, 64-bit FPU, C89 compiler).
10 Note that the `play', `rec', and `soxi' programs are in fact just
11 copies-of or links-to (depending on OS) `sox'.
13 SoX optionally makes use of some external libraries to obtain support
14 for additional file formats and/or effects. Optional libraries should
15 be installed before compiling SoX. The current list of supported
16 libraries, where to get them (if not from your OS distribution), and
17 their licence types, is as follows:
19 OpencoreAMR-NB/WB http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencore-amr Apache
20 VisualOn AMR-WB http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencore-amr Apache
21 AO http://xiph.org/ao GPL
22 FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net BSD
23 LADSPA http://www.ladspa.org LGPL + plugins' licence
24 Lame MP3 encoder http://lame.sourceforge.net LGPL
25 Twolame MP2 enc. http://www.twolame.org LGPL
26 libltdl http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool LGPL
27 MAD MP3 decoder http://www.underbit.com/products/mad GPL
28 MP3 ID3 tags http://www.underbit.com/products/mad GPL
29 Magic http://www.darwinsys.com/file BSD
30 Ogg Vorbis http://www.vorbis.com BSD
31 Opus http://www.opus-codec.org/ BSD
32 PNG http://www.libpng.org/pub/png zlib (BSD-like)
33 Sndfile http://www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile LGPL
34 WavPack http://www.wavpack.com BSD
38 Compiling and installing on a POSIX system
39 ------------------------------------------
41 First install any optional libraries that you need for SoX. Some
42 libraries may require pkg-config to be installed to be properly
45 [Only if you're compiling the git sources, first make sure you have
46 the GNU autotools (automake >= 1.9, autoconf >= 2.62, autoconf-archive)
52 To compile and install SoX (executables, libraries, manual pages) with
53 a default configuration for your platform, run the following commands:
59 There should be no errors and few, if any, warnings during the `make'
60 stage. Any warnings about pointer mismatch or conversion should
61 be treated with deep suspicion.
63 The `make install' command may require `root' priviliges.
65 To run a selection of tests on the installed sox executable:
69 Optionally, HTML & PDF versions of the manual pages can be built and
77 Again, `root' priviliges may be needed at the install stages.
84 Selection of optional libraries and of other build options can be made
85 by adding parameters to the `./configure' command line (above). Run
89 for a complete list of options.
91 Each optional file-format may be configured to be loaded statically
92 (the default) or dynamically. The dynamic option may be useful for
93 distribution packaging reasons -- for example, to keep separate `free'
94 and `non-free' software.
96 If you are building SoX for a `distribution' (i.e. the build will be
97 used by others), please use --with-distro to identify the distribution
98 as this information is useful in helping to diagnose SoX bug reports.
101 ./configure --with-distro='Super Linux OS 6.1'
103 If any libraries are installed in a non-standard locations in your
104 system, the compiler and linker must be informed of this. Often,
105 environment variables can be used for this purpose. For example, if
106 using the GNU or Clang/LLVM toolchains, the following might be used in
107 a Bourne-compatible shell:
109 export CPATH=/usr/local/include
110 export LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib
112 For other compilers and shells, consult their respective manuals.
117 Support for some file formats is optional and controlled by --enable-*
118 flags to configure. If the value "dyn" is passed to these flags,
119 e.g. --enable-flac=dyn, the corresponding code is built as a module
120 and loaded at runtime.
122 Use of external libraries is controlled by --with-* flags. Some of
123 these accept the value "dyn" to enable runtime loading of the library.
125 The runtime loading feature is mainly useful for distributing the
126 "sox" executable to systems that may not have all the external
129 For a complete list of optional formats and libraries, including which
130 support runtime loading, refer to the "configure --help" output.
135 N.B.: If SoX is configured and compiled to load some file-formats
136 dynamically, then it will not be able to load them when running SoX
137 executables from within the source file directory until after SoX has
138 been installed (temporarily configuring with --without-libltdl removes
141 After successfully compiling SoX, try translating a sound file. You
142 should also playback the new file to make sure it sounds like the
143 original. You can either use an external program or SoX itself
144 if compiled with playback support.
146 To work with widest range of playback programs, you should chose a
147 format that is native to your OS; such as .wav for Windows or .aiff for
148 MacOS. In the following example, we'll use .xxx as the extension of
149 your preferred format.
152 ./sox monkey.wav monkey.xxx
154 You may have to give the sample format and rate for the file. For example,
155 this command will make a sound file with a data rate of 12,500 samples
156 per second and the data formatted as 16-bit signed integers:
158 ./sox monkey.wav -r 12500 -b 16 -e signed-integer monkey.xxx
160 If playback support was compiled in then it can be played like this:
168 If monkey.xxx plays properly (it's a very short monkey screech),
169 congratulations! SoX works.
171 If you're adding new features to SoX or want to perform advance tests
172 on a new platform then you can use the scripts "tests.sh" and
173 "testall.sh" to stress SoX.