Re: Multiple destinations in a single AudioContext

Hey Chris,

Fantastic news! createMediaStreamDestination() sounds like it would be a
fix for one of the problems I pointed out earlier [1].

A few questions:

 * Does the created node act as a pull, i.e. can you connect to just the
media stream destination without having to connect to an audible output?
 * Can you use it to connect AudioContexts, e.g. have a media stream
destination in one context and use that stream for a media stream source in
another?
 * If so, does it add latency?

If it doesn't add latency, the API would by itself provide a meaningful
basis for a DAW plugin architecture. Excluding MIDI, one could just (at
setup) provide the plugin with a stream and the plugin would provide a
stream in return.

Cheers,
Jussi

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-audio/2012JulSep/0551.html

On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 8:25 PM, Chris Rogers <crogers@google.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 8:53 AM, olivier Thereaux <
> olivier.thereaux@bbc.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> As you know, Joe and I have been working on our Use Cases and Requirement
>> document, detailing the specific requirements illustrated by each of our
>> scenario.
>>
>> One of the scenario we added a few months ago was that of an "online DJ
>> set".
>> The current text of the scenario can be read at:
>>
>> http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/reqs/Overview.html#connected-dj-booth
>>
>> One interesting aspect to the scenario is that it illustrates the need
>> for audio to be sent to two different destinations (headphones +
>> streaming). Even more interestingly, the application needs to switch a
>> given context from one destination to another gradually and seamlessly.
>>
>> I cannot quite figure out how that could be done with the current draft
>> of the Web Audio API. Ideally, it would look like this:
>> https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/reqs/DJ.png but given the
>> API's constraint on the number of destinations a context can have, that is
>> not possible.
>>
>> This might just work:
>> https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/reqs/DJ2.png
>> if a given AudioContext is allowed to have two AudioDestinationNodes in
>> its graph, but only one is connected as destination at any given time. This
>> is a much lesser solution, because the DJ cannot continue listening to
>> headphones as she fades the second track in, but it might just be doable.
>>
>> Am I missing an obvious alternative which would make this scenario a
>> possibility? Any thought on how else you'd do it? Note that I am not saying
>> that the API *MUST* enable this scenario - but it is interesting food for
>> thought.
>>
>> Olivier
>
>
> Hi Olivier, you may have noticed the addition of createMediaStreamSource()
> to the specification.  It represents a source from a MediaStream, and work
> is underway in WebKit to support this now, including live audio input.
>  There will be a matching createMediaStreamDestination() for sending to
> remote peers.
>
> For the online DJ case, where headphone output is required in addition to
> the "main" audio output then multi-channel devices can be supported as
> described so far in the spec (.numberOfChannels and .maxNumberOfChannels of
> AudioContext).  We're working hard on implementing that part right now.
>
> p.s. The W3C server hosting the Web Audio spec seems to be down right
> now...
>
>