Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!sdcc6!sdcc13!cpenrose
From: cpenrose@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Christopher Penrose)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Summary: Oscilloscopes and Real Time
Summary: audio data aquisition tests (use your ears!)
Keywords: ears
Message-ID: <13572@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Date: 25 Oct 90 17:41:12 GMT
References: <1990Oct24.210232.24492@wam.umd.edu>
Sender: news@sdcc6.ucsd.edu
Organization: University of California, San Diego
Lines: 21
Nntp-Posting-Host: sdcc13.ucsd.edu

In article <1990Oct24.210232.24492@wam.umd.edu> rgc@wam.umd.edu (Ross Garrett Cutler) writes:
>But have you tested it?  The rate of data I need to sample is not much,
>but if I lose a millisecond anywhere, it's no good.  I've talked to the
>makers of Digital Ears and they admit that you could lose data and there's
>*no* indication if you do.  

If you are sampling audio data, there are two major indicators of data
continuity.  Your ears, and the data itself.  Discontinuties are extremely
noticeable:  radical and isolated signal changes are heard as broadband
clicks.  If your hear a click and or a drop-out, chances are that your
data is incomplete.  You can graph the data and pin-point discontinuties.
By the way, I have managed to sample 44.1Khz stereo direct to disk on my
NeXT while running other cpu-intensive jobs in the background without any 
data loss.  I was impressed.  I also have the old 68030:  a NeXTStation 
with a 68040 will probably convert/and or sample audio with great ease. 
Receiving mail is probably not going to cause sample data loss. 

Christopher Penrose

jesus!penrose
cpenrose@ucsd.edu