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Simple AP-16+ question

Started by davisgraveyard, August 01, 2011, 12:20:17 PM

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davisgraveyard

What is the best way to use the AP-16+ as a stand alone audio player.  I want to play a file at power up and loop continuously.  The board will not be connected to any controller.

Should I use the AMBIENT.WAV filename or a SFX00.WAV file name?

I am currently having an issue testing this out.  I have created a stereo WAV from 2 mono tracks in Audacity 1.3 Beta and have tried naming it SFX00.WAV and AMBIENT.WAV but nothing is played.  I have a solid green light.  Even if I hit the start button nothing plays?  When the AMBIENT.WAV name is used I have switch 6 ON.  I am using a 12VDC 1a power supply.  I have the volume turned down pretty low for testing.

I'm going to download the test files to check things out but what I really want to know is what is best practice for my needs.






JonnyMac

Check the sample rate -- must be 44.1kHz or lower (I often have 48kHz projects); this is an easy one to fix.  Was just using the AP-16+ for a big game display that is headed for Seattle at the end of the month.

To your question: AMBIENT.WAV is easy, but without flexibility.  What you might want to do is put a jumper in the dry-contact input terminals; that way you can change the file you want to play (so long as it's on the SD card) by turning the select switch.
Jon McPhalen
EFX-TEK Hollywood Office

davisgraveyard

great suggestion about the jumper that makes sense.     I bet I do have the files set at 48k by default.


davisgraveyard

August 02, 2011, 01:12:03 AM #3 Last Edit: August 02, 2011, 09:11:54 AM by davisgraveyard
I spoke too soon.  The file was 44.1kHz  and I double checked that it was 16bit WAV Stereo.   Still Won't play.  The file is 48MB (4:34) so it is too big to email.  The other File I have is 570MB (55 min) and it won't play either.  I have named it SFX00.WAV on the SD card.  The AP-16+ shows a green light so I am assuming that the file is valid?  But it won't play.  I have the knob set to 0 and when I press the start button I hear he relay click but the light stays solid green.

Edit:  I did put one of your sample files sfx00.wav to test the board and it does work so the speakers are connected correctly and everything seems functional.


bsnut

August 02, 2011, 10:22:32 AM #4 Last Edit: August 02, 2011, 10:28:42 AM by bsnut
I would check your wav file against Jon's wav file in Audacity editor to see if has the same basic settings, since you have file naming part correct now and the players green is on and the Aux relay is now working.

William Stefan
The Basic Stamp Nut

davisgraveyard

The file was 44100Hz  and Jon's test file is  22050Hz.  When I change the rate to 22050Hz it plays.  But it sounds awful.   Is there a way to change the rate that is less drastic and  won't make the audio sound so bad?


davisgraveyard

OK, I figured out how to make the audio sound better.  You set the project rate even if your file is 44100hz if you set the project rate to 22050hz then the file will export correctly and sound fine.

I was still not getting the file to work so I moved on to another file and named it SFX01.wav as Jon suggested and changed the switch and it worked fine.  Set the switch back to 0 and couldn't get my SFX00.wav to play.  So I popped it in another AP-16+ and it worked fine?  One odd thing that happend when I was testing with the first board is that without the NORELAY.TXT file on the SD card and a SFX00.wav and SFX01.wav when I had the switch set to 0 the relay kept clicking over and over but the LED stayed solid green?  Do I have an old firmware issue on this one board?  Is there just something bad?  Or am I doing something wrong?

Jeff

JonnyMac

I would be suspicious of the board; sounds like you have a bad selector switch.  Still, it wouldn't hurt to reload the firmware.  If that doesn't fix it you'll want to contact JB for a repair.
Jon McPhalen
EFX-TEK Hollywood Office

JonnyMac

Quote from: davisgraveyard on August 02, 2011, 11:16:23 AM
The file was 44100Hz  and Jon's test file is  22050Hz.  When I change the rate to 22050Hz it plays.  But it sounds awful.   Is there a way to change the rate that is less drastic and  won't make the audio sound so bad?

Definitely reload the firmware; perhaps with that SD card and old firmware it's not able to play 44.1 files. 
Jon McPhalen
EFX-TEK Hollywood Office