On 03:27 PM, Tres Finocchiaro wrote: There seems to be a popular variant of|SF2| called|sfArk|. The source code seems to be open and relatively small in size. Could we consider patching this into our|SF2| support so that our users have a higher compatiblity rate with soundfonts they download on the internet? Some words about the sfArk format. It really is awful, and needs to be removed from the universe. Sony ericsson xperia x2 panels download. First, it breaks up a soundfont into its non-audio data, and audio data. The non-audio data is zip compressed. The audio data is compressed using one of several 16-bit delta compression schemes, depending upon which 'compression level' the musician chose when he created his sfark using Melody Machine's atrocious windows utility. At the highest compression level (which is the utility's default setting, so most sfark files use it) the totally archiac LPC compression is added (in addition to the delta compression). The inept scheme this guy came up with uses integer to float conversion, float calculations, and convert float back to int. Hello, can you say 'rounding errors'?? And then this bozo actually does a checksum based on those rounding errors. They became ever more successful and signed to Warner in 2000. In 1999 they took part in Dragon Ash's Total Communication event. Only in 1997 they would find a new DJ in DJ Fumiya, which joined the unit, as well as rapper SU, after what started as a collaboration in the track 'Searching' from their first album, 'Talkin' Cheap', released in 1998. In 1995, the group had their debut with the mini-album 'Lip's Rhyme', and by 1996 both DJs had left the group. The group shot to stardom with the release of first major label singles 'STEPPER'S DELIGHT' and '???????????' In effect, those errors are in the sfark file itself. Here's the horrible implication: if you don't perform the exact same rounding errors when you extract the soundfont from the sfark, THEN THE SOUNDFONT WILL BE CORRUPT. And what are the details of those rounding errors? That bozo compiled his software specifically to run on the old 80387 math coprocessor for Intel's ancient 80386 CPU (before the Pentium even). If you don't use the 80387 float format with its internal 20-bit precision, then you won't get the same rounding errors when you extract the soundfont from the sfark, AND THE SOUNDFONT WILL BE CORRUPT. If you compile my utility to use your Intel Core2 or i7's modern, fast SSE instructions, or AMD's 3dnow, etc, THEN THE SOUNDFONT WILL BE CORRUPT. Fortunately, the gnu C compiler has an option (-mfpmath=387) that says 'Don't use newer floating point instructions. If the CPU supports old 80387 instructions (and the current Intel CPUs still do), use those. If the CPU doesn't, compile an entire 80387 software emulation into this program'. Now I don't how well, or even if, gnu's emulation works on CPUs other than intel/AMD. For example, if it doesn't work on ARM, then if you compile my utility on an ARM CPU, it will not produce an error-free soundfont. (It will actually produce a legitimate soundfont file, despite reporting a checksum error. Sf2 format free downloads Image Format Converter Tool 1.32 Image Format Converter Tool is batch converter software supports to converts images between various formats without distorting current image format and preserves generat. Oct 23, 2014 - There seems to be a popular variant of SF2 called sfArk. Have a higher compatibility rate with soundfonts they download on the internet? But the soundfont's waveforms will not be identical to the original. The sound will be altered). This is because the sfark format is technically flawed. It was written by a programmer who didn't know what he was doing, and didn't know that one doesn't use floating point calcs, with int conversions, in a supposedly lossless format. That's inept. Oh yeah, after the zip, delta, and LPC compression schemes are applied, then the resulting mess is run through a bit-packing compression scheme, a checksum is calculated and stored in a truly dreadful 300 byte header that is slapped onto the start of the sfark file. And that's why sfark must be removed from the universe. On 03:32 PM, Tres Finocchiaro wrote: It appears to be ZLIB. The author of this sfArk code is ( ) ? Nope, he just developed/helped release the open-sourced unpacking utility for sfArk files, but is not the original developer of the sfArk format. Besides, IIRC raboof's utility is GPL3 so we can't use it in LMMS. I think sfArk is fairly pointless at this point. The only use for it is decompressing legacy sfArk files, and even then, I've had mixed success • seems to me 50% of all sfArk files just inexplicably corrupt or refuse to unpack. Seems to me 50% of all sfArk files just inexplicably corrupt or refuse to unpack. Good to know. I think sfArk is fairly pointless at this point. The only use for it is decompressing legacy sfArk files, and even then, I've had mixed success Until the sites that host these sfArk files (and there are many) take the time to decompress, our users will be faced with this problem. IIRC raboof's utility is GPL3 so we can't use it in LMMS.
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