Java Sound Technology

The Java Platform includes a powerful API for capturing, processing, and playing back audio and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data. This API is supported by an efficient sound engine which guarantees high-quality audio mixing and MIDI synthesis capabilities for the platform.

The provided reference implementation of this API supports the following features:

Audio file formats: AIFF, AU and WAV
Music file formats: MIDI Type 0, MIDI Type 1, and Rich Music Format (RMF)
Sound formats: 8-bit and 16-bit audio data, in mono and stereo, with sample rates from 8 kHz to 48 kHz
Linear, a-law, and mu-law encoded data in any of the supported audio file formats
MIDI wavetable synthesis and sequencing in software, and access to hardware MIDI devices
An all-software mixer that can mix and render up to 64 total channels of digital audio and synthesized MIDI music

The above list describes the reference implementation, not the API itself. The API permits flexible configuration of the audio and MIDI system, including ways for applications to ask the system exactly what resources are installed and available.

API Reference

Tutorials and Programmer's Guides

The Sound Tutorial
Java Sound Programmer's Guide - A conceptual description of the Java Sound API, with code examples.

API Enhancements

More Information

The Java Sound Home Page