Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help
XWAX(1) 		     General Commands Manual			 XWAX(1)

NAME
     xwax - Digital vinyl on Linux

SYNOPSIS
     xwax [options]

DESCRIPTION
     xwax  is vinyl emulation software for Linux. It allows DJs and turntablists
     to playback digital audio files (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC and more), con-
     trolled using a normal pair of turntables via timecoded vinyls.

OPTIONS
     The ordering of options is important. Most options apply to subsequent  mu-
     sic  libraries  or decks, which can be given multiple times.  See the EXAM-
     PLES below.

     -l path
	    Scan the music library or playlist at the given path.

     -t name
	    Use the named timecode for subsequent decks. See -h for  a	list  of
	    valid  timecodes. You will need the corresponding timecode signal on
	    vinyl to control playback.

     -33    Set the reference playback speed for subsequent decks to 33 and  one
	    third revolutions per minute. This is the default.

     -45    Set  the reference playback speed for subsequent decks to 45 revolu-
	    tions per minute.

     -c     Protect subsequent decks against certain operations during playback.

     -u     Allow all operations on a deck during playback. This is the  inverse
	    of the -c option, and is the default.

     --phono
	    Adjust  the  noise thresholds of subsequent decks to tolerate a car-
	    tridge-level signal connected to a line-level audio interface.  This
	    is	a 'software pre-amp'. Unless your audio path has low noise, this
	    will give worse results or may not work at all; a true phono pre-am-
	    plifier is always preferred.

     --line
	    Set noise thresholds of subsequent decks to standard  audio  levels.
	    This reverses the effect of the --phono option, and is the default.

     -i path
	    Use the given importer executable for subsequent decks.

     -s path
	    Use the given scanner executable to scan subsequent music libraries.

     --dummy
	    Create  a  deck which is not connected to any audio device, used for
	    testing.

     -k     Lock into RAM any memory required for real-time use.  This	includes
	    audio  tracks  held  in memory which can be large.	Use ulimit -l to
	    raise the kernel's memory limit to allow this.

     -q n   Change the real-time priority of the process. A priority of 0  gives
	    the process no priority, and is used for testing only.

     -g [nxn][+n+n][/f]
	    Change  the  geometry  of  the  display  in size, position and scale
	    (zoom) respectively.  The size and position is passed to SDL,  which
	    may use it to set the display mode, or size of an X window.  See the
	    EXAMPLES.

     --no-decor
	    Request  to  the window manager to create a 'frameless' window which
	    does not have the regular controls such as title bars  and	buttons.
	    This  can  be  useful  in conjunction with the -g flag for dedicated
	    xwax installations.

     -h     Display the help message and default values.

ALSA DEVICE OPTIONS
     The following options are available only when xwax is  compiled  with  ALSA
     support.

     -a device
	    Create a deck which uses the given ALSA device (eg. plughw:0).

     --rate hz
	    Set  the sample rate for subsequent decks.	The default is to prefer
	    48000Hz, but use 44100Hz if that is not available.	To maintain best
	    performance, only sample  rates  implemented  by  the  hardware  are
	    available.

     --buffer samples
	    Set  the  ALSA  buffer size for subsequent decks.  Smaller is better
	    for lower latencies and greater responsiveness.  Set too low and au-
	    dible glitches will occur, with reports of underruns to the console.

JACK DEVICE OPTIONS
     The following options are available only when xwax is  compiled  with  JACK
     support.

     -j name
	    Create  a  deck which connects to JACK and registers under the given
	    name.

     xwax does not set the sample rate for JACK devices; it uses the sample rate
     given in the global JACK configuration.

OSS DEVICE OPTIONS
     The following options are available only when xwax  is  compiled  with  OSS
     support.

     -d pathname
	    Create a deck which uses the given OSS device (eg. /dev/dsp).

     --rate hz
	    Set  the  sample  rate for subsequent decks. The default for OSS de-
	    vices is 48000Hz.

     -b n   Set the number of OSS buffers for subsequent decks.

     -f n   Set the OSS buffer size (2^n bytes).

HARDWARE CONTROLLER OPTIONS
     The following options are available only when xwax is  compiled  with  ALSA
     support.

     --dicer device
	    Use  one or two Dicer controllers connected as the given ALSA device
	    (eg. hw:Dicer). See the section NOVATION DICER CONTROLS for more in-
	    formation.

     Adding a hardware controller results in control over subsequent  decks,  up
     to the limit of the hardware.

KEYBOARD CONTROLS
     The playback of each deck (direction, speed and position) is controlled via
     the  incoming  timecode  signal from the turntables.  The keyboard provides
     additional controls.

     "C-" and "S-" means a keypress is combined with the  'Control'  or  'Shift'
     key, respectively.

     Record selection controls:

     cursor up, cursor down
	    Move highlighted record up/down by one.

     page up, page down
	    Scroll the record listing up/down by one page.

     left cursor, right cursor
	    Switch to the previous/next crate of records.

     tab    Toggle between the current crate and the 'All records' crate.

     C-tab  Toggle  sort mode between: artist/track name, BPM and 'playlist' or-
	    der. Playlist order is the order in which records were returned from
	    the scanner.

     C-S-tab
	    Re-scan the currently selected crate.

     To filter the current list of records type a portion of a record name. Sep-
     arate multiple searches with a space, and use backspace to delete.

     Deck-specific controls:
     Deck 0   Deck 1   Deck 2
     F1       F5       F9	Load currently selected track to this deck
     F2       F6       F10	Reset start of track to the current position
     F3       F7       F11	Toggle timecode control on/off
     C-F3     C-F7     C-F11	Cycle between available timecodes

     The "available timecodes" are those which have been the subject of  any  -t
     flag on the command line.

     Audio display controls:

     +, -   Zoom in/out the close-up audio meters for all decks.

NOVATION DICER CONTROLS
     The  Novation  Dicer  provides hardware control of cue points. The controls
     are:

     cue mode: dice button (1-5)
	    Jump to the specified cue point, or set it if unset.

     loop-roll mode: dicer button (1-5)
	    "Punch" to the specified cue point, or  set  it  if  unset.  Returns
	    playback to normal when the button is released.

     mode button + dice button (1-5)
	    Clear the specified cue point.

     The dice buttons are lit to show that the corresponding cue point is set.

EXAMPLES
     2-deck setup using one directory of music and OSS devices:

	    xwax -l ~/music -d /dev/dsp -d /dev/dsp1

     As above, but using ALSA devices:

	    xwax -l ~/music -a hw:0 -a hw:1

     2-deck setup using a different timecode on each deck:

	    xwax -l ~/music -t serato_2a -a hw:0 -t mixvibes_v2 -a hw:1

     As above, but with the second deck at 45 RPM:

	    xwax -l ~/music -t serato_2a -a hw:0 -t mixvibes_v2 -45 -a hw:1

     Default to the same timecode, but allow switching at runtime:

	    xwax -l ~/music -t serato_2a -t mixvibes_v2 -a hw:0 -a hw:1

     3-deck setup with the third deck at a higher sample rate:

	    xwax -l ~/music --rate 48000 -a hw:0 -a hw:1 --rate 96000 -a hw:2

     Using all three device types simultaneously, one deck on each:

	    xwax -l ~/music -a hw:0 -d /dev/dsp1 -j jack0

     Scan multiple music libraries:

	    xwax -l ~/music -l ~/sounds -l ~/mixes -a hw:0

     Scan a second music library using a custom script:

	    xwax -l ~/music -i ./custom-scan -l ~/sounds -a hw:0

     Control two decks with Dicer hardware:

	    xwax --dicer hw:Dicer -a hw:0 -a hw:1

     Use a high resolution and enlarge the user interface:

	    xwax -g 1920x1200/1.8 -a hw:0

HOMEPAGE
     http://xwax.org/

AUTHOR
     Mark Hills <mark@xwax.org>

									 XWAX(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=xwax&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.1.quarterly>

home | help