- Qt 6.11
- Qt Multimedia
- QtAudio Namespace
- Qt 6.11.0 Reference Documentation

# QtAudio Namespace

The QtAudio namespace contains enums used by the audio classes. More...

Header: | `#include <QtAudio>`
CMake: | `find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Multimedia)` `target_link_libraries(mytarget PRIVATE Qt6::Multimedia)`
qmake: | `QT += multimedia`

## Types

enum | Error { NoError, OpenError, IOError, UnderrunError, FatalError }
enum | State { ActiveState, SuspendedState, StoppedState, IdleState }
enum | VolumeScale { LinearVolumeScale, CubicVolumeScale, LogarithmicVolumeScale, DecibelVolumeScale }

## Functions

float | convertVolume(float volume, QtAudio::VolumeScale from, QtAudio::VolumeScale to)

## Detailed Description

## Type Documentation

### enum QtAudio::Error

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QtAudio::NoError` | `0` | No errors have occurred
`QtAudio::OpenError` | `1` | An error occurred opening the audio device
`QtAudio::IOError` | `2` | An error occurred during read/write of audio device. This can happen when e.g. an external audio interface is disconnected.
`QtAudio::UnderrunError` | `3` | This value has been deprecated in Qt-6.11 and is not emitted from Qt. Observe QtAudio::State::IdleState instead.. Audio data is not being fed to the audio device at a fast enough rate.
`QtAudio::FatalError` | `4` | A non-recoverable error has occurred, the audio device is not usable at this time.

### enum QtAudio::State

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QtAudio::ActiveState` | `0` | Audio data is being processed, this state is set after start() is called and while audio data is available to be processed.
`QtAudio::SuspendedState` | `1` | The audio stream is in a suspended state. Entered after suspend() is called or when another stream takes control of the audio device. In the later case, a call to resume will return control of the audio device to this stream. This should usually only be done upon user request.
`QtAudio::StoppedState` | `2` | The audio device is closed, and is not processing any audio data
`QtAudio::IdleState` | `3` | This state indicates that the audio system is temporarily idle due to a buffering condition. For a QAudioSink, IdleState means there isn’t enough data available from the QIODevice to read. For a QAudioSource, IdleState is entered when the ring buffer that feeds the QIODevice becomes full. In that case, any new audio data arriving from the audio interface is discarded until the application reads from the QIODevice, which frees up space in the buffer.

### enum QtAudio::VolumeScale

This enum defines the different audio volume scales.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QtAudio::LinearVolumeScale` | `0` | Linear scale. `0.0` (0%) is silence and `1.0` (100%) is full volume. All Qt Multimedia classes that have an audio volume use a linear scale.
`QtAudio::CubicVolumeScale` | `1` | Cubic scale. `0.0` (0%) is silence and `1.0` (100%) is full volume.
`QtAudio::LogarithmicVolumeScale` | `2` | Logarithmic Scale. `0.0` (0%) is silence and `1.0` (100%) is full volume. UI volume controls should usually use a logarithmic scale.
`QtAudio::DecibelVolumeScale` | `3` | Decibel (dB, amplitude) logarithmic scale. `-200` is silence and `0` is full volume.

See also QtAudio::convertVolume().

## Function Documentation

### float QtAudio::convertVolume(float volume, QtAudio::VolumeScale from, QtAudio::VolumeScale to)

Converts an audio volume from a volume scale to another, and returns the result.

Depending on the context, different scales are used to represent audio volume. All Qt Multimedia classes that have an audio volume use a linear scale, the reason is that the loudness of a speaker is controlled by modulating its voltage on a linear scale. The human ear on the other hand, perceives loudness in a logarithmic way. Using a logarithmic scale for volume controls is therefore appropriate in most applications. The decibel scale is logarithmic by nature and is commonly used to define sound levels, it is usually used for UI volume controls in professional audio applications. The cubic scale is a computationally cheap approximation of a logarithmic scale, it provides more control over lower volume levels.

The following example shows how to convert the volume value from a slider control before passing it to a QMediaPlayer. As a result, the perceived increase in volume is the same when increasing the volume slider from 20 to 30 as it is from 50 to 60:

     void applyVolume(int volumeSliderValue)
     {
         // volumeSliderValue is in the range [0..100]

         qreal linearVolume = QtAudio::convertVolume(volumeSliderValue / qreal(100.0),
                                                     QtAudio::LogarithmicVolumeScale,
                                                     QtAudio::LinearVolumeScale);

         player.setVolume(qRound(linearVolume * 100));
     }

See also VolumeScale, QAudioSink::setVolume(), QAudioSource::setVolume(), and QSoundEffect::setVolume().