MIX_CreateMixerDevice(3)

📦
version 3.2.4 · 2 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 MIX_CreateMixerDevice 💖

okay bestie, come closer, we're doing the SDL_mixer3 FUNCTIONS page for MIX_CreateMixerDevice(3) and honestly? this one's a glow-up. no cap. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

MIX_CreateMixerDevice — literally creates a mixer that plays sound directly to an audio device. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <SDL3_mixer/SDL_mixer.h>

MIX_Mixer * MIX_CreateMixerDevice(SDL_AudioDeviceID devid, const SDL_AudioSpec *spec);

look at her. two args. main character energy fr fr. 👑

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so, this is usually the function you want, versus MIX_CreateMixer(). like, if you're standing there wondering which one, it's this one. periodt.

you can choose a specific device ID to open, following SDL's usual rules 💅 — but lowkey, the correct choice most of the time is to just specify SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK and let SDL figure out what device to use. and get this — it'll even seamlessly transition you to new hardware if the default changes. icon behavior, honestly. 🫶

only playback devices make sense here. trying to open a recording device? it will fail. not me being dramatic, that's just the rules. 💀

this will call SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_AUDIO) internally — no need to do it yourself first. but also, it's totally safe to call SDL_Init() before this call too, if you intend to enumerate audio devices to pick one to open here. flexible queen. ✨

you can request an audio format and the system will try to set the hardware to those specs, or as close as possible — but bestie, it's just a hint. 🎀 SDL_mixer will handle all data conversion behind the scenes in any case, and specifying a NULL spec is a completely reasonable choice. the best reason to specify a format? because you know all your data is in that format and it might save some unnecessary CPU time on conversion. little optimization moment. 💜

the actual device format chosen is available through MIX_GetMixerFormat(). iykyk. 👀

once a mixer is created, the next steps are usually: load audio (through MIX_LoadAudio() and friends 🍓), create a track (MIX_CreateTrack()), and play that audio through that track. the whole pipeline, slay.

when you're done with the mixer, it can be destroyed with MIX_DestroyMixer(). RIP little mixer. 🌈

🎀 FUNCTION PARAMETERS 🎀

  • devid — the device to open for playback, or SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK for the default. (go with the default, trust.)
  • spec — the audio format to request from the device. may be NULL. totally valid, not a mistake, don't panic. 🙈

⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

returns a mixer that can be used to play audio… or NULL on failure. 😭 if you get NULL, call SDL_GetError() for more information, bestie. it'll tell you what went wrong. 🔥

💅 THREAD SAFETY 💅

this function should only be called on the main thread. do not try to be cute and call it from a worker thread. i said what i said. 💀

🧚 AVAILABILITY 🧚

this function is available since SDL_mixer 3.0.0. so if you're on something older… babe. upgrade. 🦋

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

and that's the whole page, bestie, you ate it up. 👑 this was brought to you by SDL_mixer 3.2.4, the SDL_mixer era of MIX_CreateMixerDevice(3), and honestly it's giving documentation. go make some noise. 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from