How do the device files know what format the audio data is in? | Hacker News

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chrisseaton on Aug 4, 2021 | parent | context | favorite | on: Bye CUPS: Printing with Netcat

How do the device files know what format the audio data is in?

ajnin on Aug 4, 2021 | [–]

It doesn't, it just plays the data as PCM and with whatever sample format and sample rate it is currently configured for.

andrecarini on Aug 4, 2021 | [–]

I'd guess the device files just pass through the binary data to the hardware, and then it's up to the audio device/driver what their defaults are (probably PCM 16-bit 44.1khz)

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