The correct way to play short sounds Android?

Question

I am creating an application that will have multiple images on the screen, these images will be buttons and when tapped will play a short sound. I researched this and could only find the current method I am using to play sounds, which does not seem responsive at all. I want that the sound plays quickly and is responsive to many rapid taps. I was unsure if this was even possible in Android.

The code I am using to play my sound is this:

    Button sound1;
MediaPlayer  firstSound;

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);
    firstSound = MediaPlayer.create(SoundActivity.this, R.raw.click);


    sound1 = (Button) findViewById(R.id.Sound1);


    beaver.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

        public void onClick(View v) {

            firstSound.start();

            }

    });



    }

My lag issue could also be perhaps down to the way I am using the media player object? I do feel that this should be smoother on my phone, any suggestions on how to play sounds in Android is appreciated.

Thanks.

Since discovering Sound Pool, I have edited my code to use this and it works perfectly, the new code looks like this:

SoundPool soundPool;
HashMap<Integer, Integer> soundPoolMap;
int soundID = 1;


Button sound1;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);


    soundPool = new SoundPool(4, AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC, 100);
    soundPoolMap = new HashMap<Integer, Integer>();
    soundPoolMap.put(soundID, soundPool.load(this, R.raw.click, 1));

    sound1 = (Button) findViewById(R.id.bBeaver);


    sound1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

                public void onClick(View v) {

                    AudioManager audioManager = (AudioManager)getSystemService(Context.AUDIO_SERVICE);
              float curVolume = audioManager.getStreamVolume(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
              float maxVolume = audioManager.getStreamMaxVolume(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
              float leftVolume = curVolume/maxVolume;
              float rightVolume = curVolume/maxVolume;
              int priority = 1;
              int no_loop = 0;
              float normal_playback_rate = 1f;
              soundPool.play(soundID, leftVolume, rightVolume, priority, no_loop, normal_playback_rate);

            }

    });


    }

Thanks

Answer 1

You can use SoundPool. It fits what you want to do perfectly.

You'll just need a way to store the sound effect IDs corresponding to each image (or button).

Perhaps extend Button to store associated sound effect ID. And use a common SoundPool to play the sound effect associated to the id when the button is touched.

You can read more about SoundPool here.

Answer 2

@Rikonator is on the right track there with Soundpool. It's much more suited to the kind of functionality you are after.

If you decide to go with the mediaplayer anyway, though, don't forget the prepareAsync () method to prevent it from hanging the UI thread. You can read more about playing media here.