“In telecommunications and computer networks, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource.”
[Multiplexing – Wikipedia]
Dru-uhgs are bad. Multitasking is bad. Multiplexing is good.
Multitasking is trying to produce multiple outputs at once. Like talking to someone on the phone while writing an email to someone else.
Multiplexing is taking multiple inputs simultaneously. This, we can do. It’s loads of fun and the more we get used to it, the better we get at it.
We’ve covered immersion multiplexing before. It used to be something that required a PC or multiple portable devices. Now, with Android, we can do it off of one device.
The kind of immersion multiplexing we’re going to cover today (in fulfillment of a promise made long ago) is what’s known as multiple-barreled hearing (MBH) — originally, we called it double-barreled listening, but that implies two things are not entirely accurate, namely):
- that we are only taking two inputs at a time (we can do more than that), and
- that we are actively paying attention — listening — rather than passively absorbing
MBH is possible on Android because that platform makes it possible to create apps that ignore audio focus, i.e. that do not stop playing audio even if another app starts playing it. This capability and/or the apps that exploit it do not yet appear to exist on iOS, but I might be wrong about that.
The process of getting your MBH 1 on is as simple as getting a reasonably (but not necessarily crazily) powerful Android device (if you don’t have one already), downloading a couple of apps and changing their default settings.
Even if you’re an iOS person, getting an Android device just for playing media is, in my opinion, worth it. iOS is for great virtuosity (smoothness, stability, speed, design, visuals and reliability) but Android’s openness gives it as-yet-unbeaten versatility. Decent Android devices can be had pretty cheap these days, so think of your (extra, if you don’t have one already) Android smartphone as an awesome dedicated media player — remember those? — rather than a phone.
Also, as an aside, I personally avoid buying mobile devices in Japan or Korea because they tend to not allow you to turn off the camera shutter sound, even when taking screenshots. I can’t cosign that B.S., so overseas (i.e. anywhere they don’t over-regulate) is definitely the way to go. I can’t sit here rooting and jailbreaking something I supposedly own and paid for just to get it to not annoy me.
Android Hardware:
- [Amazon.co.jp: android unlocked smartphone: 家電＆カメラ] amzn.to/2DZHDoA
- [Amazon | BLU LIFE ONE X2 – 4G LTE Unlocked Smartphone -64GB+4GB RAM -Rose Gold by BLU | スマートフォン本體 通販] amzn.to/2DZ5ULf
- [Amazon.co.jp: アンドロイド スマホ SIMフリー – 携帯電話・スマートフォン: 家電＆カメラ] amzn.to/2DXghzj
- [Amazon.com: BLU LIFE ONE X2 – 4G LTE Unlocked Smartphone – 64GB+4GB RAM – Grey: Cell Phones & Accessories] amzn.to/2E1aOaX
A smartphone will serve you better than a tablet, not only because the former are smaller but also because there are certain apps (such as YouTube Music: the thinking man’s Spotify) that are only available on devices classified as phones 2.
Android Software (Apps)
Not all your apps need to be able to ignore audio focus, just as many of them as possible. Here are the top three audio player apps I know of that do this (as well as a quick note on how to change the settings in order for ignoring audio focus to happen [as you can imagine, ignoring audio focus is not default behavior]; I have included Japanese language info in some cases because my device is in Japanese and so the English is an educated guess (a re-translation)):
Dominant Apps
- [Neutron Music Player – Google Play の Android アプリ] goo.gl/8EMZGA
- “Audio focus can be disabled through Neutron UI -> Settings -> Audio Hardware -> AUDIO FOCUS.” [Neutron Forum • View topic – Audio focus] goo.gl/iDy6rm
- [音楽プレーヤー : Rocket Player – Google Play の Android アプリ] goo.gl/9pSVEb
- 設定 (Settings) → オーディオ設定 (Audio Settings) → オーディオフォーカス設定 (Audio Focus Settings) → [CHECK] 他のアプリからのサウンドに関係なく…他のアプリからのサウンドに対して、そのまま再生し続けます (Ignore other apps and keep playing)
- Dishonorable mention: [Poweramp – Google Play の Android アプリ] goo.gl/bqBkw
- “You can set Poweramp to ignore audio focus changes, via Settings > Audio > Audio Focus.” [“Audio Focus” like in Neutron – Feature Requests – Poweramp] goo.gl/dLgsLX
- 設定 (Settings) → オーディオ (Audio) → オーディオフォーカス (Audio Focus) → [UNCHECK BOTH] Temporary/Continuous (Permanent) Audio Focus Change
That’s right, dishonorable mention. I love Poweramp. The interface rocks. It ignores audio focus like a champ. BUT. It has this weird and rather unfortunate habit of stealing audio focus from other apps whenever a track change occurs. Now, this audio focus kleptomania won’t affect apps like Neutron and Rocket, which ignore focus, but any app that doesn’t (which is most apps, including all the big boys, like Audible, YouTube and Spotify) will be turned off by it. Which sucks. So Poweramp went from golden boy to fond memory.
Submissive Apps
Once you’ve got your audio-focus-ignoring (“dominant”) apps playing, you can choose any audio-focus-respecting (“submissive”) app you want, including the big boys. The catch is that only one submissive app can be playing at a time (since they tend to submit to each other).
- [YouTube Music – Google Play の Android アプリ] goo.gl/HgvcpT
- [Audible (オーディブル) – 本を聴こう – Google Play の Android アプリ] goo.gl/mbOV6x
- [YouTube – Google Play の Android アプリ] goo.gl/iTYLD
Actual Use Examples
My personal usage patterns have evolved over time (and continue to do so) but here’s the type of thing I do and have done:
- Neutron: Play music (why? Because Neutron give the most detailed control over volume, and you don’t want your music to overpower the rest of your stuff)
- Rocket Player: Play a Japanese audiobook at normal or double speed
- Audible: Play an English language audiobook at triple speed
- I used to use Audible Japan (which works more like Netflix — all-you-can-listen subscription — than Audible USA), but it sucks hard in so many ways that leaned hard into buying audiobooks as mp3 filesets from Febe. You get what you pay for, I guess.
- Neutron: English audiobook
- Rocket Player: Japanese audiobook
- YouTube Music: Korean rap music
Your imagination and powers of (non-?)concentration are the only limit on your abilities. Well, that, and, the number of dominant apps you can find. Also, you need pretty good headphones for this all to not sound crappy.
As time goes on, the more I do this, the more I find I can handle. Now, I get annoyed by an English audiobook if it’s not at triple speed (the Audible speedup algorithm is really good, no distortion whatsoever). You, too, will find the same.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now. Hopefully this helps and makes some amount of sense. Give it go and lemme know!