BaseAudioContext: createChannelSplitter() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since April 2021.

The createChannelSplitter() method of the BaseAudioContext Interface is used to create a ChannelSplitterNode, which is used to access the individual channels of an audio stream and process them separately.

Note: The ChannelSplitterNode() constructor is the recommended way to create a ChannelSplitterNode; see Creating an AudioNode.

Syntax

js
createChannelSplitter(numberOfOutputs)

Parameters

numberOfOutputs

The number of channels in the input audio stream that you want to output separately; the default is 6 if this parameter is not specified.

Return value

A ChannelSplitterNode.

Examples

The following simple example shows how you could separate a stereo track (say, a piece of music), and process the left and right channel differently. To use them, you need to use the second and third parameters of the AudioNode.connect(AudioNode) method, which allow you to specify the index of the channel to connect from and the index of the channel to connect to.

js
const ac = new AudioContext();
ac.decodeAudioData(someStereoBuffer, (data) => {
  const source = ac.createBufferSource();
  source.buffer = data;
  const splitter = ac.createChannelSplitter(2);
  source.connect(splitter);
  const merger = ac.createChannelMerger(2);

  // Reduce the volume of the left channel only
  const gainNode = ac.createGain();
  gainNode.gain.setValueAtTime(0.5, ac.currentTime);
  splitter.connect(gainNode, 0);

  // Connect the splitter back to the second input of the merger: we
  // effectively swap the channels, here, reversing the stereo image.
  gainNode.connect(merger, 0, 1);
  splitter.connect(merger, 1, 0);

  const dest = ac.createMediaStreamDestination();

  // Because we have used a ChannelMergerNode, we now have a stereo
  // MediaStream we can use to pipe the Web Audio graph to WebRTC,
  // MediaRecorder, etc.
  merger.connect(dest);
});

Specifications

Specification
Web Audio API
# dom-baseaudiocontext-createchannelsplitter

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
createChannelSplitter
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 14 (Release date: 2011-09-16)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 25 (Release date: 2013-10-29)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 15 (Release date: 2013-07-02)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 6 (Release date: 2012-07-25)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 25 (Release date: 2013-10-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 14 (Release date: 2013-05-21)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 6 (Release date: 2012-09-10)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 4.4.3 (Release date: 2014-06-02)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 6 (Release date: 2012-09-10)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also