Sound Card
Sound Cards are computer expansion cards that can receive and send out sound using various computer programs. The most common use for soundcards is to provide the sound component for multimedia programs like music composition, media editing and gaming. If your computer does not have sound capabilities already built in the machine, you will need to have a sound card installed in order to hear sound.
Sound Cards are usually composed of sound chips, digital to analog converters, and a connector. More advanced cards typically have more than one sound chip in order to keep the duties between sound and digital production separate. Amplifiers and headphones can then be added to the connector.
Sound cards use multi channel DAC’s to achieve digital sound reproduction. This allows the machine to play various digital samples at a variety of volumes and pitches and to also use effects such as echoing, distortion or filtering. You can also use digital sound playback if you have an instrument bank or a small amount of flash or ROM memory. The majority of sound cards installed in most computers are built with a line in connector that allows the signal from a cassette tape to be input. The sound card is then able to convert the sound into a digital format and save the file on the computer’s hard drive, where it can be edited and formatted even further. There is also a microphone connector that allows the user to connect to microphones or devices that put out less voltage than line in connectors. Sound cards are color coded and each color indicates the function of that particular card.
Another way that sound cards are identified is by polyphony, or the number of different voices or sounds that can be played back at the same time or at once. The number of channels that a sound card has is also another important characteristic. Most sound cards that are on the market today have hardware audio accelerators, a form of polyphony hardware. Hardware audio accelerators have the ability to accelerate 3D sound and facilitate digital sound playback.
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