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| A sound card is a device (either in the form of an expansion card or a chipset) that allows the computer to | handle audio information. |
| The basic responsibility of a sound card is the | input, processing, and output of audio information |
| Sound cards can "capture" audio information from many different sources such as | microphones, CD players, DAT, and MIDI devices. |
| The processing capability of a sound card allows it convert | audio information in different formats as well as add effects to the sound data. |
| basic components of a sound card | Processor, Converters, Memory, Ports |
| The Digital Signal Processor (DSP) is a chip (or set of chips) that | drives the sound card as well as the "routing" of audio information. |
| The Digital Signal Processor (DSP) acts as the | synthesizer, or music generator. |
| Most audio information recorded from outside of the computer (unless in a digital format) must pass through the | Analog-to-Digital (ADC) |
| Data being output to speakers uses the services of the | Digital-to-Analog (DAC) |
| Advanced sound cards use memory in the form of | ROM, Flash, or NVRAM and can often be upgraded or expanded. |
| Advanced sound cards use memory to | store samples from musical instruments and to hold instructions for MIDI devices. |
| Sound cards can have multiple internal and external ports also known as jacks for | connecting to input and output devices. |
| Sound cards produce audio (synthesize) using these three distinct methods | Frequency Modulation (FM), Wavetable, and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) |
| Wavetable sound cards use actual | digitized samples of real instruments to reproduce audio. |
| Wavetable sound cards samples are stored within the | card memory, which usually contains an entire "orchestra" of musical instruments. |
| Sound cards that use Frequency Modulation (FM) synthesis use | programming to create waveforms that best match the instrument playing. |
| Frequency Modulation (FM) sounds are easy to produce but | are very unrealistic |
| MIDI is a combination of hardware and software that allows the sound card to | control actual musical instruments and use these instruments to output the audio |
| The quality of a sound card is determined by its | bit depth, sampling rate, and feature set |
| Bit depth refers to the | sample size and bus size of the sound card. |
| In general, the larger the sample size, the higher the | quality of sound that is reproduced |
| Sampling rate | the rate at which the card can record audio information |
| Sampling rate is measured in | kHz, which is thousands of cycles per second. |
| Sound Card feature sets can include | 3-D audio co-processors, device controllers, and digital output options. |
| The methods used to create audio are developed through the | USB sound, PCI sound cards, and built-in sound chipsets found on the motherboard |
| Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a | hot-swappable interface |
| The USB speaker system allows the USB port to act as | a sound card. |
| Plug-and-play USB sound | no need for other configurations once the audio device is plugged into the interface. |
| The drawback of USB sound is that it requires | processing power to create audio and can in turn hamper the performance of the computer |
| A Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) sound card is an | adapter card with an audio processor that connects to a motherboard using a PCI slot. |
| PCI sound card's on-board audio processor uses the PCI 32-/64-bit bus to input and output | audio information, bypassing the computer processor and freeing up precious CPU cycles |
| PCI sound cards external ports include | speaker outputs, microphone inputs, and digital connectors |
| Most PCI sound cards use | IRQ 5 as well as multiple memory ranges. |
| The built-in sound has an audio processor physically located on | a motherboard in the form of a single chip or chipset. |
| Motherboards with built-in sound also include the | common audio ports for speakers and a microphone. |
| built-in sound has the advantages of | both USB and PCI sound options. |
| One benefit of built-in sound is that the price of the complete package is less expensive since | a separate sound card does not need to be purchased. |
| Upgrading built-in sound usually requires | disabling the audio system and installing a PCI sound card. |
