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Sound card - Wikipedia. A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs.

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The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces used for professional audio applications. Typical uses of sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation, education and entertainment (games) and video projection. Sound functionality can also be integrated onto the motherboard, using components similar to those found on plug- in cards.

The integrated sound system is often still referred to as a sound card. Sound processing hardware is also present on modern video cards with HDMI to output sound along with the video using that connector; previously they used a SPDIF connection to the motherboard or sound card. General characteristics. The output signal is connected to an amplifier, headphones, or external device using standard interconnects, such as a TRS phone connector or an RCA connector. If the number and size of connectors is too large for the space on the backplate the connectors will be off- board, typically using a breakout box, an auxiliary backplate, or a panel mounted at the front. More advanced cards usually include more than one sound chip to support higher data rates and multiple simultaneous functionality, for example digital production of synthesized sounds, usually for real- time generation of music and sound effects using minimal data and CPU time. Digital sound reproduction is usually done with multichannel DACs, which are capable of simultaneous and digital samples at different pitches and volumes, and application of real- time effects such as filtering or deliberate distortion.

Multichannel digital sound playback can also be used for music synthesis, when used with a compliance. This approach has become common as manufacturers seek simpler and lower- cost sound cards. Most sound cards have a line in connector for an input signal from a cassette tape or other sound source that has higher voltage levels than a microphone. The sound card digitizes this signal.

The DMAC transfers the samples to the main memory, from where a recording software may write it to the hard disk for storage, editing, or further processing. Another common external connector is the microphone connector, for signals from a microphone or other low- level input device. Input through a microphone jack can be used, for example, by speech recognition or voice over IP applications. Sound channels and polyphony. These distinct channels are seen as the number of audio outputs, which may correspond to a speaker configuration such as 2. Sometimes, the terms voice and channel are used interchangeably to indicate the degree of polyphony, not the output speaker configuration. For example, many older sound chips could accommodate three voices, but only one audio channel (i.

Later cards, such as the Ad. Lib sound card, had a 9- voice polyphony combined in 1 mono output channel. For some years, most PC sound cards have had multiple FM synthesis voices (typically 9 or 1. MIDI music. The full capabilities of advanced cards are often not fully used; only one (mono) or two (stereo) voice(s) and channel(s) are usually dedicated to playback of digital sound samples, and playing back more than one digital sound sample usually requires a software downmix at a fixed sampling rate. Modern low- cost integrated soundcards (i.

AC'9. 7 standard and even some lower- cost expansion sound cards still work this way. These devices may provide more than two sound output channels (typically 5. MIDI reproduction – these tasks are performed entirely in software. This is similar to the way inexpensive softmodems perform modem tasks in software rather than in hardware. Also, in the early days of 'wavetable' sample- based synthesis, some sound card manufacturers advertised polyphony solely on the MIDI capabilities alone. In this case, the card's output channel is irrelevant; typically, the card is only capable of two channels of digital sound.

Instead, the polyphony measurement solely applies to the number of MIDI instruments the sound card is capable of producing at one given time. Today, a sound card providing actual hardware polyphony, regardless of the number of output channels, is typically referred to as a . Naruto Shippuden Movie Bonds English Dubbed Fullmetal Alchemist. The final playback stage is performed by an external (in reference to the DSP chip(s)) DAC with significantly fewer channels than voices (e. List of sound card standards.

Note the manual volume adjustment knob. The resulting sound was generally described as . Several companies, most notably Access Software, developed techniques for digital sound reproduction over the PC speaker (see Real.

Sound); the resulting audio, while barely functional, suffered from distorted output and low volume, and usually required all other processing to be stopped while sounds were played. Other home computer models of the 1. IBM PC at a disadvantage to them when it came to multimedia applications such as music composition or gaming.

The initial design and marketing focuses of sound cards for the IBM PC platform were not based on gaming, but rather on specific audio applications such as music composition (Ad. Lib Personal Music System, IBM Music Feature Card, Creative Music System), or on speech synthesis (Digispeech DS2. Covox Speech Thing, Street Electronics Echo). In 1. 98. 8 a panel of computer- game CEOs stated at the Consumer Electronics Show that the PC's limited sound capability prevented it from becoming the leading home computer, that it needed a $4.

Sierra On- Line, which had pioneered supporting EGA and VGA video, and 3 1/2. The Ad. Lib had two modes: A 9- voice mode where each voice could be fully programmed, and a less frequently used .

Although the C/MS had twelve voices to Ad. Lib's nine, and was a stereo card while the Ad. Lib was mono, the basic technology behind it was based on the Philips SAA1.

It sounded much like twelve simultaneous PC speakers would have except for each channel having amplitude control, and failed to sell well, even after Creative renamed it the Game Blaster a year later, and marketed it through Radio. Shack in the US. The Game Blaster retailed for under $1. Silpheed. A large change in the IBM PC compatible sound card market happened when Creative Labs introduced the Sound Blaster card. It was incorrectly called a . With more features at nearly the same price, and compatibility as well, most buyers chose the Sound Blaster. It eventually outsold the Ad. Lib and dominated the market.

Roland also made sound cards in the late 1. Many games had music written for their cards, such as Silpheed and Police Quest II. The cards were often poor at sound effects such as laughs, but for music were by far the best sound cards available until the mid nineties. Some Roland cards, such as the SCC, and later versions of the MT- 3.

Roland cards. By 1. The widespread decision to support the Sound Blaster design in multimedia and entertainment titles meant that future sound cards such as Media Vision's Pro Audio Spectrum and the Gravis Ultrasound had to be Sound Blaster compatible if they were to sell well. Until the early 2. AC'9. 7 audio standard became more widespread and eventually usurped the Sound. Blaster as a standard due to its low cost and integration into many motherboards), Sound Blaster compatibility is a standard that many other sound cards still support to maintain compatibility with many games and applications released.

Industry adoption. Two of the companies Sierra partnered with were Roland and Ad. Lib, opting to produce in- game music for King's Quest 4 that supported the MT- 3. Ad. Lib Music Synthesizer. The MT- 3. 2 had superior output quality, due in part to its method of sound synthesis as well as built- in reverb.

Since it was the most sophisticated synthesizer they supported, Sierra chose to use most of the MT- 3.

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