What is a Sound Card?

A sound card is the part of a computer that plugs into the ISA or PCI bus on the motherboard and enables the computer to record, process and play sound.. Its general appearance consists of an electronic circuit and jack sockets that can be connected to the outside.

Four basic functions of sound cards:

  • Synthesizing function,
  • MIDI interface,
  • Analog-to-digital translation (sound recording via microphone, etc.),
  • Digital-to-analog translation (sound output from speaker, etc.).

Sound cards use three main techniques to create sound:

  • FM (frequency tuning),
  • Wavetable (using sample sound),
  • Physical modeling.

Today’s factory-standard sound card is Creative Lab’s Sound Blasters. In fact, most people use this brand as a generic term.. Most sound cards made in the past are built to be Sound Blaster compatible due to extensive software support.. While sound cards were produced for ISA slots in the past, they are now produced for PCI slots with the advanced features of PCI slots and less processor needs in mind.. Even today, some motherboard manufacturers produce their sound cards as on-board on the motherboards.

Duties of Sound Card

  • Recording sound signals

  • Synthesizing audio signals
  • Mixing and manipulating audio signals
  • Playing audio signals

Color Codes

The connections on the sound card are coded in colors as a computer system design guide.. These links also have symbols associated with each jack position in the form of arrows, circles and sound waves.. The meanings of these symbols are given below:

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