The sound travels in waves and is analog whereas the computer understands 0's and 1's or digital language. The sound card acts as an interface between the audio device and the computer.
A typical sound card contains a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that handles most computations. It also has:
- a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) for audio leaving the computer.
- a Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) for audio coming into the computer
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) for connecting to external music
equipment (for many cards, the game port is also used to connect an external
MIDI adapter).
- jacks for connecting speakers and microphones, as well as line in and
line out.
- a game port for connecting a joystick or game-pad.
Current sound cards usually plug into a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slot, while some older or inexpensive cards may use the Industry Standard
Architecture (ISA) bus. Many of the computers available today incorporate
the sound card as a chipset right on the motherboard. This leaves another
slot open for other peripherals.
