3.12.2 Sound Cards

Learn how to select the correct sound card for use in your PC system.

I/O Ports

Look at the I/O ports the sound card has. Almost all sound cards have the three default analog jacks, line out, speaker out, and microphone. However, high-end audio cards have support for S/PDIF ports, which transfer digital video in and out without the need to convert it back and forth into analog audio. This results in higher-quality sound, as the constant conversion can result in some fidelity loss.

Channels

Look for the number of channels that the sound card can support. Each speaker in a sound system connected to a PC is considered to be one channel, and all sound cards typically support at least two channels - which is stereo sound. Sound cards that can support a surround sound system have 5.1 channels:

• front left
• center
• front right
• rear left
• rear right
• low-frequency effect (the .1 channel); sub-woofer or bass

Software & Hardware Decoding

Surround sound systems typically use encoding and compression techniques to separate the sound into distinct channels. This process also reduces the size of the audio stream.

Software decoding results in lower-quality sound, while hardware decoding results in very high-quality sound. You'll need to check what type of encoding your sound card supports. Common hardware decoding technologies include Dolby Digital and Digital Theater Systems Extended Surround (DTS-ES).

Another feature that higher-end sound cards provide is called 3D Audio. It's typically used to create an immersive gaming experience blah blah blah (EAX is one of those 3D Audio technologies).

Onboard vs. Dedicated

Choose whether you want to choose an onboard (a.k.a. integrated) sound card or a dedicated one. Dedicated sound cards are installed through an expansion slot on the motherboard. But remember, more features = more cost = more money you're going to have to spend. Since we're all stingy, weigh the features you want against the size of your wallet and the amount of pain you'll feel when you see the money go out of it for the sound card.

Additional Ports

• MIDI port
• FireWire
• HDMI (1-2 of them)

File Types

• .wav Windows Standard
• .aiff Audio Interchange File Format - Mac equivalent of .wav
• .au Unix Standard audio file - used in browsers
• .mp3 MPEG-2 Layer III, highly-effective compressed audio file (THE GOAT!!!!)
• .aac Advanced Audio Coding; MPEG-2, expected to replace .mp3 files
• .wma Windows Audio File; high compatibility standard
• .midi not even a real audio file LOL

#III

#Aplus