Sound card ABCs
Midi
Sound card layout
MP3s
Technical Support
Sound definitions

SOUND CARD ABCs

A sound card or audio board which allows computers to output audio signals through speakers and/or headphones. Originally, when computers were first released, it produced no more than various tones generated through the PC Speaker. Because of the importance of audio, several manufacturers, such as Adlib, Roland and Creative Labs, released several types of audio boards during 1984 to 1989. Unfortunately, still today there has been no official standard for PC audio adapters. During the years, the Sound Blaster cards by Creative Labs have emerged as the de facto standard. Because of this, most cards and software applications will be marked as Sound Blaster compatible.

Sound cards have several uses and has become a standard option which comes with computers today. Below is a listing of some of the various functions of the sound card:

Audio CDs.
Audio conferencing.
Business presentations.
Creating and playing Midi.
Educational software.
Games.
Record dictations.
Voice recognition
Watch movies.

MIDI

MIDI, or Musical Instrument Digital Interface, developed in the 1980s, allows various musical instruments to communicate or play harmoniously. MIDI is a limited method of playing sounds as it will only be capable of playing the instruments available to your sound card. This is why MIDI files may sound better or worse on different computers.

Generally, most computer sound cards will have a MIDI port which allows for several musical instrument devices to be connected to the computer such as a MIDI keyboard or a synthesizer. Before connecting any of these devices to the computer, you will need to purchase a separate cable which takes the MIDI/Game port connection into the standard 5-pin DIN midi connector.

MP3

MP3 is a new technology using MPEG compression shrinking down that data by a factor of 12 and still gain CD-like quality. Factors of up to 24 and more still allow for a quality significantly better than just reducing linearly the sampling frequency and the number of bits. This is realized by "perceptual coding" techniques taking into account the limited resolution of the human ear. Maybe you have already heard about MP3. As interest in audio over the Internet increased, MPEG Layer-3 files, music files that are capable of storing long audio tracks with CD quality sound in a fraction of the space, appeared. With this ease of piracy, it's a shock to the entire music industry. Additional Information about MP3 can be found on our MP3 page. 

Below is an example of what a generic sound card may look like from the back of your computer.

Generally, there will be a total of four connections: MIDI / Game port is a port which is most commonly used for the game port which will allow you to connect a game paddle (Joypad) and/or Joystick to the computer. This port will also allow you to connect a device such as a MIDI keyboard to the computer; additional information on this can be found in the Midi section.

Line In connector allows you to connect a Cassette Tape, CD or record player to the computer.

Line Out connector is the location which the speakers or headphones will be connected to get sound out of the sound card.

Volume control is generally no longer found on sound cards. However, for cards that do include this as a feature, this allows for the volume to be turned up and down on a non amplified output such as a set of headphones.

Microphone allows you to connect a microphone to the computer and record your own sound files.

Today you will find several manufacturers whom are beginning to identify each of the above ports by symbols on the back of the sound card. Below you will find examples of what these symbols mean.

You may also find that these ports are color coded, which means the ports on the back will be the same color as the wire that you are connecting to them.