Click here

sound card

An expansion board that enables a computer to manipulate and output sounds. Sound cards are necessary for nearly all CD-ROMs and have become commonplace on modern personal computers. Sound cards enable the computer to output sound through speakers connected to the board, to record sound input from a microphone connected to the computer, and manipulate sound stored on a disk.

Nearly all sound cards support MIDI, a standard for representing music electronically. In addition, most sound cards are Sound Blaster-compatible, which means that they can process commands written for a Sound Blaster card, the de facto standard for PC sound.

Sound cards use two basic methods to translate digital data into analog sounds:

  • FM Synthesis mimics different musical instruments according to built-in formulas.
  • Wavetable Synthesis relies on recordings of actual instruments to produce sound. Wavetable synthesis produces more accurate sound, but is also more expensive.


  • Top Terms
    • 1

      Consumerization of IT

      Consumerization of IT is a phrase used to describe the cycle of information technology (IT) emerging in the consumer market then spreading to...

      Read more »

    • 2

      ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning

      Short for enterprise resource planning, ERP is business management software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications...

      Read more »

    • Click Here!

    Connect with Webopedia

    Did You Know? Archive »

    • Quick Reference Archive »