What kind of sound cards are there?

What kind of sound cards are there?


Without a sound card, no computer equipment will bereproduce the sound. Therefore, a sound card is a necessary part of the computer if you use your PC for games, watching movies and listening to music.



Sound card


Sound card - an integral elementpersonal computers and laptops. Motherboards of computers are manufactured with integrated sound cards (also called built-in or beard) and with connectors for installed cards, which allow to reproduce a better sound. And laptops are compulsorily equipped with on-board sound. Also, external devices for audio processing and playback can be connected to PCs and laptops. Sound boards differ not only in the type of connection to the PC, but also in technical characteristics: the digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the number of channels, the signal sampling frequency, the noise level , the number of digital inputs, the presence of an amplifier for plug-in headphones, etc. The number of channels is a sound scheme that affects the quality of surround sound. The following sound schemes exist: 2, 2.1, 4, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1. After the point is a unit, which means that one channel is for connecting a low-frequency speaker (subwoofer). The number in front of the dot indicates the number of regular columns. The more speakers you can connect, the more spacious the sound will be. For example, the sound scheme "2" means that there is no subwoofer connector, and you can connect only two speakers.

Internal sound cards

Internal sound cards are divided intointegrated and installed in PCI or PCI Express connectors on the motherboard. However, integrated sound does not have good acoustic characteristics, because the amplitude-frequency characteristics of built-in sound cards are affected by electromagnetic interference, which inevitably arise as a result of the operation of other elements of the computer. Distortions distort the audio signal, resulting in clicks, crackling and hissing. This is noticeable when listening to music through headphones. Therefore, music lovers, demanding sound quality, it is recommended not to use integrated sound cards.

External sound cards

External cards are connected via USB orFireWire. Most often they are used for laptops and netbooks. Since the capabilities of sound cards built into portable computer equipment are often very limited. Also external cards can be used on personal computers. They are convenient in those cases when the motherboard of the computer does not have free PCI or PCI Express slots.
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