Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
(OSS) API. To learn more, see the ALSA Project homepage at www.alsa-project.org/ .
Sound Cards for Sound Producers
Sound producers are people who intend to create their own sound files. These can range from casual
business users recording low-fidelity voice annotations to professional musicians. These users need
an adapter that can perform as much of the audio processing as possible itself, so they don't place an
additional burden on the system processor. Adapters that use DSPs to perform compression and other
tasks are highly recommended in this case. Musicians will certainly want an adapter with as many
voices as possible and a wavetable synthesizer. Adapters with expandable memory arrays and the
capability to create and modify custom wavetables are also preferable, as well as a wide variety of
analog and digital I/O ports (refer to Figure 13.3 for an example).
To avoid problems with latency when communicating with external devices, particularly with
Microsoft Windows, look for cards supported by the latest version of the audio stream input/output
(ASIO) protocol (version 2.0 as of mid-2011). ASIO was developed by the Germany company
Steinberg, which also developed the Cubase digital sequencer.
Tip
The ASIO4ALL project offers 32-bit and 64-bit ASIO support for virtually all audio that uses
Windows driver model (WDM) drivers. Learn more at www.asio4all.com .
Many of the best sound cards for hardcore gamers can also be made suitable for sound producers by
adding the appropriate sound-editing programs, such as Sound Forge
( www.sonycreativesoftware.com ) or Audacity ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ ). By choosing a card
that supports SPDIF and (if desired) MIDI interfaces, you can have a single card that is suitable for
gaming and enjoying audio.
A sound card for use for music enjoyment or production also needs to have a very high signal to noise
ratio (SNR of over 110dB) as well as the ability to sample audio up to 192KHz.
Note
The Recording Review website ( www.recordingreview.com ) is an outstanding resource for
researching advanced sound cards and other audio hardware designed specifically for audio
production. If you're wanting to select a sound card or USB device for audio recording, try the
Audio Interface Wizard at
http://www.recordingreview.com/soundcard/soundcard_wizard.php .
Motherboard Chipsets with Integrated Audio
The Intel 810 chipset (introduced in April 1999) was the first mainstream motherboard chipset to
integrate audio. Integrated audio can be found in virtually all motherboard chipsets (and therefore
motherboards) since then. Even though modern boards include integrated audio, you can still add your
own audio solution via an expansion card or USB device if desired.
Although some of the earliest integrated audio implementations left a lot to be desired, thanks to
improvements in chipset design and faster CPU performance, today's best integrated chipsets provide
 
 
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