Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13. Audio Hardware
Although rudimentary audio capabilities were part of the original IBM PC of 1981 and its
many successors, audio was used on early computers for troubleshooting rather than for
creative tasks. The original IBM PC and compatible systems of the early to mid-1980s had
rudimentary sound capabilities, consisting mainly of the ability to generate crude tones or
beeps. PCs did not gain true audio capabilities until the first add-on sound cards from com-
panies such as AdLib and Creative Labs were developed in the late 1980s.
Thanks to competition among many companies, we now enjoy widely supported hardware
andsoftwarestandardsforaudio.Audiohardwarehasgonefrombeinganexpensive,exotic
add-on to being an industry standard part of virtually any system configuration.
Note
The term “audio support hardware” will be used in this chapter to refer to either integrated au-
diointegratedintothemotherboard/chipsetorasoundcardwhenthetextappliestobothtypes
of audio.
The standard audio support hardware in today's PCs typically includes an HD Audio con-
troller (or sometimes the older AC'97 audio controller) integrated into the motherboard
chipset, combined with a sound codec chip located on the motherboard. However, if the
capabilitiesoftheintegratedaudioarenotsatisfactory,asoundcardcanbeinstalledviathe
Peripheral Component Interconnect [PCI] or Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
[PCIe]) in the computer, or via an external bus such as universal serial bus (USB) or Insti-
tute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1394 (FireWire).
Regardlessoflocation,audiosupporthardwareincludesjacksforspeakers(orheadphones)
and a microphone. In addition, many examples provide dedicated jacks for digital audio
out, surround sound, and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) hardware. (Many
types of older audio support hardware also provided an analog game port for joysticks.) As
you will see later in this chapter, many mid-range and high-end audio cards and integrated
audio also support sophisticated digital audio input and output, and both integrated audio
and gaming-oriented audio cards support a variety of 3D audio playback and special audio
effects standards. On the software side, audio support hardware requires the support of a
driver that you install either directly from an application or in your computer's operating
system (OS). As you will learn later in this chapter, the OS has much more of a role in the
audio subsystem today than in previous years.
