In: Root » Computers and technology » Windows XP » Sound Card Features to Covet
The first stop on your audio-visual upgrade tour is your PC’s sound card (naturally). Shoppers, in this section, I show you what to look for when comparing sound cards. 3-D spatial imaging Most PC owners think of 3-D sound as a pure gamer’s feature, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, today’s games are even more fun when you can use your ears as well as your eyes to locate your enemy, but 3-D sound comes in handy when you’re listening to audio CDs or playing digital audio files from your hard drive. With audio files and music, 3-D spatial imaging can add an auditorium or concert hall effect, where the stereo separation is enhanced. Surround sound support With a Dolby Surround sound card and the right speakers, your PC can deliver Dolby Surround sound while you’re listening to audio CDs or watching DVD movies on your PC. (For me, the biggest hassle wasn’t the extra cost or upgrading my PC’s sound card: It was finding the space for all five speakers around my already crowded computer desk!) High-end Surround sound cards such as the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 from Creative Labs can deliver Dolby Digital 6.1 Surround sound, 24-bit/192 KHz audio playback (which is far superior in quality than even a commercial audio CD), and 3-D imaging for your games and all for about $120 from most Web stores. In fact, this card even has an optional, front panel control that you can add to an empty drive bay, so you don’t have to move your PC to plug in all your speakers and other external sound hardware. Life is truly good. MP3 hardware support That MP3 hardware feature relieves your PC’s processor from the job of ripping and playing MP3 files so that you can rip music while you edit a digital photograph in Photoshop with nary a drop in performance. No stuttering audio or long delays, especially on older PCs. Many hardware MP3 sound cards also allow you to introduce the same concert hall environmental effect that I mention earlier to the MP3 files that you create . . . now your garage band can claim to have played Carnegie Hall. Game and FireWire ports Many sound cards are equipped with a little something extra: a FireWire port or an IBM game port, which was once a dear friend of any PC game player (because it used to be the only way to hook up most joysticks and external game controllers). Lately, most PC controllers have switched to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, but it’s still a plus for a sound card to include a game port. Older game peripherals like many joysticks and flight throttles won’t work with USB, so it’s a legacy thing. MIDI ports Before I move on, I have to address musicians and their Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) ports. A sound card with standard MIDI ports allows you to connect synthesizers and many different electronic musical instruments, such as drums and keyboards, to your computer. With a MIDI instrument connected, your computer can play MIDI music files on the instrument, or you can play the instrument and record the music as a MIDI file on your computer. Note, however, that most of today’s sound cards can play MIDI music files without attaching an instrument, so it’s not necessary to buy a card with built-in MIDI ports just to play MIDI music files. |
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