Chapter 17: Sound Cards and Speakers
Audio Alchemy
By Loyd Case
As games become increasingly more sophisticated audio becomes a more critical component of gameplay. Positional audio (aka "3D sound") adds significant atmosphere to many games, and it is critical to gameplay in a few titles, such as Thief, Rogue Spear, and other immersive 3D games.
It used to be simple: Get a Sound Blaster. But as sound cards moved into the DirectX generation, and higher-level audio APIs like DirectSound3D appeared, the choices in sound-card technologies have blossomed. In some ways it's more confusing than ever. Also gone are the days of the $5 battery-powered speaker. Even cheap speakers can sound decent, and some of the newer breed of speakers designed for the near-field environment of the desktop sound nearly as good as their home-audio counterparts - and better in some cases.
So put on your headphones, crank up the tunes, and come along for the ride as we dissect computer-game audio, examine the choices, and give you the tools to make an informed decision.
An Overview of Modern Sound Cards
Sound cards have evolved from the lowly FM synthesizer of the original Ad Lib card to the sophisticated DSP (digital signal processor) engines of the current generation. The audio-accelerator chips on today's PCI sound cards have more processing capability than stand-alone CPUs of a few years ago - yet a sound chip typically sells for $15 or less.
Gone also are the days when sound cards had their own onboard memory. RAM on a sound card was typically used to store downloadable MIDI samples, but now sound cards use system memory. Still present, however, is the lowly game port - a device born in the dark ages of the PC architecture. Maybe someday it will vanish into whatever place ancient, arcane technology vanishes to when it becomes obsolete.
Next: The Ins and outs of sound cards
