MP3: The Definitive Guide

Equipment Considerations

This book assumes that you already have basic audio working on your machine, but since you may be about to start listening to real music through your computer on a regular basis, you may want to invest a little time and/or money into making sure you’re getting the highest quality possible from your system.

Sound Cards

Most computers sold today ship with sound cards preinstalled and configured, but the cards in many discount and mid-range machines leave something to be desired from an audiophile perspective. Because the sound card is a fundamental bridge between what goes on in software and what ends up in your ears, it pays to make sure you’ve got a good one—overall quality can be drastically affected by the quality of your audio device.

While any recommendations on specific cards would quickly go out of date, keep in mind that better sound cards will also include digital signal processing chips (DSPs), which can take some of the computing load off your machine’s CPU. Good DSPs can go a long way toward minimizing the performance impact of MP3 playback, particularly if you’ve got a slower machine. If you intend to do any serious recording and/or mixing, look for a “full-duplex” card, which is capable of handling incoming and outgoing audio streams simultaneously. If you want to interface your card with external devices such as high-end digital-to-audio Converters (DACs) or home theater systems, look for a card with digital output jacks as well as the standard ...