Hardware mixing is a performance feature of computer audio hardware which enables sound cards to receive multiple audio streams and play them all at the same time. Hardware mixing improves performance by offloading audio mixing operations from the CPU and performing them at hardware speeds. In addition to mixing, the hardware performs related operations such as sample rate conversion (SRC), attenuation, and, optionally, 3D processing that would otherwise need to be performed in software. On Microsoft Windows, hardware mixing is also referred to as hardware buffering or as DirectSound hardware acceleration.
Those cards which offer hardware mixing include professional multichannel audio interfaces and Creative Labs X-Fi, Live! & Audigy series soundcards. DxDiag can be used to test if the audio hardware supports hardware mixing.
Famous quotes containing the words hardware and/or mixing:
“A friend of mine spoke of books that are dedicated like this: “To my wife, by whose helpful criticism ...” and so on. He said the dedication should really read: “To my wife. If it had not been for her continual criticism and persistent nagging doubt as to my ability, this book would have appeared in Harper’s instead of The Hardware Age.””
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985)
“It was not till the middle of the second dance, when, from some pauses in the movement wherein they all seemed to look up, I fancied I could distinguish an elevation of spirit different from that which is the cause or the effect of simple jollity.—In a word, I thought I beheld Religion mixing in the dance.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)