Typical Input Channels and Controls
Each of the following signal sources has its own gain and mute control in a typical mixer scheme:
| Control | channels | Controlled source |
|---|---|---|
| Wave / PCM | stereo | Audio signal generated by the CPU via the sound card's digital-to-analog converter. (This includes audio produced by games, MP3 or WAV players, but also some software playing a CD-DA through the CPU, such as, Windows Media Player or Media Player Classic, as well as TV tuner cards that use the CPU for decoding audio.) |
| MIDI/SW Synth | stereo | Audio signal generated by a synthesizer chip (often described as “MIDI device”) or digital signal processor on the soundcard. |
| CD playback | stereo | Audio signal received from the analog CD input of the mixer, which is usually connected to the analog audio output of a CD drive. |
| Microphone | mono | Audio signal received through one of the (typically two: MIC1 and MIC2, switchable) analog microphone inputs. MIC1 is typically connected to the external microphone jack (colored pink under PC99). An optional 20 decibel (10× voltage) amplifier can be activated for this input in most mixers. |
| Line in | stereo | Audio signal received through the LINE input of the mixer, usually connected to an external jack (colored light blue in PC99), which can be used to connect a HiFi amplifier, tuner, iPod, television, etc. |
| Aux in | stereo | Audio signal received through the AUX input of the mixer. This mixer input is not used by all PCs. |
| PC speaker | mono | Some soundcards provide an input for the (very crude) audio signal that the Programmable Interval Timer of an IBM PC generates for the PC speaker. |
| SPDIF | stereo | Digital interface, uncommon in the PC world |
Read more about this topic: Sound Card Mixer
Famous quotes containing the words typical, input, channels and/or controls:
“New York is the meeting place of the peoples, the only city where you can hardly find a typical American.”
—Djuna Barnes (1892–1982)
“Family life is not a computer program that runs on its own; it needs continual input from everyone.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“Television is becoming a collage—there are so many channels that you move through them making a collage yourself. In that sense, everyone sees something a bit different.”
—David Hockney (b. 1937)
“The confusion of emotions with behavior causes no end of unnecessary trouble to both adults and children. Behavior can be commanded; emotions can’t. An adult can put controls on a child’s behavior—at least part of the time—but how do you put controls on what a child feels? An adult can impose controls on his own behavior—if he’s grown up—but how does he order what he feels?”
—Leontine Young (20th century)