Sound Cards : PCI and ISA bus connections

Typical Sound Card has a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that handles most sound related computations.

clipped from www.proprofs.com a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) for audio leaving the computer. a Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) for audio coming into the computer Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) for connecting to external music equipment (for many cards, the game port is also used to connect an external MIDI adapter). jacks for connecting speakers and microphones, as well as line in and line out. a game port for connecting a joystick or game-pad. Current sound cards usually plug into a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slot, while some older or inexpensive cards may use the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Many of the computers available today incorporate the sound card as a chipset right on the motherboard. This leaves another slot open for other peripherals.