Subject: AW: PC sound cards From: Daniel Wolf <djwolf1(at)AXELERO.HU> Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:56:56 +0100For most experiments, the quality of the software and the loudspeakers/headphones with which you work will be more critical than the quality of the sound card. The built-in midi instruments in most sound cards are inappropriate for several reasons: poor sampling rate, high noise content, faulty or inflexible intonation, etc.. Instead, I recommend working with audio (e.g. *.WAV) file playback, with files to be called up either via a sampler or computer interface, or from burned CDs or DVDs. In contrast to midi, the qualitative differences in the playback of audio files from card to card are significantly minimized. To generate *.WAV files, I suggest a powerful synthesis package like CSOUND. For a more conventionally "musical" interface, I have found Anderberg's ACID WAVE (synthesis) and WAVEMAKER (rendering) programs to be very handy. However, for most experimental samples and for users comfortable with mathematical descriptions, using a general mathematics program like Mathlab is an excellent alternative. Daniel Wolf Budapest