Specifications
accordingly at the correct PCI2.1 spec buss speed. If possible please use a PCI slot that
adheres to the PCI2.1 spec.
384 Question: How do I test for full duplex in Windows 95?
Answer: Two easy ways:;One is to use an app like Cakewalk Pro Audio/VST/Cool edit/Saw
etc. The other is, using Sound Recorder, open up a file at 44.1k/16-bit; whilst playing this file,
open up another instance of Sound Recorder and record another at the same freq. and bit rate.
This should work fine as all Yamaha PCI soundcards are full duplex compatible.
385 Question: How can I check the Audio wave playback function in Windows?
Answer: Select the Media player and select ‘Wave’ as the option. Then load up any good 16
bit stereo sound (44.1k) and press play. Make sure the audio out is connected to your speakers
or amplifier, and press play. Check your cables to your amplifier, and check also that Windows
is not reporting any conflicts with your soundcard in the device manager.
386 Question: What are samples, waveforms, and wavetables?
Answer: Grossly oversimplifying the concept, a sample is basically a digital representation of
an analog sound, whether it be a piano, a guitar or the sound of your best mate throwing up.
Analog sound waves must be converted into binary form (ones and zeros) before they can be
stored and processed by a computer. This conversion is accomplished by taking pictures of
(sampling) an analogue waveform (picture of a sound wave) at regular intervals thousands of
times each second. The end of the sample is then linked to the beginning, forming a continuous
loop. A wavetable is a collection-a library, if you will-of these waveform samples. Wavetables
can also refer to the synthesis process used by synths such as the PPG2.3, whereby a sound
evolves over time by scanning through a wavetable. This is not covered by the FAQ, and
indeed not by Yamaha.
387 Question: What does the term sampling rate mean?
Answer: Sampling rate indicates the speed, measured in thousands of cycles per second, at
which analog audio is converted to digital, or digital audio is converted back to analog.The
measurement is expressed in kilohertz (kHz), so a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz would equal
44,100 samples per second. High sampling rates obviously deliver more accurate
representations than low sampling rates because they capture more information about the
sound.
388 Question: What are DAC’s and ADC’s?
Answer: A DAC is a digital-to-analog converter. An ADC is an analog-to-digital converter. A
DAC is used to play back digital audio and an ADC is used to digitally record analog audio.
Most soundcards have DAC’s that playback audio with 16-bit or higher resolution.
389 Question: Why is a 16-bit soundcard better than an 8-bit model?
Answer: These measurements describe the amount of data that’s used to record or play back
sound. A 16-bit soundcard is capable of more audio resolution than an 8-bit soundcard in the
same way that a 16-bit graphics card is capable of displaying more colours than an 8-bit
graphics card. A 16-bit audio sample, therefore, will sound much more realistic than an 8-bit
audio sample. This also means that 18 and 20-bit cards are better than 16-bit ones.
390 Question: What is an API?
Answer: The acronym stands for application program interface. This is basically a layer of
software that resides between a software application (the game) and a piece of hardware (the
soundcard). The API acts as an interpreter, so that the game doesn’t have to know exactly
which soundcard it’s using. The sound-related APIs in Microsoft’s DirectX-and game
developers’ acceptance and use of them-are finally making Sound Blaster compatibility a moot
point. Unfortunately, they can’t do that for classic real-mode DOS games. As you would have to
be mad to use the SW1000XG for games playing anyway, this becomes irrelevant.