  a sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates economical input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs. the term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces that use software to generate sound, as opposed to using hardware inside the pc. typical uses of sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation, education and entertainment (games) and video projection. sound functionality can also be integrated onto the motherboard, using basically the same components as a plug-in card. the best plug-in cards, which use better and more expensive components, can achieve higher quality than integrated sound. the integrated sound system is often still referred to as a "sound card". ==general characteristics==  most sound cards use a digital-to-analog converter (dac), which converts recorded or generated digital data into an analog format. the output signal is connected to an amplifier, headphones, or external device using standard interconnects, such as a trs phone connector or an rca connector. if the number and size of connectors is too large for the space on the backplate the connectors will be off-board, typical
Sound_cards