Sound card
Most computers are equipped with multi-media support in the form of a - usually built-in - sound card. The sound card usually provides several options:
- playback of sound files (.wav, .mp3);
- input of sound with a microphone and/or stereo line input.
A separately built-in sound card often also has:
- output from MIDI through an external MIDI synthesizer;
- sometimes a joystick connection is also provided on the sound card that usually uses the same connection as the MIDI-in and output. A special (sold separately) adapter cable separates joystick and MIDI connections in that case.
All these parts of the sound card are usually controlled with a Windows mixing console that regulates how loud each sound source should be reproduced. This is also the first place to look if you unexpectedly get no sound.