M-AUDIO Dman PCI - Manual (Page 27)

Appendix B - Digital Audio Terms
A/D and D/A converters: A/D stands for Analog-to-Digital and D/A means
Digital-to-Analog. The higher the bit rate and the greater the sampling rate,
the better the audio reproduction. DMAN PCI specifications are equivalent or
better than most audio CD players.
DSP: An acronym for Digital Signal Processor. DSP’s are processors that are
specially tweaked for computation-intensive applications such as playing and
recording audio and audio effects.
Dynamic Range: The ratio between the quietest and loudest sounds that can
be recorded without distortion. Usually measured in decibels (dB).
Full duplex: The ability to record and playback at the same time. Also known
as “simultaneous playback/record.” If you are using a multi-track digital
recording program, such as Samplitude, SAW, or Cakewalk Audio, this is a
very important feature. Full duplex would, for example, allow you to hear pre-
viously recorded vocal tracks while you’re recording the harmonies, a must for
workable audio recording.
MPU-401: A standard for MIDI interfaces, developed by Roland Corporation,
back in the early days of MIDI. This is the most common PC MIDI interface
used under DOS. Under Windows, MPU type interfaces run in UART (some-
times called “dumb”) mode.
Windows Sound System (WSS): Microsoft released the Windows Sound
System audio adaptor in 1992. Its features included a 16-bit stereo A/D con-
verter, 16-bit stereo D/A converter, data compression and de-compression,
analog audio mixing, microphone and line-level input, line-level output and a
high-throughput system interface. Some compatibility with it still remains in
today’s Windows operating system.
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