A sound card mixer is a software or hardware component that controls sound levels on a computer, allowing individual control over volume levels of different programs or audio channels. It can be accessed from the operating system toolbar or sound card settings, and can be useful for troubleshooting sound problems. Sound cards can be simple or advanced, with high-end professional sound cards having fancier mixer applications for greater audio control.
A sound card mixer is a software application that controls sound levels on a computer. It is also the name of the part of the sound card hardware chipset that controls volume levels on a computer sound card. Usually, a sound card mixer refers to a type of volume control that gives the user individual control over the sound volume level of different programs or audio input and output channels. An audio mixer can often be accessed from the operating system toolbar or sound card settings or preferences pane.
On older sound cards, a sound card mixer is usually the interface for controlling the speaker levels and audio channels available on the sound card. Some newer sound cards offer control over audio levels in individual programs, allowing the user to give different audio programs, such as browsers and video players, different volume levels from within the sound card. This feature can be useful for programs without built-in volume control.
Volume control in a sound card mixer is often expressed with sliding controllers that a user moves up and down to increase or decrease the sound in that channel. Common channel options that might appear on a sound card mixer include left, right, front, and rear channel controls. Advanced sound card mixer programs may include individual program volume controls for each application you are running, including browsers, video programs, music players, and other software.
When you experience sound problems on a computer, checking the mixer settings on the computer’s sound card is a good initial troubleshooting step. If audio isn’t playing properly from a certain channel or program, it could be because a track or channel is muted or muted in the software mixer. The mixer can also be used to boost recorded sound or balance sound levels when using sound from multiple programs.
A computer sound card is the hardware that allows a computer to record and play sound. While most sound cards exist as internal hardware in a computer, some sound cards connect to a computer using a universal serial bus (USB) or firewire jack. Sound cards can be simple or advanced. Some sound cards only handle basic audio functions such as two speaker audio and single channel audio inputs for recording. Professionals use high-end sound cards designed specifically for multi-channel recording. Advanced high-end professional sound cards tend to have fancier sound card mixer applications to give a skilled sound engineer greater audio control.
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