Hardware mixing
Encyclopedia
Hardware mixing is a performance feature of computer audio hardware which enables sound card
s to receive multiple audio streams and play them all at the same time. Hardware mixing improves performance by offloading audio mixing operations from the CPU and performing them at hardware speeds. In addition to mixing, the hardware performs related operations such as sample rate conversion
(SRC), attenuation, and, optionally, 3D processing that would otherwise need to be performed in software. On Microsoft Windows
, hardware mixing is also referred to as hardware buffering or as DirectSound hardware acceleration.
Those cards which offer hardware mixing include professional multichannel audio interfaces and Creative Labs X-Fi, Live! & Audigy series soundcards. DxDiag
can be used to test if the audio hardware supports hardware mixing.
Sound card
A sound card is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates the 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...
s to receive multiple audio streams and play them all at the same time. Hardware mixing improves performance by offloading audio mixing operations from the CPU and performing them at hardware speeds. In addition to mixing, the hardware performs related operations such as sample rate conversion
Sample rate conversion
Sample rate conversion is the process of converting a signal from one sampling rate to another, while changing the information carried by the signal as little as possible...
(SRC), attenuation, and, optionally, 3D processing that would otherwise need to be performed in software. On Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, hardware mixing is also referred to as hardware buffering or as DirectSound hardware acceleration.
Those cards which offer hardware mixing include professional multichannel audio interfaces and Creative Labs X-Fi, Live! & Audigy series soundcards. DxDiag
DxDiag
DxDiag is a diagnostics tool used to test DirectX functionality and troubleshoot video- or sound-related hardware problems. DirectX Diagnostic can save text files with the scan results...
can be used to test if the audio hardware supports hardware mixing.