In relation to computer sound cards what are the following (i) DAC (ii) FM (iii) DSP (iv) wave table

frills to get you to buy it Digital-to-Analog Conversion means it makes sound, Frequency Modulation, which would be cool if it had an FM tuner you could pick up radio stations Digital Sound Processor means it makes it would cooler wave table is how many sounds it can process at once

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They are various sound protocols. I know the Sega Genesis used FM for music, I think it used either DAC or DSP for sound effects, maybe it was both...Wavetable is what midi most midi uses these days. As for FM, most new soundcards don't have an FM chip, however, you can emulate FM music (more commonly called Adlib) with a utility called VDMSound, available at http://sourceforge.net/ I have used it, and it works. One more thing. FM comes in two flavors: FM OPL2 (or Adlib) and FM OPL4.

DAC = Digital-to-Analouge Conversion. Converts the digitial information form a digital source like a sound file and converts it an analouge signal to drive the speakers. Essential part of a sound card. FM = Frequency Modulation Used in sound synthesis in MIDI controllers. A base frequency is modulated with another frequency to produce sounds of varying pitch. DSP = Digital Sound Processor. Process digital sound signals that originate from analouge input. Samples the incoming analouge audio signal and creates a digital representation. Wave Table. Contains digital informaion for producing sounds. Does the same job as FM but with better results. All sounds cards contain a DAC and a DSP. Wouldnt work without it. Most sound card with contain one or both of FM or Wave table. Cheaper ones will only have FM. More expensive ones contain both. Stuart