How to install dual sound card, what are the advantages of installing dual sound card?

After getting a new piece of hardware, our approach to old hardware is often discounted. But for the sound card seems to be not very cost-effective, because the old sound card itself cost is low, can not sell what good price. Have you ever thought of "waste utilization" and installed two sound cards on a PC? Do not think that this is a waste of system resources, in fact, dual sound card has a lot of benefits, please see the following description.

1. The reason for installing a dual sound card

PCI sound card has many advantages, but it is also a very obvious disadvantage-the ability to handle sound in a traditional DOS environment is not strong, in some DOS games can not be normal pronunciation. This is because the PCI sound card cancels the IRQ and DMA. While all PCI cards offer a different DOS 16 or SB Pro compatibility solution, there are some deficiencies (including Creative's own live! The same is true of the series). However, if we install an ISA sound card on the basis of a PCI sound card, the DOS compatibility is guaranteed. This is the most practical way to install a dual-sound card, if you are a loyal fan of the DOS game, please do try yo. In addition, different PCI sound cards also have different characteristics, such as this piece of the MIDI part better, and that piece of signal-to-noise ratio. We can install the dual sound card method, let them each other to take the director, to reach a new state of fever! The

needs to be aware that the number of two ISA sound cards cannot coexist. 1isa+1pci or 1PCI+1PCI are two typical scenarios for installing dual sound cards. I'll explain the connection and setup method in detail below.

2. Hardware connection

Installing a dual sound card there is no great emphasis on hardware connectivity. First of all, the correct installation of the block sound card in the appropriate slot. Then connect the speakers, which is available in two options:

(1) If your speakers have two sets of audio input terminals (such as the R1800, 1900 series), you can use two audio lines to connect two sound cards with the speakers respectively.

(2) If there is only one set of input on the speaker, then we will choose two pieces of sound card with a better quality of a piece directly connected to the speaker. Then with a two-headed 3.5 mm Jack Audio line that we mentioned earlier, we can connect the lines of another sound card with the linear in which the sound card is connected.

The CD audio cable on the CD-ROM also allows you to select a better quality connection in the two-piece sound card. If you have the ability to reinvent yourself, you can also implement two sound cards connected to a CD-ROM at the same time.

3. Software Settings

Hardware connection is easy to handle, we will be able to boot to the installation of the driver and the necessary settings, which is a more complex process. In theory, 1ISA+1PCI or 1PCI+1PCI combinations generally do not produce device conflicts, but we know that PCI sound cards have a DOS emulation capability that simulates the I/O, IRQ, and DMA locations, and then the I/O address on the ISA sound card, IRQ, DMA generated a conflict. Two PCI sound cards alsoThat's the same thing, so we have to disable the DOS capability of one of the sound cards. In the combination of 1ISA+1PCI We naturally disable the simulation part of the PCI sound card, and in a dual-PCI environment we have to choose a better DOS compatibility to be retained, the other to be disabled. To do this: Under Windows Control Panel [System] settings [Device Manager], locate the name of the DOS emulation device for the PCI sound card you want to disable, right-click the device, and then click Properties on the menu that appears. Then locate the "Disable this hardware Profile" item at the bottom of the dialog box that appears, and select one of the items in the Options box. Also note that two sound cards also have two joystick interface, which is also the source of the conflict, it is recommended to disable the DOS compatibility of the sound card is also set to disable the joystick section to ensure foolproof.

Then we go to set the preferred device, in the location: [Control Panel]=〉[multimedia]=〉[playback]=〉[first device]. Preferred devices in a 1ISA+1PCI environment we usually choose a PCI sound card, and in a dual-PCI combination we have the better quality of the piece as the preferred device. Another important issue with

is the A3D.DLL file. Because most PCI sound cards now support A3D 1.0, the driver often contains a A3D.DLL file, which is usually stored in the system folder. But the different chip sound card uses the A3D.DLL file is not the same, cannot be general, therefore in the double PCI sound card combination, two sound cards if all supports A3D, that you can only take one of the two, we naturally are preserves three dimensional effect outstanding that piece. When installing the driver, be careful to install the sound card that discards the a3d effect, and then install the block that retains the a3d effect, so that the latter's A3D.DLL can overwrite the former file.

With the above settings, you can safely use a dual sound card. If you have the conditions and interests you can even through the above principles of their own practice in a computer to achieve 3 sound card coexistence, then more fever!