sound card
expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals
AI overview
A sound card is an expansion card that lets your computer receive audio signals as input and send them back out as output, enabling you to listen to music, watch videos with sound, and use audio applications. It matters because without one, your computer would have no way to process and play the audio that's essential for entertainment, communication, and many other everyday computing tasks.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces used for professional audio applications.
Sound functionality can also be integrated into the motherboard, using components similar to those found on plug-in cards. The integrated sound system is often still referred to as a sound card. Sound processing hardware is also present on modern video cards with HDMI to output sound along with the video using that connector; previously, they used a S/PDIF connection to the motherboard or sound card.