Audio Input

Audio input is the process of entering any sound into the computer such as speech, music, andsound effects.

To enter high-quality sound into a personal computer, the computer must have a sound card. 

All the smart phones above can record and enter audio into a computer

Users enter sound into a computer via devices such as microphones, tape players, CD/DVD players, or radios, each of which plugs in a port on the sound card.

As an alternative to using a keyboard to enter data and instructions, some users talk to their computers and devices and watch the spoken words appear on the screen as they talk.

Voice input is the process of entering input by speaking to a computer or device via a microphone. Uses of voice input include instant messaging that supports voice conversations, chat rooms that supports voice chat, VoIP, and voice recognition.

Voice recognition, also called speech recognition, is the computer’s capability of distinguishing spoken words.

Voice recognition programs recognize a vocabulary of preprogrammed words, which can range from two words to millions of words. The automated telephone system at your bank may ask you to answer questions by speaking the words Yes or No into the telephone.

How voice recognition works

Some current cell phones and other mobile devices allow you to store voice commands such as “Call Tom”. Operating systems, such as Windows Vista, also include voice recognition programs.

Most voice recognition programs are a combination of speaker dependent and speaker independent. With speaker-dependent software, the computer makes a profile of your voice, which means you have to train the computer to recognize your voice. To train the computer, you must speak words and phrases into the computer repeatedly.

Speaker independent software has a built-in set of word patterns so that you do not have to train a computer to recognize your voice. Many products today include a built-in set of words that grows as the software learns your words. Keep in mind that the best voice recognition programs are 90 to 95 percent accurate, which means that software may interpret as many as one in ten words incorrectly.

Some users also enter music and other sound effects into a computer using external MIDI devices such as electronic piano keyboard.

MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) is MIDI device allows users to record and edit music the electronic music industry’s standard that defines how digital musical devices represent sound electronically. 

 These devices connect to the sound card on a computer. Software that conforms to the MIDI standard allows users to compose and edit music and many other sounds. For example, you can change the speed, add notes, or rearrange the score to produce an entirely new sound.