what is dsp ?

[Eddie N]

ive seen this term flying around... but im not sure what it is... ive heard of DSP hardware and DSP cards... can anyone fill me in please ?

thanks...
- eddie -

 

[Dragon]

Digital Signal Processor. Basically a special-purpose computer chip optimized for digital audio calculations.

 

[Eddie N]

and how is one used ? and what exact function does it perform ? as far as i know , it takes some of the processing load off the cpu .. so it sounds like a good thing if your using alot of software based effects plug ins... so where can i get one ? how much do they cost ? and are they pci cards ?

any help is appreciated....

- eddie -

 

[Dragon]

You can't just "buy a DSP card and plugging it in" to speed up stuff, like you would with a video card. DSPs are generally built into special hardware, such as high-end sound cards or effects processors.