Playing Audio CDs on PC

[qball]

I remember in the day when soundcards and CDROMs where bundle as multimedia. You installed the soundcard and CDROM and you hooked the CDROM to soundcard via cable and this allowed one to listen to audio CDs (whether this enabled all CD sound, I'm not sure).

To this day, if I want to listen to an audio CD in my PC, I need to have the CDROM/CDRW/DVD connected to my soundcard with this same magic cable. Why?

I can rip mp3s from given audio CD and listen through software (winamp), but I can't listen to the audio track through software, you need the cable connection.

If the drive can decode the audio track, why can't software access directly?

The more you know, the more you know you don't know, or something like that.

[Psycho Logical]

You still need the drive-sound card cable when you use Winamp, I think.

You can plug headphones or unamplified speakers into the jack on the front of the drive and listen,
without a cable connected to the sound card.

You don't get all the effects or enhancements that your soundcard provides, however.

[This message has been edited by Psycho Logical (edited 07-19-2001).]

[benchristian]

the rip it goes through E-IDE cable and actually copies the files in binary format, not the audio format that goes to your sound card.

P.S.

The more I study, the more I know.
The more I know, the more I forget.
The more I forget, the less I know.
So why study? Oxford???

[This message has been edited by benchristian (edited 07-19-2001).]

[Sixpac]

All the music from the CDROM that is not CDA format (which is normal CD audio format) goes through the IDE cable to your m/b and out to your computer. CDA audio gets decoded at your CDROM drive and need the "magic" cable straight to your Audio card to be heard.

Sixpac>>>>