Exploring the Hardware That Makes Sound

It does not require any special equipment to play the audio files. You probably already have the tools in your computer. But it’s important to understand what makes music happen.
Processors and memory
The processor and memory in your computer makes everything work. They keep the programs running and working. They are the brain and nervous system of your computer, and the old saying “bigger is better” is true here. In this case, you’re looking for faster processor speeds and more memory (or RAM) for accurate music reproduction. The good news is that this is no longer a major concern as it was just a few years ago. Any computer you buy today has more than enough speed and power to play music.
This doesn’t mean you should try to play music, download a bunch of files, and burn a CD at the same time. Computers with less memory or slower processors may prevent them from handling all of these tasks at the same time. Try to reduce the number of applications open on your computer to allow for better audio playback.
Sound cards
A sound card is a piece of hardware that makes sound happen. Once again, this piece of equipment has made huge leaps in the past few years. It is no longer a concern whether sound cards are able to accurately reproduce music. Now, it comes down to whether the audio is heard in stereo or perhaps in more advanced formats, such as 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.
Sound cards are often not “cards” anymore. The components that computers use to reproduce music or other sounds are often embedded in the main circuitry of the computer itself (the motherboard). This can be both a blessing and a curse at the same time – if you like computer sound, everything is great. However, since the audio is built in, you’ll still be stuck with it unless you disable it and install something new. It’s not as complicated as it might seem, but it’s still an extra effort.

Amplifiers
Speakers make the air move and create the sounds you hear. Most computers come with a set of speakers that connect to a sound card (or internal audio). This is not always good enough, because these speakers are rather small and can not always faithfully reproduce music. (Bass speakers are great for good reason—you should be!) Depending on how your computer’s sound is set up, you might want to consider getting surround speakers (which include a main woofer, smaller satellite speakers, and a bass subwoofer).
Of course, this assumes that the music you’re playing is designed for multiple speakers. Most standard recordings today are mixed into stereo or two channels. Playing a stereo recording through the ambient sound setting still gives you only stereo audio output. You begin to hear the differences when the audio is specifically encoded for surround sound, as in many video games and movies.

portable audio players
Portable audio players are popular ways to listen to music. Portable audio started with the Walkman, which allowed people to take cassette recordings with them. Now, you can take your CDs, DVDs or audio files with you wherever you go. How long you enjoy it depends only on the amount of songs in the player and the juice left in your battery.