“How can I get my CD ROM in my PC to play music discs through my pro audio card?”
CD audio from your PC CD ROM typically goes over an analog audio cable to your built-in Soundblaster compatable card. To use a professional audio card, you will need to go digitally from the CD ROM through the computer to the audio card. Several programs support this, including Windows Media Player 7 and Winamp (with a plug-in). This will take up a stereo pair of outputs while the CD is playing, but will produce a higher quality reproduction of the CDs (you’ll notice it immediately) because of the higher-quality D/A converters.
If you have Windows Media Player 7, go to Tools, Options, CD Audio, and turn on Digital Playback. This will route audio CD’s to whatever audio output is selected in your multimedia properties in the Windows control panel.
If you have Winamp, go to their homepage, search for input plug-ins, download a CD reader or CDDA plug-in, and install it to your winampplugins directory. This will also allow you to use EQ and any other audio plug-ins in real time.
Several other programs do the same job: Music Match Jukebox, Sonic Foundry’s Siren, and many other MP3 players.
