<s>
An	O
audio	B-Application
converter	I-Application
is	O
a	O
device	O
or	O
software	O
that	O
converts	O
an	O
audio	O
signal	O
from	O
one	O
format	O
to	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hardware	O
audio	B-Algorithm
converters	I-Algorithm
include	O
analog-to-digital	O
converters	O
(	O
ADCs	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
convert	O
analog	O
audio	O
to	O
uncompressed	O
digital	O
form	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
PCM	B-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
reciprocal	O
partners	O
,	O
digital-to-analog	O
converters	O
(	O
DACs	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
convert	O
uncompressed	O
digital	O
audio	O
to	O
analog	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
sound	B-Device
cards	I-Device
and	O
capture	B-General_Concept
cards	I-General_Concept
both	O
include	O
ADCs	O
to	O
allow	O
a	O
computer	O
to	O
record	O
audio	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sound	B-Device
cards	I-Device
also	O
feature	O
DACs	O
for	O
audio	O
playback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
an	O
audio	O
transcoder	B-Algorithm
converts	O
from	O
one	O
compressed	O
audio	O
format	O
to	O
another	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
MP3	B-Application
to	O
AAC	B-Application
)	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
two	O
audio	B-Algorithm
codecs	I-Algorithm
:	O
One	O
for	O
decoding	O
(	O
uncompressing	O
)	O
the	O
source	O
and	O
one	O
for	O
encoding	O
(	O
compressing	O
)	O
the	O
destination	O
file	O
or	O
stream	O
.	O
</s>
