Terms used in this document are defined as follows:

Sample is one individual waveform amplitude.

Sample frame or Frame is the set of samples on all channels at any one instance. There is one sample in a mono frame and two samples (one for each channel) in a stereo frame.

Sample file or File is the object on a filing system from which sample data is taken. "Sample" is often used to mean sample file but it is avoided in this document to avoid confusion with the definition above.

Frame rate is the rate at which sample frames pass through some part of the system. In the context of PlayIt, the input frame rate is the frame rate of the the data stored in the sample file - often referred to as the sampling frequency. The output frame rate is the rate at which frames are sent to the sound system. Frame rate is often called frequency which is an inaccurate description. samples/channel/second is also used which, though correct, is cumbersome.

Driver is a piece of software used to control something (the sound hardware in this case) providing a consistent interface to the host software. ie the drivers all appear similar to it. This enables the host software to have device independence.

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