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# 3.3 Channels

In MIDAS Sound System, channels are used to play the sound. Each channel can play one sample or stream at a time, either mono or stereo. When a new sound is played on a channel, the old one is removed. A channel is identified by a channel number, which range from zero upwards.

Before any sound can be played, a number of channels must be opened from the Sound Device. MIDAS supports an unlimited number of channels on all platforms, unless hardware mixing is used. Although the number of open channels has some impact on CPU usage, the amount of CPU power used depends mostly on the channels that actually play sound. Therefore it is much more important to ensure that no unnecessary sounds are left playing than it is to minimize the number of open channels.