In Pure Data, tilde-suffixed objects (osc~, *~, dac~) are the ones that generate and process audio signals

Pd’s audio-processing objects are conventionally named with a trailing tilde (). osc is a sinusoid oscillator that generates an audio signal from a cosine function; *~ multiplies signals (used here with argument 0.2 to cut gain to 20%); dac~ (Digital-to-Analog Converter) sends the digital signal out to your audio interface and speakers. The tilde is the visual tell that an object works on audio signals rather than on control values like numbers, messages and bangs. Recognizing the tilde convention lets you read a patch and see, at a glance, which objects carry sound. A related consequence: no tilde object makes any sound until DSP is turned on.

Examples

osc~ 440 → *~ 0.2 → dac~: a 440 Hz sine, scaled to 20% gain, sent to the speakers. The three tildes mark the whole chain as an audio-signal path.

Assessment

Given osc~, metro, *, dac, and a number box, identify which are audio-signal (tilde) objects. State what osc~, *, and dac each do to the signal.