A "channel" can be a sample playback channel (HCHANNEL), a sample stream (HSTREAM), a MOD music (HMUSIC), or a recording (HRECORD). Each "Channel" function can be used with one or more of these channel types.
| HCHANNEL | Returned by BASS_SampleGetChannel. |
| HSTREAM | Returned by BASS_StreamCreate, BASS_StreamCreateFile, BASS_StreamCreateURL, BASS_StreamCreateFileUser, BASS_SampleGetChannel. Also add-on provided functions. |
| HMUSIC | Returned by BASS_MusicLoad. |
| HRECORD | Returned by BASS_RecordStart. |
A sample stream (HSTREAM) or MOD music (HMUSIC) that has been created with the BASS_STREAM_DECODE or BASS_MUSIC_DECODE flag is sometimes referred to as a "decoding channel".