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Digital Audio

Sound waves are created by vibrations in the air that push air molecules together, creating areas of higher and lower pressure. When these pressure waves reach our ears, we hear sound. Digital audio converts sound waves into numeric samples by measuring the amplitude of sound waves at regular intervals. More samples per second and more bits per sample allow for higher quality reproduction of sounds, but also result in larger file sizes. When we play digital audio files, the process happens in reverse, reconstructing the sound wave from the numeric samples.

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65 views4 pages

Digital Audio

Sound waves are created by vibrations in the air that push air molecules together, creating areas of higher and lower pressure. When these pressure waves reach our ears, we hear sound. Digital audio converts sound waves into numeric samples by measuring the amplitude of sound waves at regular intervals. More samples per second and more bits per sample allow for higher quality reproduction of sounds, but also result in larger file sizes. When we play digital audio files, the process happens in reverse, reconstructing the sound wave from the numeric samples.

Uploaded by

budscamora8261
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Digital Audio Fundamentals

Written by Adobe
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 03:42 - Last Updated Wednesday, 14 July 2010 04:36

Understanding sound

Sound waves

Sound starts with vibrations in the air, like those produced by guitar strings, vocal cords, or
speaker cones. These vibrations push nearby air molecules together, raising the air pressure
slightly. The air molecules under pressure then push on the air molecules surrounding them,
which push on the next set of molecules, and so on. As high-pressure areas move through the
air, they leave low-pressure areas behind them. When these waves of pressure changes reach
us, they vibrate the receptors in our ears, and we hear the vibrations as sound.

When you see a visual waveform that represents audio, it reflects these waves of air pressure.
The zero line in the waveform is the pressure of air at rest. When the line swings up to a peak, it
represents higher pressure; when the line swings down to a trough, it represents lower
pressure.

Waveform measurements
Several measurements describe sound waveforms:

Amplitude Reflects the change in pressure from the peak of the waveform to the trough.
High-amplitude waveforms are loud; low-amplitude waveforms are quiet.

Cycle Describes a single, repeated sequence of pressure changes, from zero pressure, to high
pressure, to low pressure, and back to zero.

Frequency Measured in hertz (Hz), describes the number of cycles per second. (For example,
a 1000-Hz waveform has 1000 cycles per second.) The higher the frequency, the higher the
musical pitch.

Phase Measured in 360 degrees, indicates the position of a waveform in a cycle. Zero degrees
is the start point,  followed by 90º at high pressure, 180º at the halfway point, 270º at low
pressure, and 360º at the end point.

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

Written by Adobe
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 03:42 - Last Updated Wednesday, 14 July 2010 04:36

Wavelength Measured in units such as inches or centimeters, is the distance between two
points with the same degree of phase. As frequency increases, wavelength decreases.

Digitizing audio

Comparing analog and digital audio


In analog and digital audio, sound is transmitted and stored in very different ways. Analog
audio: positive and negative voltage A microphone converts the pressure waves of sound into
voltage changes in a wire: high pressure becomes positive voltage, and low pressure becomes
negative voltage. When these voltage changes travel down a microphone wire, they can be
recorded onto tape as changes in magnetic strength or onto vinyl records as changes in groove
size. A speaker works like a microphone in reverse, taking the voltage signals from an audio
recording and vibrating to re-create the
pressure wave.

Digital audio: zeroes and ones


Unlike analog storage media such as magnetic tape or vinyl records, computers store audio
information digitally as a series of zeroes and ones. In digital storage, the original waveform is
broken up into individual snapshots called samples. This process is typically known as digitizing
or sampling the audio, but it is sometimes called analog-to-digital conversion.

When you record from a microphone into a computer, for example, analog-to-digital converters
transform the analog signal into digital samples that computers can store and process.

Understanding sample rate


Sample rate indicates the number of digital samples taken of an audio signal each second. This
rate determines the frequency range of an audio file. The higher the sample rate, the closer the
shape of the digital waveform is to that of the original analog waveform. Low sample rates limit
the range of frequencies that can be recorded, which can result in a recording that poorly
represents the original sound.

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

Written by Adobe
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 03:42 - Last Updated Wednesday, 14 July 2010 04:36

To reproduce a given frequency, the sample rate must be at least twice that frequency.  For
example, CDs have a sample rate of 44,100 samples per second, so they can reproduce
frequencies up to 22,050 Hz, which is just beyond the limit of human hearing, 20,000 Hz.

The following table lists the most common sample rates for digital audio:

Sample rate      Quality level                                                                  


             Frequency range

11,025 Hz          Poor AM radio (low-end multimedia)                                     0–5,512 Hz


22,050 Hz          Near FM radio (high-end multimedia)                                   0–11,025 Hz
                           
32,000 Hz          Better than FM radio (standard broadcast rate)                  0–16,000 Hz
44,100 Hz         CD                                                                                                 0–22,050 Hz
48,000 Hz         Standard DVD                                                                             0–24,000 Hz
96,000 Hz         High-end DVD                                                                            0–48,000 Hz

Understanding bit depth


Bit depth determines dynamic range. When a sound wave is sampled, each sample is assigned
the amplitude value closest to the original wave’s amplitude. Higher bit depth provides more
possible amplitude values, producing greater dynamic range, a lower noise floor, and higher
fidelity. For the best audio quality, remain at 32-bit resolution while transforming audio in
Soundbooth, and then convert to a lower bit depth for output.

Audio file contents and size


An audio file on your hard drive, such as a WAV file, consists of a small header indicating
sample rate and bit depth, and then a long series of numbers, one for each sample. These files
can be very large. For example, at 44,100 samples per second and 16 bits per sample, a mono
file requires 86 KB per second—about 5 MB per minute. That figure doubles to 10 MB per
minute for a stereo file, which has two channels.

How Soundbooth digitizes audio

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

Written by Adobe
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 03:42 - Last Updated Wednesday, 14 July 2010 04:36

When you record audio in Soundbooth, the sound card starts the recording process and
specifies what sample rate and bit depth to use. Through Line In or Microphone In ports, the
sound card receives analog audio and digitally samples it at the specified rate. Soundbooth
stores each sample in sequence until you stop recording.

When you play a file in Soundbooth, the process happens in reverse. Soundbooth sends a
series of digital samples to the sound card. The card reconstructs the original waveform and
sends it as an analog signal through Line Out ports to your speakers.

To sum up, the process of digitizing audio starts with a pressure wave in the air. A microphone
converts this pressure wave into voltage changes. A sound card converts these voltage
changes into digital samples. After analog sound becomes digital audio, Soundbooth can
record, edit, and process it—the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

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