1.

) When you are recording to your computer, is this a digital or analog recording
method?

2.) CD audio is an analog storage medium?

3.) You cannot tell the difference between 24-bit/48KHz audio and 16-bit-96KHz audio?

4.) In recording, sample rate is more important than the bit depth?

5.) The file extension of high analog audio is .WAV?

6.) When recording for multi-track, you will always record in mono?

7.) To prevent distortion, you should not record more than 0dBFS?

8.) dB is the same as dBFS? If not why?

9.) PCI soundcards is OK for professional audio production?

10.) All analog to digital converters are created equal; just like it doesn’t matter what
type of soundcard or audio interface you are using to record tracks.

11.) It is OK to record a weak signal because you can always boost/amplify it after
recording.

12.) A mixing console can be used to convert analog to digital signals?

13.) An audio interface can be used as a mixer?

The fundamental questions of digital audio

1.) When you are recording to your computer, is this a digital or analog recording
method?
The answer is digital. Analog source (from the outside of the computer) is converted to
digital audio using an audio interface.
Therefore the tracks that will be recorded to your hard drive is in digital format.
2.) CD audio is an analog storage medium?
The answer is no. Digital audio stored in CD are digitally sampled in 16-bits/44.1KHz;
therefore it is a digital storage medium.
If you go in depth about how the compact disc is made of. It consists of pits or holes that
when hit by light (from optical drive laser), this would translate to either 1 or 0 binary
data.
Therefore it is a digital audio storage medium. See illustration below:
CD audio function

Credits: Georgia State University

3.) You cannot tell the difference between 24-bit/48KHz audio and 16-bit-96KHz audio?
False, difference in bit depth is highly noticeable. If you blind test two audios recorded at
16-bit and 24-bit (regardless of sample rate but at least at 44.1 KHz), you will notice that
the audio sounds pure when recorded in 24-bits.
4.) In recording, sample rate is more important than the bit depth?
False, bit depth is more important. It is why you are highly required to record everything
at 24-bits and not 16-bits. This is due to the fact that recording at higher bit depth gives
you more headroom, better signal to noise ratio and more accurate representation of
analog sound.
For more details, read this PCM tutorial
5.) The file extension of high analog audio is .WAV?
Incorrect. Analog audio does not exist inside your computer. It only exists outside your
computer and in your analog storage medium like cassette tape, reel to reel and vinyl.
Therefore there is no such thing as a file extension for an analog audio signal. It is not a
digital file. File extension only exist inside your computer and in digital storage medium.
.WAV is a digital audio file that is uncompressed. Othe common audio file extensions
include .MP3, .WMA which is in compressed form.
6.) When recording for multi-track, you will always record in mono?
Not entirely true although you will record mono most of the time. There is also what you
called as “stereo recording”. For example, in this method, you can record using two
microphones simultaneously to capture a sound source.
Then these two microphones would become a stereo signal that will be recorded to your
DAW. Common examples of stereo recording are as follows:
a.) Recording drums with 2 mic
b.) Choir recording in stereo such as shown below:
Choir tracking
One microphone is equivalent to one mono track in your DAW. Stereo recording consists
of two mono channels. It will need two microphones.
7.) To prevent distortion, you should not record more than 0dBFS?
False, a better answer is to even record less than 0dBFS to get the benefits of zero
distortion and adequate headroom for mixing.
This is particularly important in gain staging. It is why in most tracking; the maximum
peak is around -6dBFS instead of 0dBFS.

8.) dB is the same as dBFS? If not why?

dB is the general term of measuring levels particularly loudness. dBFS is a special dB
measurement meant for digital audio.
This stands for dB relative to full scale. It is why 0dBFS is the maximum allowable
digital audio signal.
9.) PCI soundcards is OK for professional audio production?
No, only a very few PCI soundcards do that. In most markets they sell gaming
soundcards that uses consumer specifications that is not designed for professional audio.
The answer to professional recording is to use external audio interfaces such as USB and
Firewire that is designed for serious music production.
10.) All analog to digital converters are created equal; just like it doesn’t matter what
type of soundcard or audio interface you are using to record tracks.
False, poor converters do actually exist. Stay away from using analog to digital
converters (or vice versa) found in onboard audio chips and PCI soundcards. They are not
designed for serious music production.
Great digital recording often comes from high end analog to digital converters find inside
your audio interface.
11.) It is OK to record a weak signal because you can always boost/amplify it after
recording.
False, the signal to noise ratio is still the same. If you record a weak signal (particularly
less than -32dBFS for most of the time); the noise would start to dominate thus
contributing to poor SNR. Even amplifying it after recording cannot fix the low SNR
ratio because amplifying the signal would also amplify the noise in it.
Separating the noise will also degrade the original recording. You should keep this in
mind. Therefore, you cannot do anything to improve a bad recording after tracking.
The best solution is to fix the problem at the source. Remove the sources of noise and
make sure you are recording the cleanest signal as possible.
12.) A mixing console can be used to convert analog to digital signals?
No, a mixing console job is to provide pre-amplification, signal routing, EQ, etc and
combine all inputs to provide one output. A mixing console can also be used to output
each analog signal on a channel separately aside from having one main output. But it is
never used to convert analog to digital signals.
This is if you are talking about analog mixing consoles, the one you often see in big
studios such as a Neve console. ADC is often done using an audio interface.
13.) An audio interface can be used as a mixer?
True, some audio interface do provide mixing functions. They have internal audio mixing
controls. It works similar to real world mixing console but not exactly the same.
Some audio interface can be even function as a standalone mixer if configured first by the
software; for example Saffire Pro 40.