4.7 Representation of Sound

Question 1

How is sound stored on a computer

Answer 1

Sound recordings convert the changes in air pressure into voltage changes, these are analogue recordings.
In order to processed by a computer, analogue signal needs
to be converted into a digital form.
To do this, sound is sampled into a digital form and stored
as a stream of 0 and 1s (binary)

Question 2

What are some Formats sound files are stored as?

Answer 2

WAV or MP3

Question 3

What is Sampling

Answer 3

Sampling involves hardware such as a microphone, measuring the
level of sound many times per second and recording it as a series of
binary digits

Question 4

What happens as less samples are taken

Answer 4

As less samples are taken, the quality of the sound file is reduced.

Question 5

What is a Sample rate

Answer 5

The frequency at which samples are taken is called the sample rate

Question 6

What is the sample rate measured in

Answer 6

The sample rate is measured in Hertz (Hz)

Question 7

How do you increase the quality of the sound

Answer 7

Have more time samples that are closer together. This way, more detail about the sound can be collected, so when it’s
converted to digital and back to analogue again it does not lose as
much quality.