Digital Audio Flashcards
A/D and D/A converters, and where
Small piece of circuitry inside interfaces, consoles, cell phones, computers, headsets, MP3 players, CD players, DVD players, BluRay players, etc
A/D converters
Takes AC voltage and converts into Binary Code
D/A converters
Take Binary Code and converts into AC voltage
The Clock
Uses crystals (commonly quartz) to maintain a precise frequency, which regulates the movement of a timing device (watches, CONVERTERS)
Why is the Clock important in a converter?
It is responsible for the accuracy and timing of the converter when converting A/D or D/A
PCM
Pulse Code Modulation
PCM’s two basic properties that determine quality of recorded audio
- Sample rate
2. Bit depth
Sample rate
Determines frequency response
How many samples per second per track
Bit depth
Determines dynamic range and resolution (volume)
Deals with amount of information happening
Amount of bits stored for every sample take
Samples
Samples are snapshots of information throughout bit depth (volume/level) fluctuates over sample rate (time)
The more snapshots, the more samples
Main function of an audio interface
Converts analog signal to digital (binary) information
Analog sound pressure waves representation
AC voltage (positive & negative charges) on a molecular level
Digital sound pressure waves representation
Binary information
Analog/Digital: Which has the more accurate representation of sound/waveform?
Analog
List at least 3 advantages of digital audio
- Non-destructive editing
- Visual editing
- Recall sessions
- Flexibility in sharing
- Portability in equipment
- Affordability
- Maintenance (DAWs and plug-ins have no wear&tear)
Information in between samples
Information in between samples are lost
Dynamic resolution formula
2^n = same as calculating bit in a binary word
Quantisation
The sample’s level is quantised to the nearest value based on the bit depth
Nyquist theorem
The sample rate must be at least 2x the highest audio frequency being recorded or converted
The highest frequency you can capture is half the sample rate
Nyquist theorem requires
At least one sample of both compression and rarefaction - if the frequency’s compressions and rarefactions are happening faster than the sample rate, it will not be captured correctly
Alias/Artefacts
These can be caused when the frequencies are higher than the sample rate
How do you get rid of alias/artefacts?
Anti-alias filter
Anti-alias filter
Steep low-pass filter at the Nyquist frequency which will cut off any higher frequencies
Standard CD quality sample rate and bit depth
44.1kHz sample rate
16 bit depth
From standard quality sample rate, how do you calculate the next common measurements?
Double the frequency
Next two common samples rates after 44.1kHz
Double 44.1 = 88.2kHz
Double 88.2 = 176.4kHz
Standard DVD quality sample rate and bit depth
48 kHz sample rate
24 bit depth
Next two common samples rates after 48kHz
Double 48 = 96kHz
Double 96 = 192kHz
BluRay quality sample rate and bit depth
192kHz
24 bit depth
Higher sample rate and bit depth essentially means
Less information is lost because we have more samples and information within each sample (bit depth)
How well can you hear a difference between these standard sample rates/bit depths?
Hardly any - human hearing only goes up to 20kHz. So this is more about information retention accuracy than being able to hear an actual difference
Up-sampling, and does it affect quality?
Up-sampling is only used for compatibility reasons, and it will NOT affect (or improve) quality
*can’t have more of what you already don’t have
Down-sampling, and does it affect quality?
We are now losing samples when we do this, therefore we will degrade the quality
Sample rate side effects
Jitter, phase issues, thin stereo image, drop outs, pops, clicks, etc.
Jitter
Digital TIMING error between samples
Bit depth formulas for Dynamic range and Dynamic resolution
Dynamic range: 1 bit = 6dB; n bits x 6dB = DR
Dynamic resolution: 2^n=degrees; n = bits
Bit depth=16
What is the dynamic range and dynamic resolution?
Dynamic range: 16 x 6 = 96dB
Dynamic resolution: 2^16 = 65,536 degrees