Understanding DIGITAL AUDIO

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UnderstandingDIGITAL AUDIO

• By Ashley Barbosa

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Digital Audio

• All audio that is recorded or played through a
  computer system is digital, but all audio that is
  played out of a speaker system is analog.
• To understand digital audio it helps to
  understand the difference between analog and
  digital as it refers to sound recording.
• Digital recording is not perfect either, the key
  word in understanding digital versus analog is
  the word digit
• Digital recording has several major advantages
  over analog recording.
• You have to choose how often you will record each
  sound pressure value and how big is the possible
  range of values you will allow for each
  measurement.

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Sound Card

• There are many programs available for both Macs
  and PCs that allow you to compose, record, play
  back and print music in a variety of ways using
  MIDI and Digital Audio together. They can range
  from well under 100 to over 800
• A sound card or audio board which allows
  computers to output audio signals through
  speakers and headphones
• Because of the importance of audio, several
  manufacturers, such as Adlib, Roland and Creative
  Labs, released several types of audio boards
  during 1984 to 1989
• Sound cards have several uses and has become a
  standard option which comes with computers today.

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MIDI

• MIDI, or Musical Instrument Digital Interface,
  developed in the 1980s, allows various musical
  instruments to communicate or play harmoniously
• MIDI is a limited method of playing sounds as it
  will only be capable of playing the instruments
  available to your sound card
• Most computer sound cards will have a MIDI port
  which allows for several musical instrument
  devices to be connected to the computer
• Before connecting any of these devices to the
  computer, you will need to purchase a separate
  cable which takes the MIDI/Game port connection
  into the standard 5-pin DIN midi connector.

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Conclusion

• Digital recording is good stuff but it has its
  limitations. Carefully consider what kind of
  sound you are recording and how good you want it
  to reproduce versus the needs of your situation
  for speed and files sizes
• always record at the maximum possible resolution
• There are numerous tools that will allow you to
  reduce digital recordings as much as possible
  with the least lost of sound quality
• Often how you reduce the resolution is as
  important as amount of reduction you choose
• With MP3 and other technologies like RealAudio
  compression and Windows Media compression, you
  will, hopefully, never have to worry about
  reducing your files to 8 bit ever again.