Music Production - Converting Analog Audio to Digital and Vice Versa
By Lorabella | On February 8, 2010 | In Computers-and-Technology | Rated 
The various technical terms that are typical to the music industry can confuse beginners who aspire to make a successful career in music production. Take the commonly used terms like analog and digital audio, the former refers to the process of using magnetic particles for recording sound, while the latter refers to the process in which music is stored digitally. Before the advent of digital technology audio used to be stored in the analog form in magnetic tapes, but now digital storage is the preferred method. However audio is recorded and played back in the analog form, hence the need for analog/digital conversion persists. Earlier this kind of conversion could only be done in a studio which was equipped with expensive analog/digital converters. But the remarkable progress in computing technology has ensured that such conversions can now be carried out at home on a desktop computer. However, before we get into the details of the process of converting analog audio to digital audio it helps to be aware of terms like sampling rate and bit depth.
Sampling rate refers to the rate at which a digital recorder captures the audio signal it is receiving. The process can be likened to the way a digital video camera records moving objects by capturing multiple images of the object in a second. A digital sound recorder captures sound in the same way. The unit of sound captured is called a sample and sampling rate is the number of samples that is captured per second by the recorder. Sampling rates can be mentioned as 44,100 Hz, 48,000 Hz, 96,000 Hz, and 192,000 Hz. What this means is that when the sampling rate is mentioned as being 48,000 Hz, the digital recorder is recording 48,000 samples of the sound per second. When the recording is played back the samples are played at such a high speed that the listener hears a continuous audio stream, although in reality there are distinct samples of audio data that are being played at separate intervals of time. Higher sampling rate denotes better sound quality.
Sampling bit depth in combination with sampling rate constitutes the audio equivalent of a pixel which refers to a unit of color in digital photography. Just the way pixels have a length and breadth, sampling rate and bit depth together constitute the length and breadth of a unit of digitally recorded audio data. Bit depth is generally mentioned as 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit. Higher bit depth produces better quality sound. However the standard bit depth used in CDs is 16 bit, while DVD audio uses 24 bit.
In analog to digital conversion, sound picked up in the form of vibrations by a microphone makes for analog signals. These are converted into electric signals by the microphones and carried into the pre-amp of the recording interface. In the case of digital recording, the recording interface is already equipped with an Analog to Digital conversion element. This element converts the electric signal which was amplified through the pre-amp into digital data. When this data is to be played for listening it has to be converted back into analog. In this process, the digital data is again passed through the Analog/Digital converter. The digital bits are converted into electric signals which are then sent to the speakers where the signals are amplified and recorded audio can then be heard by human listeners.
About The Author:
Read more about lydproduksjon and musikkproduksjon at http://www.noroff.no
Sampling rate refers to the rate at which a digital recorder captures the audio signal it is receiving. The process can be likened to the way a digital video camera records moving objects by capturing multiple images of the object in a second. A digital sound recorder captures sound in the same way. The unit of sound captured is called a sample and sampling rate is the number of samples that is captured per second by the recorder. Sampling rates can be mentioned as 44,100 Hz, 48,000 Hz, 96,000 Hz, and 192,000 Hz. What this means is that when the sampling rate is mentioned as being 48,000 Hz, the digital recorder is recording 48,000 samples of the sound per second. When the recording is played back the samples are played at such a high speed that the listener hears a continuous audio stream, although in reality there are distinct samples of audio data that are being played at separate intervals of time. Higher sampling rate denotes better sound quality.
Sampling bit depth in combination with sampling rate constitutes the audio equivalent of a pixel which refers to a unit of color in digital photography. Just the way pixels have a length and breadth, sampling rate and bit depth together constitute the length and breadth of a unit of digitally recorded audio data. Bit depth is generally mentioned as 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit. Higher bit depth produces better quality sound. However the standard bit depth used in CDs is 16 bit, while DVD audio uses 24 bit.
In analog to digital conversion, sound picked up in the form of vibrations by a microphone makes for analog signals. These are converted into electric signals by the microphones and carried into the pre-amp of the recording interface. In the case of digital recording, the recording interface is already equipped with an Analog to Digital conversion element. This element converts the electric signal which was amplified through the pre-amp into digital data. When this data is to be played for listening it has to be converted back into analog. In this process, the digital data is again passed through the Analog/Digital converter. The digital bits are converted into electric signals which are then sent to the speakers where the signals are amplified and recorded audio can then be heard by human listeners.
About The Author:
Read more about lydproduksjon and musikkproduksjon at http://www.noroff.no