The document provides an overview of analog and digital audio, including: - Analog audio uses continuous waves while digital audio represents sound as discrete numeric samples. - Key aspects of digital audio include sampling rate, bit depth, and channels. Higher sampling rates and bit depths provide more accurate representations. - Converting analog to digital audio involves sampling the amplitude over time using an analog-to-digital converter.

1. Chapter 02: Audio Recording Prepared by: Nur Muizz Mohamed Salleh Date: 08 November 2010

2. Talk Layout Overview of Analogue and Digital Audio Characteristic of Waveform Digital Audio Fundamental Physical Components of Audio

3. Overview of Analog and Digital Audio Sound comprises the spoken word, voice, music and even noise. It is loud and quiet, it is deep and shrill. Sound is produced by a source that creates vibrations in the air. Analogue sound consists of continuous waves.

4. Overview of Analog and Digital Audio Acoustics and analog audio technology are mainly concerned with continuous mathematical functions, but digital audio is a study of discrete values. Specifically, a waveform's amplitude is represented as a series of numbers. That is an important first principle, because numbers allow us to manage audio information very efficiently

5. Overview of Analog and Digital Audio Using digital techniques, the capability to process information is greatly enhanced. The design nature of audio recording, signal processing, and reproducing hardware has followed the advance of digital technology; the introduction of software programming into the practical audio environment has been simply revolutionary.

6. Overview of Analog and Digital Audio Function of Sound: Provide cognitive information: Related to mental processes of knowledge, reasoning, memory, judgment and perception Outer orientation – space, time, situation Provide affective information: Related to emotion, feeling and mood Inner orientation – energy, structure

7. Overview of Analog and Digital Audio Function of Sound: - cont Sound has undeniable power: To direct our attention to Shape our interpretation of an image To create expectations To underscore an idea or an emotion

8. Characteristic of Waveform A waveform is essentially the graphic representation of a sound-pressure level or voltage level as it moves through a medium over time. By nature, the sound that we hear is analogue sound.

9. Characteristic of Waveform In short, a waveform lets us see and explain the actual phenomenon of wave propagation in our physical environment and will generally have the following fundamental characteristics: Amplitude Frequency Velocity Wavelength Phase

10. Characteristic of Waveform These characteristics allow one waveform to be distinguished from another. The most fundamental of these are amplitude and frequency. The following sections describe each of these characteristics. Amplitude and frequency ranges of human hearing.

11. Characteristic of Waveform Amplitude The distance above or below the centerline of a waveform represents the amplitude level of that signal. The greater the distance or displacement from that centerline, the more intense the pressure variation, electrical signal level, or physical displacement will be within a medium. Waveform amplitudes can be measured in several ways (Figure). For example, the measurement of either the maximum positive or negative signal level of a wave is called its peak amplitude value (or peak value). Graph of a sine wave showing the various ways to measure amplitude.

12. Characteristic of Waveform Amplitude - cont Power or intensity of the sound. The size of a sound wave. The louder the sound, the higher the amplitude. Measures the strength of a sound. Unit of measurement = decibel / dB

13. Characteristic of Waveform Frequency The rate at which an acoustic generator, electrical signal, or vibrating mass repeats within a cycle of positive and negative amplitude is known as the frequency of that signal. One completed excursion of a wave (which is plotted over the 360 ∘ axis of a circle) is known as a cycle (Figure) Cycle divided into the 360 ∘ of a circle.

14. Characteristic of Waveform Frequency - cont It is measured in cycles per second. Standard measurement = Hertz / Hz Humans are capable of hearing frequencies from 20Hz to 20,000Hz. Frequency also perceive as pitch : the relative tonal highness or lowness of a sound.

15. Characteristic of Waveform Velocity The velocity of a sound wave as it travels through air at 68 ∘ F (20 ∘ C) is approximately 1130 feet per second (ft/sec) or 344 meters per second (m/sec). This speed is temperature dependent and increases at a rate of 1.1 ft/sec for each Fahrenheit degree increase in temperature (2 ft/sec per Centigrade degree). Changes significantly depends on high or low temperatures or the level of humidity in wetter or drier air.

16. Characteristic of Waveform Wavelength Determined by the distance a sound wave travels to complete one cycle of compression (push) and rarefaction (pull) Frequency and wavelength change inversely with respect to each other. The lower a sound frequency, the longer its wavelength; the higher a sound’s frequency, the shorter its wavelength. Wavelengths decrease in length as frequency increases (and vice versa).

17. Characteristic of Waveform Phase Time relationship between two or more sound wave at a given point in their cycles. eg: Whenever two waveforms having the same frequency, shape, and peak amplitude are completely in phase (meaning that they have no relative time difference), the newly combined waveform will have the same frequency, phase, and shape...but will be double in amplitude (Figure). The amplitudes of in-phase waves increase in level when mixed together.

18. Characteristic of Waveform Phase - cont Waves of equal amplitude cancel completely when mixed 180 ∘ out of phase. When partial phase angles are mixed together, the combined signals will add in certain places and subtract in others.

19. Digital Audio Fundamental Conversion Process To the computer, analogue sound is like a foreign language. Sound too has to be converted into a digital format. This is where the sound card comes in. Sound cards = devices that convert analogue sound to digital sound.

20. Digital Audio Fundamental Conversion Process - cont The process of converting from analogue sound to digital sound is performed by the Analogue-to Digital Converter (ADC) and later the re-conversion back to analogue sound from digital sound is performed by the Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC). ADC to DAC for Sound

21. Digital Audio Fundamental Digital Audio Digital audio is made up of binary codes. Binary codes are represented by 0s and 1s. To work effectively with digital audio, it is important to understand some basic terminology and properties of digital audio. digital audio sampling

22. Digital Audio Fundamental Digital Audio- cont Understanding these terms will help in making informed decisions about how to compress digital audio for the web and streaming. The three basic properties of digital audio are: channels sample rate bit-depth

23. Digital Audio Fundamental Digital Audio Channel A stereo audio signal has two discreet channels of audio whereas a mono signal has only one . A stereo signal can be mixed down to a mono signal. An uncompressed stereo digital audio file will be twice the size of a mono file.

24. Digital Audio Fundamental Digital Audio - cont Sample Rate Sample rate is the number of samples of a sound that are taken per second to represent the event digitally. The more samples taken per second, the more accurate the digital representation of the sound can be. For example, the current sample rate for CD-quality audio is 44,100 samples per second.

25. Digital Audio Fundamental Digital Audio - cont Sample Rate - cont Sample rate is the number of samples of a sound that are taken per second to represent the event digitally. The more samples per second that are taken, the more accurate the digital representation is of the analog waveform. Each sample is really only a number that contains the amplitude value of a waveform measured over time. This brings us to bit-depth. analog signal and resulting sample signal

26. Digital Audio Fundamental Digital Audio - cont Bit Depth Bit depth defines how many bits are used to describe each of the samples taken from the sample rate . It describes the potential accuracy of a digital audio file. Higher bit depth audio will sound better than smaller bit-depth audio. 8 and 16-bit audio are currently the most common sample sizes. 8-bit audio takes up less hard drive space but is inherently noisier than 16 or 24 bit-depth audio. CD quality is 16-bit .

27. Digital Audio Fundamental To estimate the size of a digital sound file, a few several points need to be consider: Sampling rates A higher sampling rates means more samples. The more the samples there are, the more storage will be needed. CD quality = 44100Hz / Broadcasting = 11025Hz Bit Depth The higher the bit sampling, the larger the file size.

28. Digital Audio Fundamental To estimate the size of a digital sound file, a few several points need to be consider: Channel Mono: Sound will be playing from one channel Stereo: Sound will be playing from two channel Duration The longer the duration of the sound, the larger the file size.

29. Digital Audio Fundamental How to calculate the size of a digital sound file? Example: How much storage space is needed if you want to record a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo music for a duration of 30 seconds?

30. Digital Audio Fundamental How to calculate the size of a digital sound file? Answer: Step 1: 44 100 x 2 bytes (or 16-bits) = 88 200 bytes Step 2: 88 200 x 2 (for stereo) = 176 400 bytes Step 3: 176 400 x 30 seconds = 5 292 000 bytes So, recording CD quality music (16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo) for 30 seconds will take approximately 5.292 Mbs of storage space.

31. Physical Components of Audio Basic Audio Recording Components: Source of analog sound - voice or cassette A good computer system A good sound card or integrated audio on your computer Quality audio software Stereo cables A good quality dynamic microphone with XLR connector A high quality of speaker or headphone

32. THANK YOU Q & A Session