What are the sample rate, the number of quantization bits, and the clock?


Free Download Mp4Gain
picture

What are the sample rate, the number of quantization bits, and the clock?

Sample Rate and Bit Depth

There is some format jargon that you really need to know about CDs. It is the “sample rate” and the “quantization bit number”.

Sample Rate and Bit Depth

Related to that, you will deepen your understanding if you also learn about the “clock” from the CD. The next time you learn “How to Read Specifications / Optical Discs”, it will go into your head.

■ What is the sampling frequency and the number of bits?

Digital audio recorded on a CD has a 44.1 kHz sample rate and a 16-bit quantization bit rate, right? Yes, that is correct. It has appeared several times so far, but this is the first time that we have explained it in detail from the basics.

First, let’s start with the image. Just the esoteric feeling of sampling and quantizing, and the “vertical slice” and “horizontal slice” of the signals first. Think of it like cutting a radish. First of all, I’ll cut it vertically with a kitchen knife. You can make a lot of cuts, but they were originally continuous. The solid curve is the analog voice, and the first thing to do when digitizing it is the “vertical slice” = “sample” image.

Next is the quantification work. Even if the cut is a cut, it is quantified to “cross” the kitchen knife on its side. Then the radish will be divided into small squares. Did you imagine that the finer the square, the closer it is to the original analog signal?

The CD format is the rule of how fine the radish is cut (analog signal). “The sampling frequency is 44.1 kHz and the number of quantization bits is 16 bits” means that the first sampling is done at a rate of 44,100 times per second, and then the level is read with an accuracy of 16 bits (2 to power step 16). . Sampling is also called sampling, but in the first place, sampling is the norm, and without sampling, the quantification work cannot be done.


Free Download Mp4Gain
picture


Mp4Gain Main Window
picture


Mp4Gain Features
picture


Free Download Mp4Gain
picture

Author: R. Arias

R. Arias is the author of this article and has extensive experience for more than 30 years as a recording engineer and audio specialist, as well as more than 20 years of experience creating algorithms related to audio and video. Linkedin