What is high resolution?
High Resolution Sound Source is an abbreviation for “High Resolution Audio” and is defined as high quality sound source data with more information than a CD.
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Music recorded in the studio is recorded by cutting a portion of the data to burn to a CD.
Since the high-resolution sound source is a sound source that records the recorded data as is without cutting it, you can experience the atmosphere of the studio and even the breath of the artist.
High-resolution audio sources can be downloaded from a dedicated distribution site or purchased as data saved to a USB stick, DVD, etc.
Difference between CD sound source and high resolution sound source
High resolution sound source file format
Enjoying a High-Resolution Sound Source
Difference between CD sound source and high resolution sound source
Now, I will explain the specific difference in the “amount of information” between a CD sound source and a high resolution sound source.
Music files, such as CD sound sources and high-resolution sound sources, are digitized original signals (analog sound sources).
This job is created using the “sampling” and “quantization” steps, and its values are expressed in units of “sample rate (Hz)” and “number of quantization bits (bit)”.
“Sampling” that determines the width of the range
“Sampling” is expressed by the number of times the original signal is digitized in one second.
In the case of a CD, it means that you are recording at a speed of 44.1 kHz = 44,100 Hz per second, that is, 44,100 times (Fig. 1).
When it comes to high-resolution audio sources, the sample rate increases, so more data can be collected (Fig. 2).
“Quantization” that determines the fineness of the volume
The “quantization” digitizes the changes in the volume of the sound and, in the case of a CD, the original signal is decomposed into 16 bits (2 to the 16th power = 65,536) and recorded (Fig. 3).
If this number of bits is low, small sounds will be treated as noise, but as the number of bits increases, details will be reproduced exactly as “sound” (Fig. 4).
Reproducibility determined by “sampling” x “quantification”
The results of combining the vertical “sampling” line and the horizontal “quantizing” line are shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6. By comparing the CD sound source (Fig. 5) and the sound source high resolution (Fig. 6), it is evident that the high resolution sound source has a curve closer to the current signal.
In this way, the higher the sample rate and the number of quantization bits, the higher the sound quality of the original song in the studio and the more realistic and airy it can be expressed on a CD.
High resolution sound source file format
Now, I will explain the specific difference in the “amount of information” between a CD sound source and a high resolution sound source.
Music files, such as CD sound sources and high-resolution sound sources, are digitized original signals (analog sound sources).
This job is created using the “sampling” and “quantization” steps, and its values are expressed in units of “sample rate (Hz)” and “number of quantization bits (bit)”.
WAV if you are interested in sound quality, FLAC if you also want convenience
WAV is an advantageous format in terms of sound quality because it converts the sound source into data without compressing it. However, consequently, the data capacity will be very large.
Also, you cannot write metadata such as cover photos and artist names.
FLAC, on the other hand, is called lossless compression, which applies compression processing when converting data, but is a mechanism for playing while restoring the original sound source state during viewing.
Therefore, the data capacity can be reduced to about half that of WAV.
Generally, it is said that there is no change in sound quality due to compression / restoration, but there is an opinion that the WAV (uncompressed) sound source sounds better because there are fewer processing steps.
It is also attractive that FLAC can write metadata such as cover photos and even display lyrics.
We recommend buying WAV if you are interested in sound quality and FLAC if you are also looking for convenience. However, a specific player application is required to play high-resolution audio sources.
