analog vs digital delay Archives

What is meant by analog and digital?

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The terms “analog” and “digital” are used to distinguish two
large families of electronic circuits.

Analog circuits are those that handle signals that vary
continuously and must be reproduced as accurately as possible
possible. For example, a vocal amplifier is a typical device
fully analog in which the signal produced by the microphone
is processed and amplified but should not be modified in its
essential components to ensure “fidelity” of reproduction.

Digital circuits (from the English word “digit” which can be translated as
digit or number, and therefore are also called “numeric”),
instead, they deal with signals that can only have two states, usually indicated
by the numerical values 0 and 1, which in within the circuits correspond
two clearly differentiable signal values:
for example, 0 may correspond to a voltage
between 0 and 0.2 volts, while the value 1 at a voltage between 4.5 and 5 volts.
An element that can assume only two states represents a “bit” of information.
Most of the components of a common personal computer are made
with digital circuits.

In reality, many of today’s electronic devices
They adopt mixed technologies, part analog and part digital.
Consider, for example, a compact disc player. The sign that
represents the engraved piece is stored in the form typically
digital: a succession of microscopic areas that can be opaque
or reflective, each area corresponds to a value of 0 or 1 depending on whether
it is opaque or reflective.
The sequence of values 0/1 constitutes a digital representation
the acoustic signal, so the first part of the reproduction circuit
uses digital techniques.

To play the original sound,
the sequence of bits must first be transformed into an analog signal and this step is done
a particular circuit called a “digital / analog converter” that has
the purpose of translating the sequence of bits into an electrical signal
which is “Analogous” to the acoustic signal originally produced by the instruments
that played the piece that is being recorded.

Then the analog signal can be amplified (by a circuit
analog, of course) and sent to the speakers for playback
acoustics.

Rather, consider a
fully analog recording and playback system: a magnetic recorder.
In this case, the magnetic tape in the cassette “stores” the signal
acoustics in the form of variations in the intensity of magnetization,
that is, the intensity of
magnetization along the magnetic tape is proportional to the signal
original acoustics. In this sense, the trend of
magnetization is “analogous” to the trend of the acoustic signal.

The player simply transforms the variation in the magnetic field
“read” on tape in a “similar” variation of an electrical signal
which is then amplified and reproduced as an acoustic signal.

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Analog – Digital

When we talk about the Internet and the current technological “machines” (mobile phone, camera, tablet, computer) we always speak of “digital” and, sometimes, we contrast this term with “analog”. But what exactly these words mean and what they refer to, many times we ignore, perhaps also because it is not relevant for us and is based on being able to use “digital” for what we need without investigating it so much.

“Analog” and “digital” are terms that are constantly encountered when talking about technologies (old and new). In common sense, “analog” is associated with a meaning of “old” or “past” or “low quality”; “Digital”, on the other hand, is synonymous with “new” or “innovative” or “quality”. This common sense distinction is not true.
One thing to keep in mind when addressing these issues is that the definitions of the two terms are one thing (what do they mean, where do they come from, …) and the operational implications they have (because we use one and not the other, as the consequences, implications, results …). As if to say, one thing is the universal law of gravity (with which the sun also has to do) and another is to stay in the sun to warm up and tan.
Another thing to keep in mind is that everything that is under the Digital / Analog issue is not something of our days, its essence was not born with the advent of “new” technologies; here it is one of the oldest problems in human thought and refers to philosophical disquisitions and to the issue of “continuous” and “discrete” variables. But we won’t dwell on these.

As for the definitions. ..
First of all, we must bear in mind that when we talk about Analogue and Digital we refer to ways of representing the measure of a quantity (they are “attributes of a quantity”), to ways in which the quantities we are considering vary (such as a audio signal, a video signal, color,….).

Analogous thing is a continuously varying quantity: an analog variable can take an infinite number of values (for example, the distance between two points in space can take an infinite number of values).

Digital is a quantity that varies “step by step”: a digital variable can take only a finite number of values (the duration of a day; for example, it can take only one of the 85,000 values if we use the “second” unit, a of the 850 thousand values if we use tenths of a second or one of the 8 million and 500 thousand if we use hundredths of a second; many possibilities but still finite, determined).

We can deduce that the concept of analog can be associated with a condition of continuity, that is, in a probable path something moves by changing its location through infinite positions and defining them as infinite we exclude the possibility of being able to number them.
With digital instead, the same path would be divided into stages (steps) and even if it is very small and numerous, it would always be possible to determine the amount.

Practice

Let us now turn to the practical implications of these two ways of representing physical quantities.
Until recently, all the data with which they organized audio or video recordings, static images, data transmissions such as radio, television, telephone were organized in the form of analog signals because the instruments that detected them “. The surfaces” on which they were recorded and the channels through which they were transported were mechanical and made specifically for that type of signal, in fact, they were the same as that signal.
Let’s think about color: the colors we see in a landscape are nothing more than a well-organized set of blue, red and green lights in their infinite shades; its representation through a photograph is based on the combination of blue, red and green pigments (therefore physical objects). We can say that the representation of a landscape through a photographic print is an analog representation of reality.

With the arrival of electronics (which has to do with physical quantities transformed and processed into electrical signals), physical quantities begin to be represented through electrical signals. Initially, these electrical signals were of the analog type (electronics that use continuous signals, signals that can assume an infinite range of possible values, that is, analog signals); later and a special type of signal has been used that can assume only some values among the infinitely possible, in fact it can only assume two values: the presence or absence of the signal. If we look at the basic level of any computer application we will realize that we have a very long series of numbers “one” and “zero” where “one” is the presence of the signal and “zero” its absence.
This is “digital” electronics; digital because it uses signals that are not continuous but “in jumps”.

Is analog recording better than digital?

During my training as a sound engineer, I read several times that in analog systems the sound wave, in the form of alternating current, is continuously recorded on the tape, something that does not happen in the digital environment where the sound wave is found. photographed thousands of times per second and reconstructed to some degree of approximation.

“Tape recording is better from this point of view than digital recording”

Obviously I was not the only one to have taken this statement as true, since among technicians and musicians I hear it repeated often, but are we really sure that it is so? Could such outdated technology be better than the current one? Obviously not.

From a technical point of view, analog recording suffers from a number of problems that introduce distortions and artifacts, so comparing the recorded sound with the source, the result is anything but faithful. Don’t you think so? Here are some issues that you may not have been told about analog recording.

–The flutter and the wow are oscillations that are generated during the route of the tape that, stretching between the heads, begins to vibrate like a guitar string, introducing micro-phasing and effects similar to tremolo;
–hysteresis. The metallic particles that cover the surface of the tape are quite slow and do not move from their rest state unless the magnetic field of the recording head is strong enough to polarize them. Therefore, sounds of weaker intensity are not correctly recorded, as well as high frequencies;
–maximum distortion. Transients are very fast, dynamic, and rich in high frequencies, qualities that tape cannot fully satisfy;
Background noise is an intrinsic feature of tape, to which we have tried to bypass filters with pre-emphasis and noise reduction circuitry, which in turn add more distortion;
deterioration of the material that occurs in each step and risk of self-cancellation of the material.

These aspects of analog recording, and they are just a few, are enough to make us understand that, even if we record continuously, our signal suffers many alterations.

Digital technology represents a clear improvement on many fronts, thanks to the low prices and the reliability of the instruments, capable of always guaranteeing the same performance without the need for constant maintenance.

With ever higher sample rates, 144 dB of dynamics (for 24-bit formats), and no background noise, digital audio recording allows you to truly capture sound in all its dynamic and tonal components.

–Yes, but digital is cold, analog is hot!

Seriously, the adjectives hot and cold are not appropriate terms to describe the characteristics of sound and are used incorrectly to express personal preferences and tastes.

What is generally understood by “warm sound” is the sensation of tonal enrichment that analog machines give to the audio signal in which there is less presence of high frequencies, while the adjective “cold” refers to a bare sound , raw, essential and seemingly unbalanced in favor of high frequencies.

If you want to improve the tone, it is better to use more appropriate terms, referring to digital as true copy and analog as artificial.

Analog vs. Digital

Analog and digital signals are used to transmit information, generally through electrical signals. In these two technologies, information, such as audio or video, is transformed into electrical signals. The difference between analog and digital technologies is that in analog technology, information is translated into electrical pulses of varying amplitude. In digital technology, the translation of information is in binary format (zero or one), each bit represents two different amplitudes.

Analog and digital signal definitions.

An analog signal is a continuous signal for which the variable characteristic of the signal (variable) is a representation of another quantity that varies in time, that is, analogous to another signal that varies in time. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small signal fluctuations that are significant.

A digital signal uses discrete (discontinuous) values. In contrast, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuous range of values to represent information. Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be discrete, such as numbers or letters, or continuous, such as sounds, images, and other measures of continuous systems.

Properties of digital and analog signals.

Digital information has certain properties that distinguish it from analog communication methods. These included

Synchronization: Digital communication uses specific synchronization sequences to determine synchronization.
Language: Digital communications require a language that must be the property of the sender and receiver and must specify the meaning of the symbol sequences.
Errors: disturbances in analog communication cause errors in actual planned communication, but disturbances in digital communication do not cause errors that allow error-free communication. Errors must be able to replace, insert or delete symbols to be expressed.
Copy: Analog communication copies are inferior to their originals, but due to error-free digital communication, copies can be made indefinitely.
Granularity: For a continuously variable analog value to be represented digitally, there is a quantization error that is the difference between the actual analog value and the digital representation, and this property of digital communication is called granularity.

Differences in use in equipment.

Many devices have built-in translation features ranging from analog to digital. Microphones and speakers are perfect examples of analog devices. Analog technology is cheaper, but the size of the data that can be transmitted at any given time is limited.

Digital technology has revolutionized the operation of most equipment. The data is converted into binary code and then reassembled in its original form at the point of reception. As they are easy to handle, they offer a wider range of options. Digital equipment is more expensive than analog equipment.

Analog and digital quality comparison.

Digital devices translate and reassemble data and are more likely to lose quality than analog devices. The advancement of the computer has allowed the use of error detection and correction techniques to eliminate artificial disturbances in digital signals and improve quality.

Differences in applications

Digital technology has been more effective in the cell phone industry. Analog phones became redundant despite good clarity and sound quality.

Analog technology includes natural signals like human speech. With digital technology, this human speech can be recorded and stored on a computer. Therefore, digital technology opens the way to infinite possible uses.

ANALOGUE VS DIGITAL SOUND: WHAT A DIFFERENCE?

The difference between digital and analog audio depends mainly on how the audio was recorded and stored.

The analogue:

In keeping with a traditional recording technology, the analog sound experienced its golden age in the 1970s and was then attached to a magnetic tape or vinyl record. The audio signal is reproduced as faithfully as possible by copying the original audio waveform identically and continuously. As production costs are substantial, this recording model has gradually been abandoned in favor of digital.

digital:

The digital audio signal is in the form of a series of binary coded digital data, the basic language of modern computing: 0 and 1. As soon as a computer enters the audio production chain during recording or playback, the audio is digital. Sound is no longer obtained by copying the sound wave, but digitizing the sound, a process that allows the computer to decipher the sound in binary format. However, 0 and 1 do not allow you to reproduce the entire analog audio wave. To reproduce the sound, it will divide the sound wave into a series of small sound samples, each of sufficient quality separately, to artificially reproduce the sound wave.

The differences between analog and digital audio

Traditionally, we distinguish analog audio from digital audio. Before we get to the heart of the matter, it must be understood that the phenomena that surround us and which our ears perceive are all analogous.

In a concert, for example, the sound produced by the artist’s instrument, the audience’s applause, or the spectator’s whisper is all analogous: they are continuous, that is, they give value to another without interruption and this continuously.

As soon as we want to reproduce these sounds using a recording, we have two solutions: either the signal is recorded continuously and analogously to the source, or we only record certain signal information in the Conversion of a list of predefined values. The first is said to be analog, the second is digital.

The dancer, the light and the strobe.

A good image that is often used to differentiate analog from digital audio is that of the dancer, the light and the strobe.

Imagine one dancer performing their choreography under a “normal” diffused light, and another performing the same dance but under a strobe light.

The first dance will no doubt be considered fluid and continuous, while the second is seen as uneven.

And the more you increase the speed of the strobe, the more you’ll be able to perceive the choreography fine. This is exactly what happens to digital audio: the higher the sample rate and resolution, the more faithful the audio reproduction will be.

SIGNAL PROCESSING

The analog signal varies continuously with time. Therefore, it consists of continuous variations in air pressure, and our ear, more precisely the eardrum, perceives these variations, which our brain in turn interprets as sound. How good is nature!

The analog signal which can take an infinite number of values is traditionally represented as a continuous and sinusoidal curve.

In contrast, the digital signal is discontinuous and limited to a number of predefined values at precise times. Therefore, it is represented schematically in the form of a histogram.

TRANSFER FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL: DIGITIZATION

The transformation of the analog signal into a digital signal is called digitization.

It is actually a transformation of the vibration (analog signal) into a series of figures (digital signal), made thanks to an analog-digital converter (ADC: Analog Digital Converter).
Sampling and quantification.
ADC measures the analog signal strength at regular intervals and over an equal period of time – this is called sampling. Sampling frequency, expressed in kHz, represents the number of samples taken per day. Second.

These samples are stored in the memory of a computer and constitute an audio file which, in order to be heard by the human ear, must be converted to an analog signal: it is the role of DAC (analog digital converter).

Quantification or resolution is for each sample to measure an amplitude value.

This amplitude value is expressed in bits.

The act of converting the digital value of the amplitude into a binary value is called encoding.