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Digital audio is a technology that can be used for sound recording and reproduction by encoding an analog sound in digital form. Unlike its analog counterpart, copying a digital recording does not lead to a degradation in quality, and so digital audio is ideal for storage and transmission. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s, it gradually replaced analog audio technology in many areas of audio engineering and telecommunications in the 1990s and 2000s.

To digitise sound, a microphone is used to produce an analog electrical signal, then an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)—typically using pulse-code modulation—converts the analog signal into a digital signal. This digital signal can then be stored and manipulated using digital audio tools. To playback a digital recording, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) performs the reverse process, converting a digital signal back into its analog equivalent, through an audio power amplifier and loudspeaker.

Digital audio systems may include compression, storage, processing and transmission components.

Overview

A sound wave, in red, represented digitally, in blue (after sampling and 4-bit quantization).

Digital audio technologies are used in the recording, manipulation, mass-production, and distribution of sound, including recordings of songs, instrumental pieces, podcasts, sound effects, and other sounds. Modern online music distribution depends on digital recording and data compression. The availability of music as data files, rather than as physical objects, has significantly reduced the costs of distribution.^[1] Before digital audio, the music industry distributed and sold music by selling physical copies in the form of records and cassette tapes. With digital-audio and online distribution systems such as iTunes, companies sell digital sound files to consumers, which the consumer receives over the Internet.

An analog audio system converts physical waveforms of sound into electrical representations of those waveforms by use of a transducer, such as a microphone. The sounds are then stored on an analog medium such as magnetic tape, or transmitted through an analog medium such as a telephone line or radio. The process is reversed for reproduction: the electrical audio signal is amplified and then converted back into physical waveforms via a loudspeaker. Analog audio retains its fundamental wave-like characteristics throughout its storage, transformation, duplication, and amplification.

Analog audio signals are susceptible to noise and distortion, due to the innate characteristics of electronic circuits and associated devices. Disturbances in a digital system do not result in error unless the disturbance is so large as to result in a symbol being misinterpreted as another symbol or disturb the sequence of symbols. It is therefore generally possible to have an entirely error-free digital audio system in which no noise or distortion is introduced between conversion to digital format, and conversion back to analog.

A digital audio signal may optionally be encoded for correction of any errors that might occur in the storage or transmission of the signal. This technique, known as channel coding, is essential for broadcast or recorded digital systems to maintain bit accuracy. Eight-to-fourteen modulation is a channel code used in the audio compact disc (CD).

Conversion process

A digital audio system starts with an ADC that converts an analog signal to a digital signal.^{[note 1]} The ADC runs at a specified sampling rate and converts at a known bit resolution. CD audio, for example, has a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz (44,100 samples per second), and has 16-bit resolution for each stereo channel. Analog signals that have not already been bandlimited must be passed through an anti-aliasing filter before conversion, to prevent the distortion that is caused by audio signals with frequencies higher than the Nyquist frequency, which is half of the system's sampling rate.

A digital audio signal may be stored or transmitted. Digital audio can be stored on a CD, a digital audio player, a hard drive, a USB flash drive, or any other digital data storage device. The digital signal may then be altered through digital signal processing, where it may be filtered or have effects applied. Audio data compression techniques, such as MP3, Advanced Audio Coding, Ogg Vorbis, or FLAC, are commonly employed to reduce the file size. Digital audio can be streamed to other devices.

For playback, digital audio must be converted back to an analog signal with a DAC. DACs run at a specific sampling rate and bit resolution, but may use oversampling, upsampling or downsampling to convert signals that have been encoded with a different sampling rate.

History in recording

Pulse-code modulation was invented by British scientist Alec Reeves in 1937^[2] and was used in telecommunications applications long before its first use in commercial broadcast and recording. Commercial digital recording was pioneered in Japan by NHK and Nippon Columbia, also known as Denon, in the 1960s. The first commercial digital recordings were released in 1971.^[3]

The BBC also began to experiment with digital audio in the 1960s. By the early 1970s, it had developed a 2-channel recorder, and in 1972 it deployed a digital audio transmission system that linked their broadcast center to their remote transmitters.^[3]

The first 16-bit PCM recording in the United States was made by Thomas Stockham at the Santa Fe Opera in 1976, on a Soundstream recorder. An improved version of the Soundstream system was used to produce several classical recordings by Telarc in 1978. The 3M digital multitrack recorder in development at the time was based on BBC technology. The first all-digital album recorded on this machine was Ry Cooder's Bop till You Drop in 1979. British record label Decca began development of its own 2-track digital audio recorders in 1978 and released the first European digital recording in 1979.^[3]

Popular digital multitrack recorders produced by Sony and Mitsubishi in the early 1980s helped to bring about digital recording's acceptance by the major record companies. The 1982 introduction of the CD popularized digital audio with consumers.^[3]

Technologies

Digital audio broadcasting

Storage technologies

Digital audio interfaces

Audio-specific interfaces include:

AC'97 (Audio Codec 1997) interface between integrated circuits on PC motherboards
Intel High Definition Audio - modern replacement for AC'97
ADAT interface
AES3 interface with XLR connectors, common in professional audio equipment
S/PDIF - either over coaxial cable or TOSLINK, common in consumer audio equipment and derived from AES3
AES47 - professional AES3-style digital audio over Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks
I²S (Inter-IC sound) interface between integrated circuits in consumer electronics
MADI (Multichannel Audio Digital Interface)
MIDI - low-bandwidth interconnect for carrying instrument data; cannot carry sound but can carry digital sample data in non-realtime
TDIF, TASCAM proprietary format with D-sub cable
A2DP via Bluetooth

Several interfaces are engineered to carry digital video and audio together, including HDMI and DisplayPort.

Any digital bus can carry digital audio. In professional architectural or installation applications, many digital audio Audio over Ethernet protocols and interfaces exist.

Notes

^ Some audio signals such as those created by digital synthesis originate entirely in the digital domain, in which case analog to digital conversion does not take place.

References

^ Janssens, Jelle; Stijn Vandaele; Tom Vander Beken (2009). "The Music Industry on (the) Line? Surviving Music Piracy in a Digital Era". European Journal of Crime. 77 (96). doi:10.1163/157181709X429105.
^ Genius Unrecognised, BBC, 2011-03-27, retrieved 2011-03-30
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Fine, Thomas (2008). Barry R. Ashpole (ed.). "The Dawn of Commercial Digital Recording" (PDF). ARSC Journal. Ted P. Sheldon. Retrieved 2010-05-02.

External links

Monty Montgomery (2012-10-24). "Guest Opinion: Why 24/192 Music Downloads Make No Sense". evolver.fm. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
J. ROBERT STUART. "Coding High Quality Digital Audio" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-07.
Dan Lavry. "Sampling Theory For Digital Audio" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-07.

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[2] Some audio signals such as those created by digital synthesis originate entirely in the digital domain, in which case analog to digital conversion does not take place.

[Janssens-1] Janssens, Jelle; Stijn Vandaele; Tom Vander Beken (2009). "The Music Industry on (the) Line? Surviving Music Piracy in a Digital Era". European Journal of Crime. 77 (96). doi:10.1163/157181709X429105.

[3] Genius Unrecognised, BBC, 2011-03-27, retrieved 2011-03-30

[Fine-4] Fine, Thomas (2008). Barry R. Ashpole (ed.). "The Dawn of Commercial Digital Recording" (PDF). ARSC Journal. Ted P. Sheldon. Retrieved 2010-05-02.

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{redirect|Digital music|modern music composed by digital or electronic means|electronic music}}
 [[File:Zoom H4n audio recording levels.jpg|thumb|Audio levels display on a digital audio recorder ([[Zoom H4n]])]]
-'''Digital audio''' is a technology that can be used for [[sound recording and reproduction]] using audio signals that have been encoded in [[Digital signal (signal processing)|digital form]]. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s, it gradually replaced [[Comparison of analog and digital recording |analog audio technology]] in many areas of [[audio engineering]] and [[telecommunications]] in the 1990s and 2000s.
+'''Digital audio''' is a technology that can be used for [[sound recording and reproduction]] by encoding an analog sound in [[Digital data|digital form]]. Unlike its analog counterpart, copying a digital recording does not lead to a [[Generation loss|degradation in quality]], and so digital audio is ideal for storage and transmission. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s, it gradually replaced [[Comparison of analog and digital recording |analog audio technology]] in many areas of [[audio engineering]] and [[telecommunications]] in the 1990s and 2000s.
-To capture [[sound]] in digital format, a [[microphone]] is used to to produce an [[Analog signal|analog electrical signal]], then an [[analog-to-digital converter]] (ADC)—typically using [[pulse-code modulation]]—converts the analog signal into a digital signal. This digital signal can then be recorded, edited and modified using digital audio tools. To playback a digital recording, a [[digital-to-analog converter]] (DAC) performs the reverse process, converting a digital signal back into its analog equivalent, through an [[audio power amplifier]] and [[loudspeaker]].
+To digitise [[sound]], a [[microphone]] is used to produce an [[Analog signal|analog electrical signal]], then an [[analog-to-digital converter]] (ADC)—typically using [[pulse-code modulation]]—converts the analog signal into a digital signal. This digital signal can then be stored and manipulated using digital audio tools. To playback a digital recording, a [[digital-to-analog converter]] (DAC) performs the reverse process, converting a digital signal back into its analog equivalent, through an [[audio power amplifier]] and [[loudspeaker]].
-Digital audio systems may include [[Audio compression (data)|compression]], [[Computer data storage|storage]], [[Digital signal processing|processing]] and [[Data transmission|transmission]] components. Conversion to a digital format allows convenient manipulation, storage, transmission and retrieval of an audio signal. Unlike analog audio, in which making copies of a recording results in [[generation loss]], a degradation of the signal quality, when using digital audio, an infinite number of copies can be made without any degradation of signal quality.
+Digital audio systems may include [[Audio compression (data)|compression]], [[Computer data storage|storage]], [[Digital signal processing|processing]] and [[Data transmission|transmission]] components.
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