This post was first published in Jan 2014 at projectstudiohandbook.com/PSHforum
We've had a few question about how digital audio and dynamic range works.
This is a subject we will cover in our forthcoming Digital Audio theory video playlist, but as a precursor ..
.. dynamic range in digital is defined by the signal word length. In a 16-bit system (CD) it is 96dB, defined by the range of amplitudes that can be encoded (65,536). At low resolutions, (a few bits) quantisation noise is produced, so it is still important to record at a good level to maximise the dynamic range. In practice its pretty much like analogue, it has a peak level, noise, and if you don't use all available bits headroom. Don't record right up to the maximum level (0dB) though, because subsequent processing such as eq can cause clipping.
We'll cover this in simple concepts in the upcoming video. Although interesting, its not necessary to know all the technical/maths stuff, much better to know good working practices and when to use dither.
We've had a few question about how digital audio and dynamic range works.
This is a subject we will cover in our forthcoming Digital Audio theory video playlist, but as a precursor ..
.. dynamic range in digital is defined by the signal word length. In a 16-bit system (CD) it is 96dB, defined by the range of amplitudes that can be encoded (65,536). At low resolutions, (a few bits) quantisation noise is produced, so it is still important to record at a good level to maximise the dynamic range. In practice its pretty much like analogue, it has a peak level, noise, and if you don't use all available bits headroom. Don't record right up to the maximum level (0dB) though, because subsequent processing such as eq can cause clipping.
We'll cover this in simple concepts in the upcoming video. Although interesting, its not necessary to know all the technical/maths stuff, much better to know good working practices and when to use dither.
No comments:
Post a Comment