Basics of Digital Audio

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Sampling

time
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Sampling

time
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Sampling

time
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Sampling

- Nyquist Theorem

- The max. frequency of a signal

may not exceed half of the sample frequency

max. signal frequency < 1/2 sample frequency

- Shannon Theorem

- The sample frequency must be at least twice as high

as the highest signal frequency

sample frequency > 2 x max. signal frequency

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 Explanation of Aliasing
Aliasing can best be explained in the frequency domain.

20Hz 20kHz 24kHz 44kHz 88kHz

f

20Hz 20kHz 32kHz 64kHz

f

Aliasing
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Sampling

- typical sampling frequencies

sample frequency application audio bandwidth

- 192kHz DVD audio up to 80kHz (?)

- 96kHz DVD audio up to 40kHz (?)

- 48kHz professional broadcasting up to 20kHz

- 44.1kHz CD and MD up to 20kHz

- 32kHz reduced professional requirem. up to 15kHz

- 22kHz low quality computer recording up to 10kHz

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Quantisation

3 bit = 8 quantisation levels

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Quantisation

4 bit = 16 quantisation levels

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Quantisation

5 bit = 32 quantisation levels

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Quantisation

- The bit depth or word length

will influence the signal to noise ratio

S/N = 6dB x number of bit

24 bit → 144dB DVD and mastering quality

16 bit → 96dB CD and digital radio quality

8 bit → 48dB low quality audio
(for computer applications only)

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Digital Signal Quality

Frequency range depends The S/N ratio depends on

on the sample frequency the word length

fa < ½ fs S/N = n × 6db + 2dB

fs digital audio information

“bit rate”
sample rate × number of bit
e.g.
48kSamples/sec × 16bit = 768 kb/sec

n bit
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Digital Signal Quality

fs
digital audio information
e.g.
48kSamples/sec × 16bit = 768 kb/sec

n bit
The same amount of digital information can be store
with different sample frequencies and bit resolutions.
The rule:
Doubling the sample frequency can replace one bit (over-sampling)
Example: 48kHz/16bit, 96kHz/15bit, 192kHz/14bit
can represent the same digital signal information
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 Oversampling
doubling of the sample frequency (over-sampling)
equals the information content of one bit
bit
16

16 bit
8 48 kHz
(0.8 Mb/s)

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz

digital audio signals can be stored in the most efficient way

at the Nyquist sampling frequency
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 Oversampling
doubling of the sample frequency (over-sampling)
equals the information content of one bit
bit
16

15 bit
8 96 kHz
(1.4 Mb/s)

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz

digital audio signals can be stored in the most efficient way

at the Nyquist sampling frequency
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 Oversampling
doubling of the sample frequency (over-sampling)
equals the information content of one bit
bit
16

8 14 bit
192 kHz
(2.8 Mb/s)

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz

digital audio signals can be stored in the most efficient way

at the Nyquist sampling frequency
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The Information Content
- the information content of digital audio signals
depends on the number of samples and the word length
bit
24

16
DVD
24 bit
96 kHz
(2,3 Mb/s)
8

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz
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The Information Content
- the information content of digital audio signals
depends on the number of samples and the word length
bit
24
25 bit
48 kHz
(1.2 Mb/s)
16
equivalent
information
content
as
8
DVD
24 bit
96 kHz

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz
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The Information Content
- the information content of digital audio signals
depends on the number of samples and the word length
bit
24

16
DVD DVD
24 bit 24 bit
96 kHz 192 kHz
(2,3 Mb/s) (4.6 Mb/s)
8

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz
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The Information Content
- the information content of digital audio signals
depends on the number of samples and the word length
bit
24
26 bit
48 kHz
(1.25 Mb/s)
16
equivalent
information
content
as
8 DVD
24 bit
192 kHz

fs
48kHz 96kHz 144kHz 192kHz
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Quality of Digital Audio?

on one hand we observe a tendency to high resolution digital audio

on the other hand more and more people listen to digital audio
with high data reduction

archiving
transmission and consumption production and processing
16bit 24bit 24bit
1:24 1:12 1:6 48kHz 96kHz 192kHz

32 kb/s 64 kb/s 128 kb/s 2300 kb/s 4600 kb/s

700 kb/s

How much quality do we need in radio?

How much quality can we afford?
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Level range of digital audio signals

4 bit = 16 quantisation levels

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Level range of digital audio signals
Increasing the signal level above the full scale value
results in clipping.

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Level range of digital audio signals
Reducing the signal level towards one bit
makes noise audible

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 Level range of digital audio signals
Observing the level range is most important for a good sound quality

clipping and distortion

0dBFS
sound level range

headroom 6dB – 18dB

0dB studio level

programme
dynamics

noise

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Level range of digital audio signals
The benefit of increasing the bit width: 16bit

clipping and distortion

0dBFS
headroom 6dB – 18dB
0dB studio level

programme 40dB
dynamics

footroom 30dB – 40dB

-96dBFS
noise

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Level range of digital audio signals
The benefit of increasing the bit width: 20bit

clipping and distortion

0dBFS

headroom 12dB – 24dB

0dB studio level

programme 40dB
dynamics

footroom 50dB – 60dB

-120dBFS
noise
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