Audio compresion

Nearly all audio for multimedia and the web is compressed in some way. Here Hollin Jones explains which format to use for what application if you’re producing for these environments.

Digital audio exists in different forms and at different levels of quality. A regular audio CD contains data sampled at 44.1kHz/16-bit resolution. DVD-A discs sample at up to 192kHz/24-bit resolution. In this example, the DVD-A contains more information. If you digitised the same track from each disc onto a computer, the version from the DVD would be a larger file. More information means bigger files, and less information means, of course, a smaller file size. An audio file sampled at a higher resolution and bit rate will generally sound better, and have greater clarity than an audio file sampled at a lower resolution or bit rate. Given that 60 seconds of CD-quality stereo audio creates a 10MB file, digitising an entire audio CD 60 minutes long would use around 600MB of space.

This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 11
Filed under Ten Minute Masters

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