4

Conversion

Chapter 1 introduced the fundamental characteristic of digital audio which is that the quality is independent of the storage or transmission medium and is determined instead by the accuracy of conversion between the analog and digital domains. This chapter will examine in detail the theory and practice of this critical aspect of digital audio.

4.1 Introduction to conversion

Any analog audio source can be characterized by a given useful bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio. If a well-engineered digital channel having a wider bandwidth and a greater signal-to-noise ratio is put in series with such a source, it is only necessary to set the levels correctly and the analog signal is then subject to no loss of information whatsoever. The ...

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