Chapter 9

Audio compression

Audio compression has interested researchers from its early years but has become a hot topic since the 1990s due to the popular MP3 music, DVD, digital radio and digital TV technology. In this chapter, we discuss the fundamentals of compression techniques for audio data.

9.1 Modelling sound

Sound is essentially a sensation of the human audio system. It is detected by the ears and interpreted by the brain in a certain way.

Sound can be modelled as waves and described in two ways using mathematical functions. One is s(t) in the time domain and the other S(f) in the frequency domain, where t represents time and f represents the frequency.

The first sound wave was scribed by Leon Scott using a stiff bristle attached ...

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