Representation of digital audio and its application within the processing model
Sound is a pressure wave that travels through the air and can be digitally represented as a sequence of numerical values called samples. The sampling rate (for example, 44.1 kHz) indicates how many samples are captured per second, while the bit depth determines the precision with which pressure levels are represented, defining the overall fidelity of the digital signal.
When converting an analog signal into digital —a process known as quantization— we obtain a discrete form of the waveform, ready to be processed by software. These samples are commonly stored and processed using PCM (Pulse Code Modulation).
An engine operates on these samples: it organizes and processes digital data in real time, applying DSP transformations such as filtering, modulation, spatialization, etc.
This section covers the fundamentals of digital audio, with a summary including references to dynamic range, the frequency domain, and real-time DSP processing.
