What is the difference between digital and analog audio?
In: Technology
Analog = Recorded by Physics (Analagous)
– Scratching sound waves into a record
– Recording sound impact on magnetic tape
– Real film photographs
– Can be done without electricity
– The recording happens by physics directly effecting a recording medium. The playback happens be the recorded medium effecting some kind of amplified replay device like a speaker. The record is an atomic level, mimicking shadow of a real event.
Digital = A recreation of physics through instructions. Usually numbers. (digits)
– CD, Youtube, MP3 audio
– Digital photos. Not vectors.
– Requires some kind of processor. Usually a micro chip. But can be other mechanics.
– Player pianos that use paper rolls or music boxes that use a music spindle.
– There are 2 processes: encoding and decoding. Encoding takes real world physics and records it to numbers. Decoding “plays back” the numbers to create physics.
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