Pro Tools for Film and Video

Appendix 2 Digital audio

 

Note: If you haven’t read Appendix 1 on analog audio, you should. This appendix refers to several topics covered in that appendix; anyway, there’s some good information in appendix 1 and it’s fun to read and shows some wonderful uses for cement.

Digital audio differs from analog audio in that the sound is converted to a stream of data and then the data is recorded. The idea is a very old one; digital audio recording was written about and attempted in the early 20th century, but the digital systems of the day were mechanical and in no way could produce the data speeds to record audio. Digital audio became an idea waiting for technology to catch up to it. This finally happened in 1976 when Dr. Tom Stockham of the University ...