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Thread ID: 68469	2006-04-29 19:12:00	8-bit audio, what?	newb. (10067)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
450616	2006-04-29 19:12:00	quick question. i can't understand how audio works in bits. i know that this would obviously be electronic binary or whatever. but how with audio? i suppose everything with computers, comes down to binary: sound, graphics, text, whatever... though its difficult trying to understand how an audio file works in bits. what would an ordinary mp3 be in the area of bits? can someone give me a quick overview. p.s. i've tried google, it didn't bring up anything relevant. --- edit: another question about bits: i noticed that my old snes, says that its 16-bit. that must be the power of the processor. so basically everything with a processor works in bits, yes? what about mobile phones. that's where i got the "8-bit, what" part from. as i was reading that most ring tones are 8 bit. though a mobile phone doesn't have a processor, or does it? :s	newb. (10067)
450617	2006-04-29 21:01:00	OF COURSE a mobile ph has a processor of sorts its most likely similar to what you might find in a calculator.....does similar functions ......as for 'bits' .......ANY digital media is made up of 'bits' of info...	drcspy (146)
450618	2006-04-29 23:05:00	Think of it this way, sound can be considered to be made up of sine waves which can be transformed to analogue electrical signals. Those analogue signals then have to be digitised with an analogue to digital converter, so that they can now be handled by a computer. A 16 bit converter will give a better smoother representation of a sine wave than an 8 bit converter, much like a 65,000 colour screen setting is much better than a 256 colour setting which is grainy and has lost detail. A digitised sound wave will look something like this: www.imagef1.net.nz So you can see that the more digitising steps there are (more bits), the closer it will come to a true sine wave, and so sound better. Also read here: en.wikipedia.org Whoops, but never mind this should be the link: en.wikipedia.org	Terry Porritt (14)
450619	2006-04-30 03:42:00	Thge more bits you have, the more accurately something can be represented. The converters have to work quickly when dealing with audio and more bits require faster operations. So, more accuracy costs more in hardware in analogue to digital conversion. The inverse operation is "digital to analogue" and can be done very quickly and cheaply, however many bits are used. (Just to add some confusion, many CD players boast "1-bit DA conversion". That's just a different way of reproducing the sound ... the sound isn't usually that bad, unless the rock group was ;) )	Graham L (2)
450620	2006-04-30 16:31:00	Graham . . . then is this the same dialog you'd offer for understanding Fractals too? As I understand them, they are just lines drawn in very small digital arcs that then can represent true scribed arcs . Is that right? The higher the fractal base or resolution, the smoother the perceived drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . again, is that right? :confused:	SurferJoe46 (51)
450621	2006-04-30 22:37:00	thanks people, much appreciate the help :)	newb. (10067)
450622	2006-04-30 23:24:00	Graham . . . then is this the same dialog you'd offer for understanding Fractals too? As I understand them, they are just lines drawn in very small digital arcs that then can represent true scribed arcs . Is that right? The higher the fractal base or resolution, the smoother the perceived drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . again, is that right? :confused: No, fractals is a branch of mathematics, maths in English, math in American :), based on the iteration of polynomials . The true beauty of fractals only becomes revealed with the number crunching ability of computers, it would be near impossible by hand, well it would take a lot of effort . Read up about Julia and Mandelbrot sets . Google gives heaps of references, and I expect there are sites where you can download dynamic examples .	Terry Porritt (14)
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