Converter O Output Per Sample example essay topic

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Soundcards - the basic so Core Functions- Conversion of analogue signal to digital form for computer storage- Conversion of digitally stored sound information to analogue for mo Common Additional Features- MIDI control- Synthesis ero FM mixing o Stored samples (wave table) o Software to allow basic control and use feature so Input is an analogue electrical signal representing sound- Microphone- Pickup coil- Tape, cd player, instrument, or generator o Samples of this are taken at intervals and converted to digital data Quality and usability dictated by- Samples per second- Levels per sample o Samples per second normally expressed in k Hz- More samples give greater accuracy - Minimum sample rate = 2 x highest frequency o Bits per sample- More bits per sample more resolution of amplitude of waveform- 8-bits give 256 levels- 16-bits give 65 K levels File size depends on number of bits per sample and sample rate- 11 k Hz sample rate at 8-bits per sample = 11 kB- 22 k Hz sample rate at 16-bits per sample = 44 kB- 44 k Hz sample rate at 10-bits per sample = 88 kb Note that these are for single channel - for stereo you need double the storage. o Hence cd quality sound 44.1 k Hz, 16-bit stereo needs in the region of 176 kB to store ONE second of soun do Digital information from stored file is fed to digital to analogue converter o Output per sample is the amplitude of Rate at which samples are played back determines the time duration- Possible to play sample back at different rate from recorded - what might that do? o Some filtration of output waveform used to remove sample frequency components Sequence of instructions for producing sounds- Note on and off- Which note and instrument to sound- Other control parameter so Efficient storage of data similar to musical score Fidelity of sound produced depends on instrument and note mapping- Quality of instrument sound samples and filtration influence the former- General midi system attempts to resolve the latter Does not readily handle speech Common sound card synthesis used with midi- FM waveform mixing (OPL 2 and OPL 3) o Limited accuracy of instrument reproduction o Novel sounds- Sampled waveforms (AWE, wave table) o Real instrument sounds captured using sound card or equivalent sampler o Store multiple samples over instrument range Carefully select cut and loop points in samples to minimise clicks when loop played for continuous not eo Audio Rack - graphical metaphor- CD track select and playlist- Wave file select, playlist and recording- MIDI file player- Graphic Equaliser o Mixer and Volume Control Wave Editing Proprietary CODEC- Compression and decompression for reduced storage space at reduced quality.