Sampling

How sound becomes numbers

0
Samples
8-bit
Bit Depth
0
Bits Total
Continuous Sound Wave → Discrete Samples
Sample Rate
20 samples
Frequency
2 Hz
Sample Data
Time
Binary Height
Analog to Digital
Capturing continuous reality in discrete chunks

Sound is a continuous wave — air pressure changing smoothly over time.

Computers can only store discrete numbers. So we "sample" the wave at regular intervals, measuring its height.

Each measurement becomes a number. Each number becomes binary (1s and 0s).

The Process
1
Sound wave enters microphone
2
Sample the amplitude X times per second
3
Convert each sample to a number (0-255 for 8-bit)
4
Convert numbers to binary
Common Sample Rates
CD Quality 44,100 Hz
DVD / Pro Audio 48,000 Hz
Hi-Res Audio 96,000 Hz
Phone Call 8,000 Hz
The tradeoff: More samples = more accurate sound, but bigger file. A 3-minute CD song is ~30 million samples.