Understanding Digital Music - Part 2
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This document discusses digital music formats and their technical specifications. It covers disc-based formats like CDs, SACDs, DVD-Audio, and Blu-ray Audio which provide higher fidelity than streaming or downloads. These formats have higher sampling rates and bit rates that capture analog sound waves at a greater level of detail. However, some studies have found that humans cannot always perceive the differences between these high-resolution formats and standard CD quality audio. The document also discusses compatibility between players and formats.
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Understanding Digital Music - Part 2
- 2. Digital Music Part 2 Understanding From the Kindle book Understanding Digital Music
- 3. Disc-based Music Variety of formats provide the best possible fidelity for music —Streaming music and digital downloads don’t even compare Includes standard compact discs and many other formats —CDDA (Compact Disc Digital Audio) —SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc) —DVD-A (DVD-Audio) —Blu-ray Audio
- 4. Sampling Rate & Bit Rate Sampling rate (or sample rate) and bit rate indicate fidelity Higher numbers = better fidelity — Controversial whether humans can hear an improvement Music is inherently continuous analog sound waves — Analog sound waves are captured as digital data — Bits and bytes; ones and zeroes Sample rate = how many times per second a chunk of music is digitally captured Bit rate = the size of the digital chunk — Number of bits captured with each sample
- 5. Sampling Rate Sampling rate is indicated as hertz (Hz) —Hertz = cycles per second —In the case of music, data captures per second Audio discs feature sampling rates in the tens of thousands of hertz —For digital music, hertz denoted as kilohertz (kHz) —Most common sample rates are 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz —Standard compact discs (CDDA format) = 44.1 kHz
- 6. Bit Rate “Thickness” of the data slice captured with each sample —Think of lunch meat from the deli —Amount of data, or bits, that is actually captured in the sample Like sampling rate, higher bit rates = better fidelity —Again, controversial if humans can hear improvement Rates are either 16-bit or 24-bit
- 7. Down with Bits & Bytes Let’s get some perspective about bits, bytes, and data sizes Eight bits = one byte A million bytes = one megabyte (MB) A billion bytes = one gigabyte (GB) Megabytes (measure for data and file sizes) are denoted as MB (upper case “B”) Megabits (how internet bandwidth and network speeds are measured) are indicated as Mb (lower case “b”)
- 8. Formats Overview Standard compact discs —CDDA format: Compact Disc Digital Audio —Lowest sampling rate and bit rate —Lowest storage capacity (shortest playback time) Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) —High-resolution music format —High sampling rate and bit rate —Second highest storage capacity of high-res formats
- 9. Formats Overview DVD-Audio (DVD-A) —High-resolution music format —High sampling rate and bit rate —Better-than-CD storage capacity, but only half of SACD capacity Blu-ray Audio —High-resolution music format —High sampling rate and bit rate —Highest storage capacity of high-res formats
- 10. Compact Disc Digital Audio Introduced in 1980 by Sony and Philips Sampling rate: 44.1 kHz Bit rate: 16-bit Storage capacity: 80 minutes Limited to two-channel music —No surround sound Lowest fidelity disc-based format, but still several times better than MP3 and AAC
- 11. Super Audio Compact Disc Introduced in 1999 by Sony and Philips —Intended to be successor to standard CDs Sampling rate: 2.8 mHz Bit rate: 24-bit Storage capacity: 256 minutes —Great for long concerts, symphonies, etc. Capable of storing 5.1 surround sound —But most albums on SACD are only stereo Roughly 2-3x the cost of CDDA discs ($20-30)
- 12. DVD-Audio Introduced in 2000 by the DVD Forum —The Guardian called DVD-A “extinct” by 2007 Sampling rate: 44.1-192 kHz (variable) Bit rate: 24-bit Storage capacity: 256 minutes Capable of storing 5.1 surround sound —Most albums on DVD-A are only stereo Roughly 2-3x the cost of CDDA discs ($20-30)
- 13. Blu-ray Audio Introduced in 2013 Piggy backs on the popular Blu-ray video format —Playable in any Blu-ray player (even cheap ones) Sampling rate: 96-192 kHz (variable) Bit rate: 24-bit Stores three versions of uncompressed audio —PCM digital, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio —All other high-res music formats are compressed Capable of storing 5.1 surround sound Average price $20-30 (2-3x the cost of CDDA)
- 14. Hybrid Discs Single disc on which both a high-res and a standard (CDDA) version of an album or concert are stored —Hybrid discs never contain two high-res formats Can be played in legacy equipment (like car CD players) in addition to home theaters —This makes these discs backward compatible —Very practical Like SACD, DVD-A, and Blu-ray Audio, more expensive than CDDA
- 15. Player Compatibility Most CD players, DVD players, and Blu-ray players don’t handle SACD or DVD-A formats Standard CD and DVD players can’t play any Blu-ray discs (audio or video) Entry-level Blu-ray players guaranteed to not handle SACD and DVD-A Universal players are those that can play all high-resolution formats —More expensive
- 16. Tommy, Can You Hear Me? Don’t fool yourself; some people can’t hear the difference between CDDA and high-res formats 2007 study by Audio Engineering Society claims subjects couldn’t perceive difference between CDDA and high-res formats like SACD or DVD-A If you have to strain or think too hard to hear an improvement…. —It’s a waste of money —You’re better spending your cash on better gear —Better gear = any disc, including CDDA, sound better
- 17. Wrap Up Biggest advantage of high-res formats = 5.1 surround sound SACD and DVD-A formats bombed with consumers — But still available — About 6,000 SACD titles (more than DVD-A) Before spending big bucks on expensive high-res discs, test listen Compare CDDA with a high-res format —Preferably with your own equipment Not worth spending more money on a universal Blu-ray player if you can’t hear an improvement
- 18. These slides are derived from the Amazon Kindle book Understanding Digital Music
- 19. Other Books by Curt Robbins Home Theater for the Internet Age Understanding Cutting the Cord Understanding Personal Data Security Understanding Home Theater
- 20. About Curt Robbins Blog: Middle Class Tech Flipboard magazine: Middle Class Tech Twitter: @CurtRobbins