How Sound Works In The Digital Domain

First actual post. Please correct me if any of this information is wrong.

Sound works digitally by two main concepts.
  • Signal Flow
  • Sample Rate and Bit Depth
Signal flow is how sound travels, be it from a mixing console to a PA system, or an audio interface going into a computer. Knowing the signal path of an audio setup can help when to troubleshoot issues - by pinpointing the source of where the problem may be, will definitely help in saving time and resources. 

Sample Rate & Bit Depth
  • Sample Rate is the measurement of samples per second from a digital audio signal, to put it short. The sample rate determines the range of frequencies captured in digital audio (iZotope, 2019). The higher the sample rate, means there are more measurements per second of digital audio. 48kHz is standard for professional recording, in my case of field recording; I use 96kHz which allows me to record and edit sounds with more control over aliasing when either stretching or altering/pitching down a recording. The downside to recording at higher sample rates is the fact that file sizes will be larger. 
  • Bit Depth is the resolution of the sound, imagine a sine wave. The more bits you have to make the line smoother, the better the quality of the audio and increased dynamic range - The fewer bits you have, the more distorted and lesser quality the audio is going to be. 
                      Here's an image from iZotope that visually represents it well
In game audio, pitch shifting and time stretching are common processes in creating sounds for the picture, if you pitch/stretch sounds down that are recorded at a low sample rate; the quality is going to be degraded. Therefore you record in higher sample rates like 96kHz or higher to preserve the recording when editing resulting in higher quality edits.

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