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Analog sound vs. digital sound

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An analog recording is one where the original sound signal is modulated onto another physical signal carried on some media or substrate such as the groove of a gramophone disc or the magnetic field of a magnetic tape. A physical quantity in the medium (e.g., the intensity of the magnetic field) is directly related to the physical properties of the sound (e.g, the amplitude, phase and possibly direction of the sound wave.) The reproduction of the sound will in part reflect the nature of the substrate and any imperfections on its surface.
A digital recording is produced by first encoding the physical properties of the original sound as digital information which can then be decoded for reproduction. While it is subject to noise and imperfections in capturing the original sound, as long as the individual bits can be recovered, the nature of the physical medium is immaterial in recovery of the encoded information. A damaged digital medium, such as a scratched compact disc may also yield degraded reproduction of the original sound, due to the loss of some digital information in the damaged area (but not due directly to the physical damage of the disc).


Contents

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• <LI class=toclevel-1>1 Advantages of analog sound <LI class=toclevel-1>2 Disadvantages of analog sound <LI class=toclevel-1>3 Advantages of digital sound <LI class=toclevel-1>4 Disadvantages of digital sound <LI class=toclevel-1>5 Shape of the waveforms <LI class=toclevel-1>6 Quantization and very low signal levels <LI class=toclevel-1>7 Problems with early digital recording technology <LI class=toclevel-1>8 Was it ever entirely analog or digital? <LI class=toclevel-1>9 See also
• 10 External links

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Advantages of analog sound

• Analog recording is a linear representation of a linear waveform, and therefore more accurate
• Shape of the waveforms: analog sound appears "warmer", "smoother" more "three dimensional"
• Lower distortion for low signal levels
• Absence of quantization noise
• Absence of aliasing
• Not subject to jitter
• Euphonic characteristics

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Disadvantages of analog sound

• Linear access
• Subject to electrical and mechanical hiss and noise
• Subject to wow and flutter
• Tape is expensive to buy and maintain
• Regenerations are inferior quality

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Advantages of digital sound

• Non-linear access
• Lower noise floor
• Regenerations are exact clones
• Resistance to media deterioration
• Ability to apply redundancy like error-correcting codes, to prevent data loss
• Data channels allow digitally encoded information about the owner, track titles, and other information

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Disadvantages of digital sound

• Digital recording is data which represents measurements of voltage amplitude which have undergone quantisation
• Sound reconstructed from digital signals is claimed to be "harsher" and "unnatural" compared to analog signals
• Quantisation errors
• Aliasing noise
• Subject to jitter
• Some formats are subject to data compression causing frequency loss and distortion
• Due to regenerations being exact copies, piracy across the internet and via duplication is easily carried out and is of the same quality as the original media