From the course: Pro Tools 2021 Essential Training: 101 - The Basics

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Converting audio to digital format: Sample rate

Converting audio to digital format: Sample rate - Pro Tools Tutorial

From the course: Pro Tools 2021 Essential Training: 101 - The Basics

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Converting audio to digital format: Sample rate

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- [Instructor] Once a signal has been converted to an electrical signal using a microphone, the signal must be converted again into discrete digital measurements that can be recorded on a computer. There are two parts to this process: taking measurements of the incoming electrical signal at regular intervals, and converting those measurements into binary numbers. These tasks are handled by the analog to digital converter inside of your audio interface. Let's walk through the first half of this process. When an electrical signal enters the audio interface, the analog to digital converter begins taking measurements of the incoming voltage at regular intervals. Each measurement is called a sample. The frequency of the measurements is determined by the sample rate that the converter is using. If enough measurements are taken, the system will be able to recreate the waveform by plotting the sample values over time. Think of this like plotting the coordinates on a graph where the x axis…

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