Editing Digital audio (section)

{{Short description|Technology that records, stores, and reproduces sound}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Digital Audio|Digital Audio (magazine){{!}}''Digital Audio'' (magazine)}}
{{redirect|Digital music|modern music composed by digital or electronic means|Computer music|and|Electronic music}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}

[[File:Zoom H4n audio recording levels.jpg|thumb|Audio levels display on a digital audio recorder ([[Zoom H4n]])]]

'''Digital audio''' is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, [[digital signal (signal processing)|digital form]]. In digital audio, the [[sound wave]] of the [[audio signal]] is typically encoded as numerical [[sampling (signal processing)|samples]] in a continuous sequence. For example, in [[CD audio]], samples are taken 44,100 [[Hertz|times per second]], each with 16-bit [[audio bit depth|resolution]]. Digital audio is also the name for the entire technology of [[sound recording and reproduction]] using audio signals that have been encoded in digital form. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s and 1980s, it gradually replaced [[comparison of analog and digital recording|analog audio technology]] in many areas of [[audio engineering]], [[record production]] and [[telecommunications]] in the 1990s and 2000s.

In a digital audio system, an [[analog signal|analog electrical signal]] representing the sound is converted with an [[analog-to-digital converter]] (ADC) into a digital signal, typically using [[pulse-code modulation]] (PCM). This digital signal can then be recorded, edited, modified, and copied using [[computer]]s, audio playback machines, and other digital tools. For playback, a [[digital-to-analog converter]] (DAC) performs the reverse process, converting a digital signal back into an analog signal, which is then sent through an [[audio power amplifier]] and ultimately to a [[loudspeaker]].

Digital audio systems may include [[audio compression (data)|compression]], [[computer data storage|storage]], [[digital signal processing|processing]], and [[data transmission|transmission]] components. Conversion to a digital format allows convenient manipulation, storage, transmission, and retrieval of an audio signal. Unlike analog audio, in which making copies of a recording results in [[generation loss]] and degradation of signal quality, digital audio allows an infinite number of copies to be made without any degradation of signal quality.