Source: electronics.howstuffworks.com
The answer lies in the difference between analog and digital recordings. A vinyl record is an analog recording, and CDs and DVDs are digital recordings. Take a look at the graph below. Original sound is analog by definition. A digital recording takes snapshots of the analog signal at a certain rate (for CDs it is 44,100 times per second) and measures each snapshot with a certain accuracy (for CDs it is 16-bit, which means the value must be one of 65,536 possible values).
This
means that, by definition, a digital recording is not capturing the complete
sound wave. It is approximating it with a series of steps. Some sounds that
have very quick transitions, such as a drum beat or a trumpet's tone, will be
distorted because they change too quickly for the sample rate.
Comparison of a raw analog
audio signal to the CD audio and DVD audio output
In
your home stereo the CD or DVD player takes this digital recording and converts
it to an analog signal, which is fed to your amplifier. The amplifier then
raises the voltage of the signal to a level powerful enough to drive your
speaker.
A
vinyl record has a groove carved into it that mirrors the original sound's
waveform. This means that no information is lost. The output of a record player
is analog. It can be fed directly to your amplifier with no conversion.
This
means that the waveforms from a vinyl recording can be much more accurate, and
that can be heard in the richness of the sound. But there is a downside, any
specks of dust or damage to the disc can be heard as noise or static. During
quiet spots in songs this noise may be heard over the music. Digital recordings
don't degrade over time, and if the digital recording contains silence, then
there will be no noise.
From
the graph you can see that CD quality audio does not do a very good job of
replicating the original signal. The main ways to improve the quality of a
digital recording are to increase the sampling rate and to increase the
accuracy of the sampling.
The
recording industry has a new standard for DVD audio discs that will greatly
improve the sound quality. The table below lists the sampling rate and the
accuracy for CD recordings, and the maximum sampling rate and accuracy for DVD
recordings. DVDs can hold 74 minutes of music at their highest quality level. CDs
can also hold 74 minutes of music. By lowering either the sampling rate or the
accuracy, DVDs can hold more music. For instance a DVD can hold almost 7 hours
of CD quality audio.
Sampling Rate
- CD Audio = 44.1 kHz
- DVD Audio = 192 kHz
Samples per second
- CD Audio = 44,100
- DVD Audio = 192,000
Sampling Accuracy
- CD Audio = 16-bit
- DVD Audio = 24-bit
Number of Possible Output Levels
- CD Audio = 65,536
- DVD Audio = 16,777,216
DVD
audio discs and players are rare right now, but they will become more common,
and the difference in sound quality should be noticeable. To take advantage of
higher quality DVD audio discs, however, you will need a DVD player with a
192kHz/24-bit digital to analog converter. Most DVD players only have a
96kHz/24-bit digital to analog converter. So if you are planning to take full
advantage of DVD audio be sure to look for a 192kHz/24-bit DAC.
Source: electronics.howstuffworks.com
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