Hi
I’ve checked the wiki but it’s still confusing…
Are PCM samples a synonym for single cycle waveforms or one shot samples?
Thanks
they can be single cycle waves, but they’re basically just analog audio encoded digitally (wav, aiff, etc). You can see the discrete levels of the analog waveform at the sample rate. This is why higher sample rates are bigger files, there’s simply more data so you get a more accurate recording. There are more “samples” of the analog signal and at more points. It ca be visualized like a stepped sine wave.
This is just a rough generalization.
Basically the way digital audio works is a lot like Film. It rapidly takes “pictures” of the sound, the more snapshots(higher bit rate/frequency depth) the higher quality audio. Bit rate is like the “volume” of the sound its capturing, frequency is just that…the pitch and frequency content.