Sample rates and how they sound
The sample rate of an audio recording partially determines the overall sound quality. In the recording process, audio samples are saved to memory or disk; the rate each sample of audio input is recorded per second is the sample rate. The sample rate is measured in Hertz (Hz - cycles per second) and Kilohertz (kHz - thousand cycles per second). CD quality audio has a sample rate of 44100Hz, 16-bit (resolution) and stereo (channels). The most common sample rates are 11, 22 and 44kHz, with most recording software supporting sample rates from 6kHz up to 192kHz. Like early footage filmed at a low frame rate looks flickered and robotic, the quality of an audio recording decreases as the sample rate is lowered. For audio recordings destined to be encoded to MP3, 22kHz is considered acceptable. |
