Audio Sampling Rates describe the overall number of digital data points collected from a

continuous electrical audio signal.

In other words, how many individual points are used to recreate sound that we hear with our ears.
To understand audio sampling rates better we need a basic definition of two key terms: Sampling
Frequency and Bit Depth.
Sampling Frequency is simply the rate at which the analog signal is measured.
It is measured in units of Hertz (Hz) which represent the number of samples measured every
second.
1 Hz means 1 sample per second. 1000 Hz is 1000 samples per second and so on.

The sampling frequency or sampling rate, fs, is defined as the number of samples
obtained in one second (samples per second), thus fs = 1/T. So for a sampling rate of
44100 Hz, you have 44100 samples per second (per audio channel).
The number of frames per second in video is a similar concept to the number of samples
per second in audio. Frames for our eyes, samples for our ears. Additional infos here.
If you have 16 bits depth stereo PCM it means you have 16*44100*2 = 1411200 bits per
second => ~ 172 kB per second => around 10 MB per minute

n
For binary PCM, L = 2 n bits/sample
Let signal bandwidth = B Hz
If Nyquist sampling 2B samples/sec
If 20% oversampling 1.2(2B)
samples/sec
Bit rate = 2nB bits/sec
Required channel bandwidth = nB Hz

Sample Rate

In audio production, a sample rate (or "sampling rate") defines

how many times per second a sound is sampled. Technically
speaking,
it
is
the frequency of samples used
in
a digital recording.
The
standard
sample
rate
used
for
audio CDs is
44.1 kilohertz (44,100 hertz). That means each second of a song

on a CD contains 44,100 individual samples. When

an analog sound, such as a vocal performance, is sampled at a
rate of tens of thousands of times per second, the digital recording
may be nearly indistinguishable from the original analog sound.
CDs use a sample rate of 44.1 KHz because it allows for a
maximum audio frequency of 22.05 kilohertz. The human ear can
detect sounds from roughly 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz, so there is
little reason to record at higher sample rates. However, because
digital audio recordings are estimations of analog audio, a
smoother sound can be gained by increasing the sample rate
above 44.1 KHz. Examples of high sample rates include 48 KHz
(used for DVD video), 88.2 KHz (2x the rate of CD audio), and 96
KHz (used for DVD-Audio and other high definition audio formats).
While audio aficionados may appreciate higher sample rates, it is
difficult for most people to perceive an improvement in audio
quality when the sample rate is higher than 44.1 Khz. A more
effective way to improve the quality of digital audio is to increase
the bit depth, which determines amplitude range of each sample.
16-bit audio, used in audio CDs, provides 216 or 65,536 possible
amplitude values. 24-bit audio, used in high definition formats,
can store 224 or 16,777,216 possible amplitude values 256 times
more than 16-bit audio.
NOTE: Many DAW programs support sample rates up to 192 KHz.
Recording at extremely high sample rates allows sound engineers
to preserve the audio quality during the mixing and editing
process. This can improve the end result of a song or audio clip
even if the final version is saved with a sample rate of 44.1 Hz.

pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)

Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) is the transmission of data by varying

the amplitude s ( voltage or power levels) of the individual pulses in a
regularly timed sequence of electrical or electromagnetic pulses. The
number of possible pulse amplitudes can be infinite (in the case of analog
PAM), but it is usually some power of two so that the resulting output signal
can be digital . For example, in 4-level PAM there are 2^2 possible discrete
pulse amplitudes; in 8-level PAM there are 2^3 possible discrete pulse
amplitudes; and in 16-level PAM there are 2^4 possible discrete pulse
amplitudes.

In some PAM systems, the amplitude of each pulse is directly proportional

to the instantaneous modulating-signal amplitude at the time the pulse
occurs. In other PAM systems, the amplitude of each pulse is inversely
proportional to the instantaneous modulating-signal amplitude at the time
the pulse occurs. In still other systems, the intensity of each pulse depends
on some characteristic of the modulating signal other than its strength, such
as its instantaneous frequency or phase .
PAM is only one of several forms of pulse modulation. Other methods
include varying the durations (or widths), the frequencies, the positions, or
the intervals of the individual pulses in a sequence.