Comparison Between Audio Formats
The cells that are left totally empty are the ones for which I don't know
the answers yet.
The audio systems are in approximate quality order.
|
DAT |
LD DD |
CD |
LD |
MD |
DCC |
VHS |
TV |
Radio |
CC (Compact Cassette) |
V8 Dig. |
LP |
Phone |
GSM |
| Domain |
Dig. |
Dig. |
Dig. |
Dig. |
Dig. |
An. FM |
An. |
Dig. |
An. |
An. FM |
An. AM |
An. |
Dig. |
An. |
Dig. |
| Compr. or NR |
- |
N-lin. |
10:1 |
- |
5:1 |
4:1 |
DBX |
- |
14:10 |
- |
- |
DBX |
Dolby C |
Dolby B |
- |
N-lin. |
- |
N-lin. |
5:1 N-lin |
| Sample Bits |
16 |
12 |
18..20 |
16 |
16 |
16 |
- |
14 |
- |
- |
- |
8 |
- |
8 |
| Sample Rate |
48k |
44.1k |
32k |
48k |
44.1k |
44.1k |
48k 44.1k 32k |
- |
32k |
- |
- |
- |
32k |
- |
8k |
| S/N Ratio |
96 |
90 |
90 |
96 |
100 |
90 |
90 |
42 |
84 |
65 |
78 |
50 |
90 |
80 |
70 |
60 |
75 |
80 |
55 |
| Channels |
2 |
5.1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| Ch. Sep. |
96 |
90 |
90 |
96 |
- |
|
95 |
90 |
- |
84 |
40 |
50 |
- |
60 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
75 |
30 |
- |
| Wow & Flutter |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
0.005 |
0.4 |
- |
- |
0.1 |
- |
0.05 |
- |
| Low Freq. |
5 |
5 2 |
5 |
20 |
20 |
20 |
100 |
20 |
50 |
30 |
40 |
35 |
20 |
30 |
100 |
| High Freq. (-20dB) |
22k |
20k |
15k |
20k 120 |
20k |
20k |
20k |
20k |
11k |
15k |
15k |
15k |
5k |
20k |
15k |
20k |
3.2k |
| High Freq. (0dB) |
22k |
20k |
15k |
20k 120 |
20k |
20k |
20k |
20k |
3k |
15k |
15k |
5k |
5k |
5k |
15k |
10k |
3.2k |
| Max. Pb. |
120 |
240 |
60 |
78 |
60 |
148 |
74 |
2x45 |
600 |
300 |
- |
- |
2x60 |
240 |
2x25 |
- |
Columns
-
DAT: Digital Audio Tape with all three speeds.
-
LD DD: NTSC laserdiscs with Dolby Digital encoding.
-
CD/LD: CD and NTSC laserdisc digital sound (PAL LDs are similar to NTSC
LDs but the maximum playback time is 72 min).
-
DCC: Philips' Digital Compact Cassette (that can also play compact cassettes).
-
MD: Sony's Mini Disk.
-
VHS: Two versions of PAL VHS: Long Play with Hi-Fi tracks, and Short Play
without Hi-Fi tracks or stereo or Dolby NR.
-
TV: Two versions of PAL television broadcast: with NICAM digital audio
and with German A2 analog stereo.
-
Radio: Two versions of European radio: FM and AM.
-
CC: Compact Cassette with three different noise reduction systems and without
them. It must be noted that the Dolby noise reduction system only affects
noise in the upper voice band, whereas DBX reduces noise in the whole audible
frequency range.
-
V8 Dig.: Digital sound of Video-8.
-
LP: Long Play vinyl records.
-
Phone: Telephone signals as transmitted in digital form.
-
GSM: Digital GSM mobile telephone.
Rows
-
Domain: The type of system: Digital, Analog, Analog FM, or Analog AM.
-
Compr. or NR: With digital systems the type of compression or the compression
rate is presented, with analog systems the name of the noise reduction
system is presented. N-lin. means that the samples are stored or transfered
in companded form.
-
Sampling Bits: If digital, the amount of bits used in sampling before compression.
-
Sample Rate: If digital, the sampling rate (samples / s).
-
S/N Ratio: The signal to noise ratio of sound with noise reduction (dB).
-
Wow & Flutter: Wow and flutter present (%).
-
Channels: The amount of sound channels available.
-
Ch. Sep.: Channel separation (dB).
-
Low Freq.: The lowest frequency the system can reproduce without attenuating
more than 3 dB (Hz).
-
High Freq. (-20 dB): The highest frequency the system can reproduce without
attenuating more than 3 dB (Hz). The signal is recorded 20 dB lower compared
to the maximum the system can record.
-
High Freq. (0 dB): The highest frequency the system can reproduce without
attenuating more than 3 dB (Hz). The signal is recorded as loud as the
system can take.
-
Max. Pb.: Maximum playback time (min).