🔊 Digital vs Analog: How Sound Becomes Binary

Understanding the two key steps: Sampling (discretize time) and Quantization (discretize amplitude)

🎤
Analog Signal
📊
Sample
📐
Quantize
💾
Binary Output
🌊 Analog Signal
Continuous in time & amplitude
Values: Infinite precision
Time: Continuous
Sampling & Quantization
3-bit resolution = 8 levels (0–7)
Sample Rate: 16 samples/cycle
Bit Depth: 3 bits → 2³ = 8 levels
Original wave
Sample points
Quantized values
💻 Binary Output
Each sample → 3-bit binary number
💡

The Key Insight for Digital Logic

Every analog signal can be represented as a sequence of binary numbers. More bits = more levels = better approximation. This is why digital systems work with 1s and 0s: they're the building blocks of all digital information.