Digital audio samples are discrete values (numbers) which represent the amplitude of an audio signal taken at different points in time.
A continuous signal can be sampled at some sampling rate and thus be converted into a digital representation using samples. A series of digital audio samples can be converted back (reconstructed) into an analog audio signal, which may or may not be identical to the original signal. The study and theory behind sampling and reconstruction is based on the sampling theory.
Device what generates samples with microphone is called sampler.
Famous quotes containing the word sample:
“The present war having so long cut off all communication with Great-Britain, we are not able to make a fair estimate of the state of science in that country. The spirit in which she wages war is the only sample before our eyes, and that does not seem the legitimate offspring either of science or of civilization.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)