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Audio engineering · Recording

Audio signal

What is audio signal? A clear definition from the audio engineering and recording section of our glossary, with 14 related terms and further reading.

Definition of Audio signal

An audio signal is a representation of sound, typically using either a changing level of electrical voltage for analog signals or a series of binary numbers for digital signals. Audio signals have frequencies in the audio frequency range of roughly 20 to 20,000 Hz, which corresponds to the lower and upper limits of human hearing. Audio signals may be synthesized directly, or may originate at a transducer such as a microphone, musical instrument pickup, phonograph cartridge, or tape head. Loudspeakers or headphones convert an electrical audio signal back into sound.

Digital audio systems represent audio signals in a variety of digital formats.

An audio channel or audio track is an audio signal communications channel in a storage device or mixing console. It is used in operations such as multi-track recording and sound reinforcement.

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What is Audio signal?

An audio signal is a representation of sound, typically using either a changing level of electrical voltage for analog signals or a series of binary numbers for digital signals.

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