Antex electronic SX-3 Stereo System User Manual


 
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INTRODUCTION
The Series 2 and 3 Digital Audio Adapters are IBM AT compatible
add-on boards which convert high fidelity analog signals to digital
data for storage to, and retrieval from, disk.
The Series 2 and 3 adapters sample two channels of audio from
7.35 kHz to 50kHz with 16 bit resolution. They incorporate Sigma
Delta technology with 64 times oversampling, providing superior
fidelity at greater than 80 dB signal-to-noise ratio.
ABOUT DIGITAL AUDIO
In professional circles, digital audio has been with us for over 10
years. With the advent of the compact disk in 1983, digital audio
has become commonplace as a consumer item. Few will argue
that digital audio has afforded an order of magnitude improvement
in overall sound quality and signal-to-noise ratio over the best
analog systems which preceded them. But just what is digital
audio, and where and how is it used?
It is possible to use digital data transmission techniques to trans-
mit digital audio signals by wire or radio. However, this practice
has not yet become common due to the extremely wide signal
bandwidth required to transmit real-time digital audio signals. For
the present, digital audio techniques seem largely confined to the
recording and playback of music and other audio signals where, in
a few short years, digital audio technology has all but replaced the
previous analog record/playback techniques. In the present dec-
ade we will see digital audio technology replace analog technol-
ogy in most signal processing functions in both the professional
and consumer markets. It is also likely, particularly with the advent
of fiber optic cables, that digital audio technology will be utilized in
the transmission of real-time audio signals on a widespread basis.
But what is digital audio?