How Does Analog Audio Work?
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Capturing Sound
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Sound is vibration and travels in sine waves similar to other types of energy. When these waves reach our eardrums, they make the thin membrane vibrate, changing pressures inside the ear. Recording audio works much the same way.
Microphones are the most common tool for capturing sound. They contain small membranes, much like the human ear drum, which vibrate with the pressures of sound. The fluctuations of the membrane, when mapped out, create an image of the changing pattern of the sound wave.
Copying Sound as Analog Signal
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Sound cannot be directly transferred through audio cable, so it must be copied. When a microphone's membrane, or diaphragm, vibrates, it creates electrical signals which are sent along wires through a cable. Because electrical current travels in waves very similar to those of sound, these signals mimic the fluctuations of the original sound wave. This copied waveform is called analogue or analog signal.
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Recording Analog Signal
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Recording analog signal is as simple--and diverse--as copying down the wave patterns from the sound. Early devices used malleable metals like tin, later replaced by vinyl records. More modern alternatives are magnetic tape or digital code. The latter has all but replaced earlier means of recording, as it is capable of mimicking a signal with incredible accuracy. Still, many recording artists and engineers claim that magnetic tape sounds better when played.
Changing Analog Signal Back to Sound
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Speakers are the opposite of microphones, but they have many of the same components. Speakers have diaphragms as well, which take on the opposite role of a microphone's. When a speaker receives an analogue signal, it interprets the wave fluctuations. The diaphragm then mimics these fluctuations, causing the air around it to vibrate. If the signal was strong and unchanged, the sound from the speakers should closely mimic what was recorded.
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