Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence.

<multimedia, file format> A sequence of discrete samples taken from a continuous sound (audio) waveform. Tens of thousands of samples are taken each second. Each sample represents the intensity of the sound pressure wave at that instant. Apart from the sampling frequency, the other parameter is the digital encoding of each sample including the number of bits used. The encoding may be linear, logarithmic or mu-law. Digital audio is typically created by taking 16-bit samples over a spectrum of 44.1 thousand cycles per second (kHz), this means that CD quality sound requires 1.4 million bits of data per second. Digital telephone systems use lower sample rates. Filename extension: .au (Unix), .snd (MS-DOS, {MS Windows}). See also Audio IFF, MP3, wav. Usenet newsgroups: alt.binaries.sounds.*. A FAQ on audio file formats is available. {audio/AudioFormats.part1">Part 1 (ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/audio/AudioFormats.part1)}, {audio/AudioFormats.part2">Part 2 (ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/audio/AudioFormats.part2)}. (1999-07-30)

Digital audio radio service (DARS) refers to any type of digital radio program service. In the United States it is the official FCC term for digital radio services.

Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the Red Book, one of a series of Rainbow Books (named for their binding colors) that contain the technical specifications for all CD formats.

Harmonically Enhanced Digital Audio (HEDA) is a class of digital recordings created by using modern digital harmonic enhancement technology. With the proliferation of harmonic enhancement algorithms, pioneered by Crane Song's Dave Hill, a new class of harmonic enhancement algorithms have emerged.

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined and promoted by the WorldDAB forum. The standard is dominant in Europe and is also used in parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia; other worldwide terrestrial digital radio standards include HD Radio, ISDB-Tb, DRM, and the related DMB.

<storage, music> (DAT) A format for storing music on magnetic tape, developed in the mid-1980s by Sony and Philips. As digital music was popularized by compact discs, the need for a digital recording format for the consumer existed. The problem is that digital music contains over 5 megabytes of data per minute before error correction and supplementary information. Before DAT, the only way to record digitally was to use a video or a reel-to-reel recorder. DAT uses a rotary-head (or "helical scan") format, where the read/write head spins diagonally across the tape like a video cassette recorder. Thus the proper name is "R-DAT", where "R" for rotary distinguishes it from "S-DAT", a stationary design that did not make it out of the laboratories. Studio reel-to-reel decks are able to use stationary heads because they can have wider tape and faster tape speeds, but for the desired small medium of DAT the rotary-head compromise was made despite the potential problems with more moving parts. Most DAT recorders appear to be a cross between a typical analog cassette deck and a compact disc player. In addition to the music, one can record subcode information such as the number of the track (so one can jump between songs in a certain order) or absolute time (counted from the beginning of the tape). The tape speed is much faster than a regular deck (one can rewind 30 minutes of music in 10-25 seconds), though not quite as fast as a compact disc player. DAT decks have both analog and digital inputs and outputs. DAT tapes have only one recordable side and can be as long 120 minutes. DAT defines the following recording modes with the following performance specifications... 2 channel 48KHz Sample rate, 16-bit linear encoding 120 min max. Frequency Response 2-22KHz (+-0.5dB) SN = 93 dB DR = 93 dB 2 channel 44.1Khz Sample rate, 16-bit linear encoding 120 min max Frequency Response 2-22KHz (+-0.5dB) SN = 93 dB DR = 93 dB 2 channel 32KHz Sample Rate, 12-bit non-linear encoding 240 min max Frequency Response 2-14.5KHz (+-0.5dB) SN = 92 dB DR = 92 dB 4 channel 32KHz (not supported by any deck) DAT is also used for recording computer data. Most computer DAT recorders use DDS format which is the same as audio DAT but they usually have completely different connectors and it is not always possible to read tapes from one system on the other. Computer tapes can be used in audio machines but are usually more expensive. You can record for two minutes on each metre of tape. (1995-02-09)

An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. The bit layout of the audio data (excluding metadata) is called the audio coding format and can be uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size, often using lossy compression.

Audio editing software is any software or computer program, which allows editing and generating of audio data. Audio editing software can be implemented completely or partly as a library, as a computer application, as a web application, or as a loadable kernel module.