Homework 1 Making MP3 Files (35 points)

This homework is based on Hands-On Activity (HOA) 3B at the end of Chapter 3 in

the textbook.
In this homework, you will use a recording program called Audacity to record some
sound and save them as MP3 files. Audacity is a free program and can be
downloaded from http://www.audacityteam.org/download/, or from
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/.

Download and install Audacity.

Using Audacity, record (click the red recording button) yourself reading
something, such as a couple of paragraphs from the textbook, for about 30
seconds (theres a clock toward the bottom of the Audacity window).
Click the green playback button to listen to your recording.
Click File -> Export Audio -> Save As Type -> MP3 Files -> Options -> Quality ->
128 kbps -> OK, type in a file name, click Save -> OK (on Edit Metadata)
On the next screen, click Download to get a free copy of LAME for Audacity.

Follow instructions to download and install Lame for Audacity on Windows.

Once Lame is installed. Click Cancel on the Locate Lame window.
Redo the exporting as described above. This time, the Locate Lame window
should not appear and the recording should be exported successfully. Name the
MP3 file 128 kbps.
Locate the MP3 file that has been exported from Audacity and play it.
Export the recording two more times, at bit rates of 64 kbps and 32 kbps
respectively. Name the files 64 kbps and 32 kbps respectively.

Question 1: Sampling rate and bit depth play important roles in sound
digitalization. Explain the two concepts. (5 points)
Sampling Rate: It is the number of times the analog sound signal is examined
for one complete waveform to change that signal into digital signal using analogto-digital convertor. Generally, most widely used sampling rates are 44.1, 22.05,
and 11.025 kHz (Kilo-Hertz). For example, in this scenario we have audio files in 3
sizes i.e. 128kbps, 24kpbs and 8kbps. The sample rate will develop the frequency
scope for digital recording. Sample rate will generally influence sound fidelity till
the upper frequency response. The higher the sample rate, the higher the
accessible frequency response. To catch a sound precisely, the sample rate must
be double the highest frequency in the sound. Higher sampling rates yield better
sound quality.
Bit Depth: Another name for Bit Depth is Bit Rate or Sample Resolution. When a
sample of a sound is considering at any point of time, a series of binary numbers
(bits) are generated by the analog-to-digital converter to portray the sample. The
Bit Depth will decide what number of bits - as in 0s and 1s - is accessible to
define a digital recording. Bit depth will also characterize the dynamic range of a
sound which explains the difference between the mildest sound present in a
recording (Lower Limit) and the loudest sound (Upper Limit). Generally, an 8-bit
digitizer will have a dynamic range of 96dB. The range of human ear is of 120dB.

Question 2: What are the standard sampling rate and bit depth used in
sound digitization in landline telephone system and in CD music
respectively? (5 points)
Sampling rate in traditional telephone systems: 16,000Hz
Bit depth in traditional telephone systems: 8 Bit.
Sampling rate in Compact disc: 44.1 kHz
Bit depth in Compact disc: 16 Bit.

Question 3: Most CD music has two channels. Calculate the data rate, in
kbps, for each channel of CD music based on its sampling rate and bit
depth. If CD music (two channels) is converted to MP3 files at 256 kbps,
what is the compression ratio? Show your work. (5 points)

Bit rate or Data rate = number of channels x sampling rate x bit depth
Channels = 2
Sampling rate = 44,100 Hz
Bit audio = 44.1 KHz
2 x 16 x 44,100 = 172kbyte/sec
Generally, wav to mp3 conversions are done at 128kbit or 16kbyte/sec
Compression Ratio = Uncompressed Size / Compressed Size
= 172 kbyte/sec / 16kbyte/sec = 10.75: 1
The Compression ratio from a CD to 128kbps MP3 is 11:1.
Audio CD sound better as the bit rate is higher and it is not compressed as much.
Bit rate for a typical 44.1 kHz/16bit CD is 1.411kbps. When compared to the
former standard of a 128kbps you can experience much better.

Question 4: What are the sizes of the three MP3 files that you created?
Play the three files. Compare and contrast their sound quality. (5 points)
The sizes of the three audio files which we created are 128kbps,64kbps,34kbps
respectively.The quality of the audio from the speaker is very clear at 128kbps
when compared to 64kbps and 32kbps. The quality of the sound from the speaker
in Mp3 file with 32kbps has a lot of noise along with the actual audio. Between
the three Bitrates the signal-to-noise is comparatively low for the 34kbps variant.
This reduced signal-to-noise ratio will become worse with increase in lower
bitrates and this is the major difference in 128kbps, 64kbps and 32kbps.

Question 5: Do some research on the Internet to find out the

recommended sampling rate and bit depth for digital music recording. Use
at least 3 references. List your references and summarize your findings.
Must answer in your own words. Copying from the references is not
acceptable. (5 points)

Two important aspects which are required for sampling digital music are sampling rate and bit
depth.

Audio wave forms are typically sampled at 44.1khz for CDS, with 16 bit depth, The
approximately double-rate requirement is a consequence of the Nyquist theorem. Sampling
rates higher than about 50 kHz to 60 kHz cannot supply more usable information for human
listeners. Early professional audio equipment manufacturers chose sampling rates in the
region of 50 kHz for this reason. There has been an industry trend towards sampling rates well
beyond the basic requirements: such as 96 kHz and even 192 kHz.
BIT rate: Audio is typically recorded at 8-, 16-, and 20-bit depth, which yield a theoretical
maximum Signal-to-quantization-noise ratio (SQNR) for a pure sine wave of, approximately,
49.93 dB, 98.09 dB and 122.17 dB.CD quality audio uses 16-bit samples. Thermal
noise limits the true number of bits that can be used in quantization. Few analog systems
have signal to noise ratios (SNR) exceeding 120 dB. However, digital signal
processing operations can have very high dynamic range, consequently it is common to
perform mixing and mastering operations at 32-bit precision and then convert to 16 or 24 bit
for distribution.

Reference: http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Sampling_(signal_processing)
http://csweb.cs.wfu.edu/~burg/CCLI/Documents/Chapter5.pdf

Question 6: Answer questions 1 5 above. Submit this Word file (do not
convert it to PDF) and the three MP3 files that you saved on your
computer to Blackboard. Do not combine the files into a Zip file. Submit 4
files separately (click Browse My Computer again to attach a new file).
(10 points)