Audio Signal Processing and Coding

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Audio coding or audio compression algorithms are used to obtain compact digital representations of high-fidelity (wideband) audio signals for the purpose of efficient transmission or storage. The central objective in audio coding is to represent the signal with a minimum number of bits while achieving transparent signal reproduction, i.e., generating output audio that cannot be distinguished from the original input, even by a sensitive listener (“golden ears”). This text gives an in-depth treatment of algorithms and standards for transparent coding of high-fidelity audio.