Unit73 P2 Exercise: Audio Limitations of Games Platforms

How can the following information limit the recording of sound?

Digital Signal Processor (DSP) - This can limit sound recording by taking a lot of time for conversion/modification and it might not come out the way you want it to.

Random Access Memory (RAM) - If you have a very very small amount of RAM then you will be limited as recording programs require a lot of RAM to run, the best thing to do would be to use windows sound recorder although it isn't that reliable.

File format (eg Mp3, Wav, Aiff) - If the file format you are recording in is mp3 it will be compressed so it will not be as high quality and file size will be small. If you record with wav then the file size will be uncompressed so the quality will be better and easier to put into a game or film although it will take up more hard drive space.

Audio output (eg Mono, Stereo, Surround) - If you are recording in mono sound then it won't be as good and only play through one speaker as it is recorded that way, it is much better to record in stereo as most computers use stereo, surround would also be good as it is very high quality and can play through 5 or more speakers at a time although it may require more hard drive space.

Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) - This can limit the recording of sound by having to record and transfer sound between analog and digital signals. Also, the data rate becomes high, Therefore more transmission bandwidth is required for Digital Communication.

Audio Recording Systems

You may use multi-track recording when you are putting together a song as you need different beats to mix together with your vocals to make it sound good.

You may need Midi when recording a song in the orchestra so the audio can pick up all the different sounds put together without them being mixed up.

DAT is good for putting together different pieces of audio and changing file types.

Analogue is good for recording multiple audio of musical instruments of songs which can be made to play all together.

Software plug-ins usually help improve or change the audio that you are recording to some extent. You can improve the quality, compress sounds, enhance audio and add effects.

Software Sequencer is helpful for changing sounds in many different ways which a lot of people use for creating music, they can be very expensive and are used in recording studios.