- Signal is measured so many times per second that all the nuances of the signal are captured. Sample rate is a little more than twice the highest frequency in the desired bandwidth. With 20 kHz the highest audible frequency, the sample rate for the CD is 44.1 kHz, and for DV it is 48 kHz. Pro audio ranges anywhere from 48 kHz to 192 kHz, and the most common spec is 96 kHz.
(While this information is okay for the scope of this class, it is misleading to say that recording at a 44.1 kHZ sampling rate captures "all the nuances" of a sound. It may be better to say that it captures "enough" of the sound to reproduce it more or less correctly.)
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Ok, like I mentioned in the article on Quantizing you process and analog waveform into a digital signal. Sampling, or Sampling rate, is what determines how many times per second a sample of the analog waveform is captured and converted to a digital representation. Like Shea says, on a CD, the sample rate is twice the highest audible frequency. What this means is that a sample is taken at a length of time equivalent to half the wavelength of the highest sound we can hear. I don\'t know what that is in seconds.
