Reviews of the 1st edition include: - 'Once in a while, someone writes a technical book which becomes the definitive work or industry bible. John Watkinson has done just that with The Art of Digital Audio' - New Scientist 'Mr Watkinson's work commandspride of place amongst the publications on digital audio techniques.' - EBU Review '... a must for all radio engineers interested in complete digital fluency.' - Radio World 'It must be difficult writing a sequel to the Bible. Let's face it, Godhasn't got round to it yet, although John Watkinson has, and it only took him five years. In his preface to the new edition, Watkinson suggests, somewhat tongue in cheek, that if the First was the Bible, maybe we should refer to the Second Edition as theNew Testament. It's not a bad idea, and one with which I have no arguments..' Studio Sound, March 1995 - Studio Sound, March 1995 'This is an introductory book, a theory book and a reference book all in one.' - Public Address/PLASA News, May 1995 'Thefirst edition of this book is now regarded as a classic in its field.' - Lighting and Sound International, January 1996 Digital audio equipment is more widespread than it was five yars ago, and potential readers now have a greater range of backgrounds. This new edition begins with a chapter which is almost an introductory book in its own right and makes the remainder of the work accessible to all. At the other end of the spectrum more refernces than ever are included to permit serious study. What has not changed is the approach. Every subject is explained from first principles, because if the mechanism is undertsood it can be applied to many probolems. This is an introductory book, a theory book, an applications book and a reference book all rolled into one.
If you are interested in the secrets of digital audio, then this book is a must read. As a music producer and computer musician, I often find myself wondering about what lies beneath the surface of my digital hard- and software, partucularly since there seems to be an abundance of misinformation, heresay, and plain old rubbish floating around in the community. Understanding the principles of how audio gets digitized, and moreso what happens after this process can greatly improve the sonic results of ones work. However this topic is very complex and hard to grasp, so plowing through technical manuals and college-grade material puts a serious strain on the creative process. Correction - it kills creativity altogether. Rising to the occasion, John Watkinson has succeded in bringing these difficult to understand matters down to a graspable level, even though it is an impressively comprehensive piece of work. The book truly helps put an end to myths and misunderstandings, as it can be equally read as an encyclopedia for looking up specific topics, or back to back. At times it can even seem too thorough (most of us don't really need to know exactly how data is handled), but this depends on what you want to learn. You can rest assured it's all in there, whether you're looking to learn how to bulid digital circuits from scratch, or need to understand what dithering and A/D/A conversion is all about. In short - If you are serious about digital audio as an electronic musician in any form or as an audiophile in general, this book will not dissapoint.
Well written technical overview, short of the computer age
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
The Art of Digital Audio is well written and informative technical overview of digital audio, except that being a mid 1990s book, it almost completely omits detailed coverage of some topics (like MPEG audio compression) that would nowadays have to be considered critical. It is nonetheless an essential component of the well informed digital audio engineer's library. There is a *lot* of stuff in this compendium that you would otherwise have to find scattered over a dozen other books. One hopes a revision for the twenty-first century is in the works.
The Bible of Digital Audio
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
The most comprehensive book to date on Digital Audio.
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $15. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.