PCM (Pulse-Code Modulation)
TL;DR
PCM is the standard digital audio encoding used by CDs (44.1 kHz / 16-bit), most streaming services (up to 24-bit / 192 kHz), and computer audio. Represents audio as discrete numeric samples of the analog waveform amplitude at fixed intervals.
PCM (Pulse-Code Modulation) is the dominant digital audio representation. Audio is sampled at a fixed rate (44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz, etc.) with each sample stored as a fixed-bit-depth number (16, 24, or 32 bits).
Common PCM formats in hi-fi
- 16-bit / 44.1 kHz – CD quality
- 16-bit / 48 kHz – DVD, some streaming
- 24-bit / 96 kHz – “hi-res” standard
- 24-bit / 192 kHz – premium hi-res
- 32-bit / 384 kHz – studio-master and headroom
vs DSD
PCM uses multi-bit samples at moderate rates. DSD uses 1-bit samples at very high rates. Different mathematical approach but for typical playback both sound identical after proper conversion.
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