Q+A: Sample rates explained....

Sample rate is the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal, the unit of sample rates are Hertz. We record a discrete signal because we only need lots of little samples of the signal to track how loud it is etc... So the higher the samples the more of these measurements are taken per second. The standard for recording dialogue is 48kHz (48,000 hz) or 44.1kHz and unless your playing on really nice speakers you really wont be able to tell the difference.

For some sound effects recording people record at 192kHz which has advantages for slowing effects down and manipulating them. Also higher sample rates help prevent aliasing, which refers to an effect that causes different signals to become indistinguishable 


also see: Bit Depth

Thanks,

- Matt Price