Principles of Digital Audio [Paperback]

Ken C. Pohlmann (Author), Ken C. Pohlman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070504695 | ISBN-13: 978-0070504691 | Publication Date: September 1995 | Edition: 3rd

Widely acknowledged as the "bible" of digital audio for both professional designers and engineering students, "Principles of Digital Audio" has been updated and expanded to introduce both audio and computer users to the myriad new technologies that are now transforming the field.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

THE #1 BEST-SELLING BOOK ON DIGITAL AUDIO ENGINEERING

This definitive text provides comprehensive coverage of today’s leading digital audio technologies as well as a thorough survey of fundamentals and theory. Written by well-known audio engineering expert and best-selling author Ken Pohlmann, four previous editions have been valued for their clear explanations and have been widely used as college texts and professional references. The fifth edition of Principles of Digital Audio has been extensively updated and revised to reflect ongoing widespread changes in the audio industry.

Beginning with an in-depth discussion of digital audio recording and reproduction, the text then details perceptual low bit-rate coding, CD and DVD disc formats, digital audio broadcasting, internet and network audio, and DSP. From the basic theory to the latest technological advancements, Principles of Digital Audio completely covers this multifaceted field, including topics such as:

• MP3, AAC, and Dolby Digital audio coding
• DVD playback and recording formats
• PC-based desktop audio systems
• 5.1-channel surround-sound coding
• HD Radio and satellite radio
• Music downloading and streaming
• Digital signal processing

ALL THE ESSENTIALS OF DIGITAL AUDIO
* Sound and Numbers * Fundamental Theory * Digital Audio Recording * Digital Audio Reproduction * Error Correction * Digital Audio Tape * Optical Disc Storage * Compact Disc and SACD * Recordable CD * Interconnection * Perceptual Coding: Theory and Applications * MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 * MP3 Codec * MPEG-4 and AAC * Psychoacoustic Models * Surround Sound Coding * Lossless Coding * DVD-Video and DVD-Audio * Recordable DVD * HD-DVD and Blu-ray * Minidisc * Desktop Audio * Network Audio * Downloadable and Streaming Internet Audio * File Formats * Digital Rights Management * Watermarking and Encryption * MPEG-7 * Digital Radio and TV Broadcasting * HD Radio * Satellite Radio * Digital Audio Workstations * Digital Signal Processing: Theory and Applications * Sigma Delta Conversion and Noise Shaping --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Ken C. Pohlmann is a professor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and the director of the Music Engineering program in the university's Frost School of Music. He has initiated new undergraduate and graduate courses in digital audio, advanced digital audio, Internet audio, acoustics and psychoacoustics, and studio production. In 1986, he founded the first master's degree program in Music Engineering in the United States. Mr. Pohlmann holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Pohlmann is the author of Principles of Digital Audio (McGraw-Hill); this book has appeared in five editions and has been translated into Dutch, Spanish, and Chinese. He is also author of The Compact Disc Handbook (A-R Editions); this book has appeared in two editions and has been translated into German. He is co-author of Writing for New Media (John Wiley & Sons), and editor and co-author of Advanced Digital Audio (Howard W. Sams). Since 1982, he has written over 2200 articles for publications including Audio magazine, Broadcast Engineering, dB magazine, Car Stereo Review, CD Review, Electronics Australia, Guitar Player magazine, Handbook for Sound Engineers, IEEE Spectrum, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Laserdisk Professional, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Mix magazine, Mobile Entertainment, National Association of Broadcasters Handbook, NARAS Journal, PC magazine, Sound & Vision, Scientific American, Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Stereo Review, Video magazine, and World Book Encyclopedia. He is a senior reviewer for Road & Track Road Gear, and contributing technical editor and columnist for Sound & Vision.

Mr. Pohlmann is president of Hammer Laboratories, a company devoted to the research, development, and testing of new audio technology. He serves as a consultant in the design of digital audio systems, the development of sound systems for automobile manufactures, and as a consultant and expert witness in technology and patent litigation. Some of his consulting clients include: Alpine Electronics, Analog Devices; Apple Computer; Bertlesmann Music Group, Blockbuster Entertainment, BMW, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, DaimlerChrysler, Eclipse, Ford, Fujitsu Ten, Harman International, Hughes Electronics, Hyundai, IBM, Kia, Lexus, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Mitsubichi Electronics, Motorola, Nippon Columbia, Onkyo America, Philips, RealNetworks, Recording Industry Association of America, Samsung, Sensormatic, Sonopress, Sony, TDK, Time Warner, Toyota, United Technologies, and the U.S. Justice Department Anti-Trust Division.

Mr. Pohlmann has consulted with such laws firms as Arnold & Porter; Baker & McKenzie; Christie Parker & Hale; Cushman, Darby & Cushman; Dewey Ballantine; Fish & Richardson; Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Machtinger & Kinsella; Darby & Darby; Firmstone & Feil; Fish & Neave; Hunton & Williams; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Barnes & Thornburg; Kenyon & Kenyon; and Young & Thompson.

Mr. Pohlmann co-founded Microcomputer Arts, Inc. (1980), International Business Information Systems, Inc. (1982), and U.S. Digital Disc Corporation (1985). He chaired the Audio Engineering Society's International Conference on Digital Audio in Toronto in 1989 and co-chaired the Society's International Conference on Internet Audio in Seattle in 1997. He was presented two Fellow Board of Governor's Awards (1989 and 1998) and was named an AES Fellow in 1990 for his work as an educator and author. He was elected to the AES Board of Governors in 1991. He was presented the University of Miami Philip Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship in 1992. He served as AES convention papers chairman in 1984 and papers co-chairman in 1993. He was elected as the AES Vice President of the Eastern U.S. and Canada Region in 1993. He served as a Non-Board Member of National Public Radio Distribution/Interconnection Committee (2000-2003). Mr. Pohlmann served on the Board of Directors of the New World Symphony (2000-2005). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 650 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx); 3rd edition (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070504695
• ISBN-13: 978-0070504691
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,699,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference for electronics engineers, April 11, 2006

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Principles of Digital Audio (Paperback)

First off, this book is in its fifth edition, and Amazon has lumped together reviews of all editions of this book. So the oldest review shown, written in 1998, is speaking of the 3rd edition, and reviews written prior to 2005 are talking about the 4th edition.
This book is more about the principles of digital audio hardware design than anything. The author, also a college professor, starts with the absolute beginning and the binary number system, sampling, quantization, aliasing, and dither and then moves into all of the topics that you need to design and analyze modern digital audio systems. However, if the information in the first two chapters is news to you, chances are the rest of the book will be over your head. The book is full of flow charts, frequency response diagrams, and detailed block diagrams of actual systems. What it is lacking in is any kind of signal processing mathematics to explain the detailed theory behind what is being covered. There is a chapter entitled "Digital Signal Processing", but it barely introduces and defines the terms. It does show some assembly code for performing some simple filtering tasks, though, but that's the extent of the coverage. If you didn't know DSP before you read this chapter, you certainly won't know it after you read this chapter. The book does a pretty good job of discussing some of the more popular audio standards including MP3. I think this book is best suited for someone with an electronics/electrical engineering background that already knows the theory of digital signal processing and wants to apply that knowledge to the actual design and analysis of digital audio processing systems. Amazon shows the table of contents from the 4th edition, so I show the detailed table of contents for the 5th edition here:
Sound and Numbers
Fundamental Theory
Digital Audio Recording
Digital Audio Reproduction
Error Correction
Digital Audio Tape
Optical Disc Storage
Compact Disc and SACD
Recordable CD
Interconnection
Perceptual Coding: Theory and Applications
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2
MP3 Codec
MPEG-4 and AAC
Psychoacoustic Models
Surround Sound Coding
Lossless Coding
DVD-Video and DVD-Audio
Recordable DVD
HD-DVD and Blu-ray
Minidisc
Desktop Audio
Network Audio
Downloadable and Streaming Internet Audio
File Formats
Digital Rights Management
Watermarking and Encryption
MPEG-7
Digital Radio and TV Broadcasting
HD Radio
Satellite Radio
Digital Audio Workstations
Digital Signal Processing: Theory and Applications
Sigma Delta Conversion and Noise Shaping

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent survey of the digital audio landscape., April 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Principles of Digital Audio (Paperback)

An excellent intermediate survey of the digital audio landscape. This text covers conversion, signal processing, channel coding and storage as well as current implementations of the technology. Good illustrations are included for visual reinforcement. Pohlmann's breezy writing style guides the reader from basic physics through dense theoretical discussion to practical examples. A freshman college background in physics and mathematics is useful though not essential.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Compromize Between Theory And Practice, January 4, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Digital Audio (Paperback)

This book is an excellent primer for current technology in digital audio systems. He keeps the obscure mathematics to a minimum, and introduces you to the great amount of technique available in the field today. I found this book, 1st edition, in the library -- and soon after bought the latest edition. An excellent value for the money, and useful to anyone trying to keep up with the digital techniques.