Digital Audio
Quantisation error is the small difference between an analogue signal’s true amplitude and its digital approximation, producing low-level noise or distortion.
When an analogue signal is converted to digital, each sample’s amplitude must be rounded to the nearest available digital value. The difference between the actual and rounded values is the quantisation error.
At higher bit depths, this error becomes smaller and less audible. However, at lower bit depths, it can introduce noticeable distortion or graininess in quiet sounds. Dithering is used to mask quantisation error, making the resulting noise more uniform and less intrusive.
