Final answer:
Configuring a sound card for WAV audio coding involves choosing the appropriate sampling rate and bit depth, with common settings being 44.1 kHz for the sampling rate and either 16 or 24 bits for the bit depth. These settings determine the frequency range, fidelity, and dynamic range of the sound, as well as the size of the audio file.
Step-by-step explanation:
Configuring a Sound Card for WAV Audio Coding
When setting up a sound card for coding audio in the WAV format, both the sampling rate and the bit depth are critical to consider for audio quality and file size. The sampling rate determines how often the audio signal is sampled per second, which impacts the frequency range that can be captured. Since humans can perceive sounds between 30 and 20,000 Hz, a common sampling rate is 44.1 kHz, which is more than twice the highest frequency audible to humans, adhering to the Nyquist theorem. This allows for a faithful reproduction of the audio signal without missing any audible frequencies.
The bit depth, on the other hand, affects the dynamic range of the sound, allowing for more detailed audio recording with higher bit depths. Most audio is captured at 16 or 24 bits per sample, where a higher bit depth increases the fidelity and dynamic range of the recording but also increases the file size.
In summary, choosing the correct sampling rate and bit depth largely depends on the desired quality of the sound recording and the limitations of storage and bandwidth. Real-world sounds are analog and are converted to digital through sampling, thus making these settings on your sound card paramount for good quality WAV files.