Bits & Compression

Quantization and MP3s

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Quantization rounds samples to $2^n$ levels; each extra bit halves the error.
• CD audio: 44.1 kHz × 16 bits × 2 channels ≈ 1411 kbit/s.
• Lossy compression (MP3, JPEG) discards what our senses barely notice.

Steps

1. Rounding to levels
2. CD bit rate
3. Dynamic range
4. 24-bit audio
5. How much does MP3 shrink?
6. How MP3s shrink