Which statement describes how sample rate affects audio quality and file size?

Which statement describes how sample rate affects audio quality and file size?

• A. The magnetic storage density.
• B. Quality and file size, as more samples per second raise both.
• C. More samples per second only increase quality, not file size.
• D. The sampling rate has no impact.

Answer: (B)

Sampling rate is the number of samples taken of the audio per second. As you raise it, you capture more detail in the waveform, especially higher frequencies, which improves audio quality up to a point (Nyquist). At the same time, more samples per second means more data each second, so the uncompressed file size grows roughly in proportion to the sample rate (data rate = sample rate × bit depth × channels). So higher sampling rates tend to increase both quality and file size. The other statements miss this link between sampling rate and data volume, and some claim there’s no impact at all, which isn’t correct.

Sampling rate is the number of samples taken of the audio per second. As you raise it, you capture more detail in the waveform, especially higher frequencies, which improves audio quality up to a point (Nyquist). At the same time, more samples per second means more data each second, so the uncompressed file size grows roughly in proportion to the sample rate (data rate = sample rate × bit depth × channels). So higher sampling rates tend to increase both quality and file size. The other statements miss this link between sampling rate and data volume, and some claim there’s no impact at all, which isn’t correct.