Term: Bit depth

In PCM audio (.wav and aif) bit depth determines the dynamic range of an audio signal. Each bit represents 6.02 dB of dynamic, so a 16-bit signal provides 96 dB of dynamic range divided into 65,536 unique values (2¹⁶). Floating point arithmetic provides for the use of decimal points and exponents to increase the available range of values to represent a signal’s dynamic range.