Explanation of the following sound related terms:

fade

clipping

stereo

surround sound

We used audacity to investigate these terms.

fade – is changing the volume at the end or beginning of a track, it has no impact on the size of the file

clipping – over amplification of the sound or an incorrect input setting can result in portions of the sound being lost. This can also damage the speakers or amplifier. This can be seen in the lower of the two samples.

stereo – two audio channels are used to give different sound to the left and right ears of the listener. This requires twice the storage capacity for each recording.

surround sound – this supplies audio to many speakers that surround the user. A center speaker is used to locate the speech to the centre of the stage. Front Left and right give stereo balance. Rear speakers provide echos and special effects from behind the listener. This does have an effect on the file size of the sound file.