Bit

In music technology we often talk about n-bit systems. For example, the MIDI protocol is based on a 7-bit scheme, many sensor interfaces use 10-bit resolution for their sensor readings, and sound cards typically record in 16-bit, or even 32-bit. But even though we talk about these things every day, I am often surprised by how many people don’t really know what 7-bit actually means, and that a 32-bit system is not “double” as good as a 16-bit system....