The process of converting digital, stepped values back into an approximation of the original continuous analog signal. This occurs at the output stage of a digital-to-analog converter, where binary words are translated into corresponding voltage or current levels. Because the original quantization discarded information between steps, dequantizing yields a staircase-like waveform that typically requires low-pass filtering to smooth out.
Once the DSP finishes the math, we dequantize the audio stream and run it through a reconstruction filter.
Related terms
Quantize
The process of mapping a continuous range of analog signal values to a finite set of discrete digital levels.
Digital-to-analog converter
A mixed-signal component that translates binary data into a continuous physical voltage or current.
DAC
A digital-to-analog converter transforms discrete binary numbers into a continuous physical voltage or current.