Electronic equipment used to change or convert an analog (waveform style) signal into a digital signal (made up of 1s and 0s). Analog signals take the form of a wave like a sine wave. If you take a pen and draw on a sheet of paper a continuous line that bends up and down like a wave or serpent you will see a graphic depiction of an analog signal. Analog signals are constant, continuous waveforms. igital signals, on the other hand, are made up of discrete ones and zeroes. The ones stand for an “on” state and the zeroes for an “off” state. They do not form continuous waves like the analog signal, however, they are much easier to manipulate than analog signals and they do not degrade with such manipulation. For instance, it is very simple to multiply a digital signal, split it up, invert it and then send it to multiple locations. An analog signal, however, is much more difficult to affect in a similar way and during the process the waveform is altered and noise is added resulting in an impure signal. nalog signals are converted to digital signals for a variety of reasons including to improve processing power (the ability to manipulate the signals), to encode analog signals for later playback through a digital medium (such as a CD or DVD), and more. The conversion process entails breaking up the analog waveform into thousands of narrow, individual pieces. Each of these pieces is the height of the wave at that point. By cutting the wave into many, many sections the heights of the pieces very closely track the wave. Think of a pyramid in Egypt – from a distance the pyramid's sides look like they are solid, straight lines. However, when you get close to the pyramid you see that the angles are actually made up of hundreds or thousands of individual blocks. The lines up the pyramid are not exactly straight but are actually stair-stepped. The digital signal derived from an analog waveform operates in the same way. It is stair-stepped like the pyramid but has so many steps that it seems to form a continuous line like the pyramid from a distance. he job of the analog-to-digital converter is to take the waveform (the analog signal) and split it up into the thousands of tiny “stairs” which simulate the wave. Once the signal is in the digital domain, it can be easily copied and manipulated with no degradation and with enhanced capabilities.