What is the function of oversampling in audio?

Oversampling in audio is primarily used to simulate a higher bit rate sound. This process involves sampling an audio signal at a rate significantly higher than the Nyquist frequency, which is twice the highest frequency of the audio being processed. By doing this, oversampling improves the accuracy of the audio data by allowing for better representation of the original sound wave. This increased sampling rate helps to reduce quantization noise and simplifies the design of the anti-aliasing filters, leading to a clearer and more detailed audio reproduction.

In essence, oversampling captures more information about the audio signal, making it less prone to distortion and artifacts that can emerge in lower bit rate recordings. This results in a perceived improvement in audio quality, akin to that which one might expect from a higher-quality sound format.

While enhancing low-frequency performance or adding more channels may have their own advantages in certain contexts, they do not directly relate to the primary function of oversampling, which is focused on improving overall audio fidelity through increased sampling rates. Likewise, increasing the volume of the track does not align with the purpose of oversampling, as it specifically pertains to the sampling and representation of audio data rather than its amplitude.