I have few doubts regarding compatibility between various audio parameters:

1. How can I determine sampling rate, audio bit depth, no of channels of a already recorded audio sample.
2. Suppose I play this same recorded audio sample with my application whose hardware parameters are different from the sample which I received. So in this case what would be the impact on the sound quality.
3. What would be the impact of using different (at capture application and playback application) sampling rate, audio bit depth, no of channels.
4. If possible kindly provide me a link which is related to my queries.