Glossary of Pro Audio Terms

Glossary of pro audio terms Glossary aliasing This is a type of distortion caused during the This Glossary contains brief definitions of analog-to-digital conversion process. If the fre- many of the audio and electronic terms and quency of the analog signal exceeds one-half acronyms used in discussions of sound mixing the sampling rate, spurious signals and harmon- and recording. Many of the terms have other ics not present on the original signal may be meanings or nuances or very rigorous technical created (see Nyquist Theorem). Careful design definitions, which we have sidestepped here and filtering before the sampling stage can because we figure you already have a lot on reduce this aliasing to a minimum. your mind. If you’d like to get more information, there are plenty of useful textbooks out there. We recom- assign mend the following titles: The Audio Dictionary In sound mixers, assign means to switch or by Glenn White, Tech Terms by Peterson & route a signal to a particular signal path or com- Oppenheimer, Handbook for Sound Engineers by bination of signal paths. Glen Ballou, Mackie Mixer Book by Rudy Tru- bitt, Pro Audio Reference by Dennis Bohn, and Sound Reinforcement Handbook by Gary Davis. attenuate To reduce or make quieter. A aux Short for Auxiliary. ACRONYM An acronym for A Contrived Reduction Of auxiliary Nomenclature Yielding Mnemonics In sound mixers, supplemental equipment or features that provide additional capabilities to adiabatic the basic system. Examples of auxiliary equipment include: serial processors (equalizers, Literally, it means "not to pass through." In compressors, limiters, gates) and parallel pro- describing the high-density foam used inside cessors (reverberation and delay). the HR Series studio monitors, it means that internal reflections within the cabinet are absorbed by the foam. In physical terms, it aux send means the mechanical energy of the sound A mixer bus output designed to send a signal to wave is converted into heat energy. an auxiliary processor or monitor system. A/D converter (ADC) aux return Analog-to-digital converter, a device that trans- A mixer input (sometimes a pair of inputs) with forms incoming analog signals into digital limited control capabilities, intended for bring- form. ing the output of an auxiliary processor or other line-level source into the main mix bus. AFL Aux returns can sometimes be assigned to other buses in the mixer. An acronym for After Fade Listen, which is another way of saying post-fader solo function. 2 B bus An electrical connection common to three or more circuits. In mixer design, a bus usually balanced input carries signals from a number of inputs to a mixing amplifier, just like a city bus carries peo- An input consists of two leads, neither of which ple from a number of neighborhoods to their is common to the circuit ground. This is a “dif- jobs. It comes from the British “omnibus”. ferential pair”, where the signal consists of the difference in voltage between the two leads. Bal- anced input circuits can offer excellent rejec- tion of common-mode noise induced into the C line. balanced output Cannon In a classic balanced audio circuit, the output is A manufacturer of electrical connectors who carried on two leads (high or + and low or -) first popularized the three-pin connector now which are isolated from the circuit ground by universally used for balanced microphone con- exactly the same impedance. nections. In sound work, a Cannon connector is taken to mean a Cannon XLR-3 connector or A symmetrical balanced output carries the same any compatible connector. You can tell an signal at exactly the same level but of opposite audio geezer because he refers to this connector polarity with respect to ground. as “Cannon”. Today the term “XLR” is more A special case of a balanced output carries the common. signal on only one lead, with the other lead being at zero voltage with respect to ground, but at the same impedance as the signal-carry- cardioid ing lead. This is sometimes called impedance bal- Heart-shaped. In sound work, cardioid refers to anced. the shape of the sensitivity vs. direction plot for a particular style of directional microphone. A bandwidth cardioid mic rejects sound arriving from the rear. The band of frequencies that pass through a device with a loss of less than 3 dB, expressed in Hertz or in musical octaves. Also see Q. channel A functional path in an audio circuit: an input bit channel, an output channel, a recording channel, the left channel and so on. The smallest component of a digital word, rep- resented by either a one or a zero. channel strip bridged mono The physical realization of an audio channel on the front panel of a mixer; usually a long, verti- A mode of operation for a stereo amplifier that cal strip of controls. routes a single input to both channels, but inverts the signal on channel 2, thereby provid- ing twice the voltage of an individual output by chorusing connecting the speaker between the two posi- A time-based effect available in some digital tive output terminals (the negative output ter- delay effects units and reverbs. Chorusing minals are not used). involves a number of moving delays and pitch shifting, usually panned across a stereo field. 3 Depending on how used, it can be lovely or cueing grotesque. In broadcast, stage and post-production work, to “cue up” a sound source (a record, a sound clipping effect on a CD, a song on a tape) means to get A form of severe audio distortion that results it ready for playback by making sure you are in from peaks of the audio signal attempting to the right position on the “cue,” making sure the rise above the capabilities of the amplifier cir- level and EQ are all set properly. This requires a cuit. Seen on an oscilloscope, the audio peaks special monitoring circuit that only the mixing appear clipped off. To avoid clipping, reduce engineer hears. It does not go out on the air or the system gain in or before the gain stage in to the main mixing buses. This “cueing” circuit which the clipping occurs. Also see headroom. is the same as pre-fader (PFL) solo on a Mackie mixer, and often the terms are interchangeable. common mode A signal which is referenced to the circuit com- D mon point, usually chassis ground. compressor D/A converter (DAC) This is a dynamics processor used to smooth Digital-to-analog converter, a device that trans- out any large transient peaks in an audio signal forms incoming digital signals into analog that might otherwise overload your system or form. cause distortion. The amplitude threshold and other parameters such as attack time, release time, and tire pressure are adjustable. damping Damping factor is a number that represents the condenser ratio of the impedance of the load to the output impedance of the amplifier. In practical Another term for the electronic component terms, it is a measure of how well the amplifier generally known as a capacitor. In audio, con- can control the movement of a speaker's cone. denser often refers to a type of microphone that The greater the damping factor, the better its uses a capacitor as the sound pickup element. ability to control the cone's movement. A low Condenser microphones require electrical damping factor (high amplifier output imped- power to run internal amplifiers and maintain ance) allows a woofer to continue to move after an electrical charge on the capacitor. They are the signal stops, resulting in an indistinct and typically powered by internal batteries or mushy low frequency response. A high damp- “phantom power” supplied by an external ing factor (200 or above) provides excellent source, such as a mixing console. control over low frequency woofers and pro- duces a tight, clean bass. console DAT Another term for a sound mixer, usually a large desk-like mixer. Digital Audio Tape is a recording/playback system where analog signals are converted to digital form and stored on magnetic tape. It offers crest factor all the benefits of digital audio including low noise and wide dynamic range. The ratio of the peak value to the RMS value. Musical signals can have peaks many times higher than the RMS value. The larger the transient peaks, the larger the crest factor. 4 DAW Commonly used to describe signal levels in consumer equipment. To convert dBV to dBu, Digital Audio Workstation is a dedicated add 2.2 dB. recording/editing software application and hardware system, used for hard disk (non-lin- ear) random access recording and playback. decibel (dB) Many DAWs are used with personal computers The dB is a ratio of quantities measured in sim- using Windows® or Macintosh® operating ilar terms using a logarithmic scale. Many audio systems, though some use their own proprietary system parameters measure over such a large computers. range of values that the dB is used to simplify the numbers. A ratio of 1000:1=60 dB. Since dB dB is a unitless quantity, it doesn’t matter if it’s volts or dollars. (just try asking the chief engi- See decibel. neer for a 3 dB raise) When one of the terms in the ratio is an agreed upon standard value such as 1.23 V, 1 V or 1 mw, the ratio becomes an dBA absolute value, i.e., +4 dBu, -10 dBV or 0 dBm. Sound Pressure Level (SPL) measured with an "A" weighting filter. delay In sound work, delay usually refers to an elec- dBm tronic circuit or effects unit whose purpose it is to delay the audio signal for some short period A unit of measurement of power in an electrical of time.

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