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Gain Staging
In audio engineering, a gain stage is a point during an audio signal flow that the engineer can make adjustments to the level,Thompson, Dan (2005). ''Understanding Audio''. Berklee Press. . such as a fader on a mixing console or in a DAW. Gain staging is the process of managing the relative levels in each step of an audio signal flow to prevent introduction of noise and distortion, feeding the inserts, such as equalizers and compressors with the right amount of signal, particularly in the analogue realm. Ideal gain staging occurs when each component in an audio signal flow is receiving and transmitting signal in the optimum region of its dynamic range.Davis, Don (2013). ''Sound System Engineering''. Focal Press. . In an audio system containing both microphones and loudspeakers, the total amount of gain in the system can exceed 100 dB. This is usually broken up into a number of smaller steps, called ''gain stages,'' where the signal is amplified or attenuated as needed before r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audio Engineering
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sound in a form processed and/or stored by computers or digital electronics *Audio, audible content (media) in audio production and publishing *Semantic audio, extraction of symbols or meaning from audio * Stereophonic audio, method of sound reproduction that creates an illusion of multi-directional audible perspective * Audio equipment Entertainment *AUDIO (group), an American R&B band of 5 brothers formerly known as TNT Boyz and as B5 * ''Audio'' (album), an album by the Blue Man Group * ''Audio'' (magazine), a magazine published from 1947 to 2000 *Audio (musician), British drum and bass artist * "Audio" (song), a song by LSD Computing *, an HTML element, see HTML5 audio See also *Acoustic (other) *Audible (other) *A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audio Signal Flow
Audio signal flow is the path an audio signal takes from source to output. The concept of audio signal flow is closely related to the concept of audio gain staging; each component in the signal flow can be thought of as a gain stage. In typical home stereo systems, the signal flow is usually short and simple, with only a few components. However, in recording studios and performance venues, the signal flow can often be quite complicated, with a large number of components, each of which may cause the signal to fail to reach its desired output. Knowing each component in the signal flow becomes increasingly difficult and important as system size and complexity increases. Feedback Feedback, also called "Howl-Round," occurs when the output of a device is accidentally connected to its input. If the device is amplifying the signal, then the amplified output will be fed back into the input, where it will be amplified again and sent to the output, where it will return to the input, be am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fade (audio Engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theatre lighting in much the same way (see fade (filmmaking) and fade (lighting)). A recorded song may be gradually reduced to silence at its end (fade-out), or may gradually increase from silence at the beginning (fade-in). Fading-out can serve as a recording solution for pieces of music that contain no obvious ending. Both fades and crossfades are very valuable since they allow the engineer to quickly and easily make sure that the beginning and the end of any audio is smooth, without any prominent glitches.Langford, S. 2014. Digital Audio Editing. Burlington: Focal Press. pp. 47-57. It is necessary that there is a clear section of silence prior to the audio. Fade-ins and -outs can also be used to change the characteristics of a sound, such as to soften the attack in vocals where very plosive (‘b’, ‘d’, and ‘p’) s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mixing Console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instruments, or recorded sounds. Mixers may control analog or digital signals. The modified signals are summed to produce the combined output signals, which can then be broadcast, amplified through a sound reinforcement system or recorded. Mixing consoles are used for applications including recording studios, public address systems, sound reinforcement systems, nightclubs, broadcasting, and post-production. A typical, simple application combines signals from microphones on stage into an amplifier that drives one set of loudspeakers for the audience. A DJ mixer may have only two channels, for mixing two record players. A coffeehouse's tiny stage might only have a six-channel mixer, enough for two singer-guitarists and a percussionist. A nigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Audio Workstation
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for Sound recording and reproduction, recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integrated stand-alone unit, all the way to a highly complex configuration of numerous components controlled by a central computer. Regardless of configuration, modern DAWs have a central interface that allows the user to alter and mix multiple recordings and tracks into a final produced piece. DAWs are used for producing and recording music, songs, human speech, speech, Radio broadcasting, radio, television, soundtracks, podcasts, sound effects and nearly any other situation where complex recorded audio is needed. Hardware Early attempts at digital audio workstations in the 1970s and 1980s faced limitations such as the high price of storage, and the vastly slower processing and disk speeds of the time. In 1978, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noise (electronics)
In electronics, noise is an unwanted disturbance in an electrical signal. Noise generated by electronic devices varies greatly as it is produced by several different effects. In particular, noise is inherent in physics, and central to thermodynamics. Any conductor with electrical resistance will generate thermal noise inherently. The final elimination of thermal noise in electronics can only be achieved cryogenically, and even then quantum noise would remain inherent. Electronic noise is a common component of noise in signal processing. In communication systems, noise is an error or undesired random disturbance of a useful information signal in a communication channel. The noise is a summation of unwanted or disturbing energy from natural and sometimes man-made sources. Noise is, however, typically distinguished from interference, for example in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) and signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SNIR) measu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distortion
In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal representing sound or a video signal representing images, in an electronic device or communication channel. Distortion is usually unwanted, and so engineers strive to eliminate or minimize it. In some situations, however, distortion may be desirable. For example, in noise reduction systems like the Dolby system, an audio signal is deliberately distorted in ways that emphasize aspects of the signal that are subject to electrical noise, then it is symmetrically "undistorted" after passing through a noisy communication channel, reducing the noise in the received signal. Distortion is also used as a musical effect, particularly with electric guitars. The addition of noise or other outside signals (hum, interference) is not considered di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microphone Preamplifier
The term microphone preamplifier can either refer to the electronic circuitry within a microphone, or to a separate device or circuit that the microphone is connected to. In either instance, the purpose of the microphone preamplifier is the same. A microphone preamplifier is a sound engineering device that prepares a microphone signal to be processed by other equipment. Microphone signals are often too weak to be transmitted to units such as mixing consoles and recording devices with adequate quality. Preamplifiers increase a microphone signal to line level (i.e. the level of signal strength required by such devices) by providing stable gain while preventing induced noise that would otherwise distort the signal.Ballou, 1987, pp. 506–507. For additional discussion of signal level, see Gain stage. A microphone preamplifier is colloquially called a microphone preamp, mic preamp, micamp, preamp (not to be confused with a control amplifier in high-fidelity reproduction equipment), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inverse-square Law
In science, an inverse-square law is any scientific law stating that a specified physical quantity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity. The fundamental cause for this can be understood as geometric dilution corresponding to point-source radiation into three-dimensional space. Radar energy expands during both the signal transmission and the reflected return, so the inverse square for both paths means that the radar will receive energy according to the inverse fourth power of the range. To prevent dilution of energy while propagating a signal, certain methods can be used such as a waveguide, which acts like a canal does for water, or how a gun barrel restricts hot gas expansion to one dimension in order to prevent loss of energy transfer to a bullet. Formula In mathematical notation the inverse square law can be expressed as an intensity (I) varying as a function of distance (d) from some centre. The intensity is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line Level
Line level is the specified strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog audio between components such as CD and DVD players, television sets, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles. Line level sits between other levels of audio signals. There are weaker signals such as those from microphones (microphone level or mic level) and instrument pickups (instrument level), and stronger signals, such as those used to drive headphones and loudspeakers (speaker level). The "strength" of these various signals does not necessarily refer to the output voltage of the source device; it also depends on its output impedance and output power capability. Consumer electronic devices concerned with audio (for example sound cards) often have a connector labeled ''line in'' and/or ''line out''. ''Line out'' provides an audio signal output and ''line in'' receives a signal input. The line in/out connections on consumer-oriented audio equipment are typically unbalanced, with a (0.14 inch, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sound Recording
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording. Sound recording is the transcription of invisible vibrations in air onto a storage medium such as a phonograph disc. The process is reversed in sound reproduction, and the variations stored on the medium are transformed back into sound waves. Acoustic analog recording is achieved by a microphone diaphragm that senses changes in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustic sound waves and records them as a mechanical representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a phonograph record (in which a stylus cuts grooves on a record). In magnetic tape recording, the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric current, which is then converted to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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