In
acoustics and
audio, a transient is a high amplitude, short-duration sound at the beginning of a waveform that occurs in phenomena such as musical sounds, noises or speech.
Transients do not necessarily directly depend on the frequency of the tone they initiate. It contains a high degree of non-periodic components and a higher magnitude of high frequencies than the harmonic content of that sound.
Transients are more difficult to encode with many
audio compression algorithms, causing
pre-echo.
Sonar
The term ''transient'' is used by military
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...
operators to describe unexpected sounds emanating from another vessel such as operating machinery, a metal hatch being slammed, or the flooding and pressurization of
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
or
vertical launch tubes.
See also
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Prefix (acoustics)
*
Impulse function
*
Onset (audio)
*
Transient response
In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, a transient response is the response of a system to a change from an equilibrium or a steady state. The transient response is not necessarily tied to abrupt events but to any event that aff ...
– a common electrical engineering term that may be the source of the idea of an acoustic "transient"
References
{{reflist
Acoustics
Sonar
de:Einschwingvorgang