Test your basic knowledge |

Digital Audio

Subject : engineering
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Method used in digital recording and reproduction in which a signal is sampled at various points and the resulting value is translated into binary numbers






2. DAW's and software must buffer when converting or bouncing and this latency can add up if not monitored






3. Softest sound that can be heard by the average human ear (0 dB)






4. Difference in brightness between land and pit on a CD Physical Format






5. Number of bits used to represent the smallest unit of information in an audio file; Greater bit depth = better quality audio






6. Measuring equipment in A/D conversion that processes voltage and provides a value for that voltage






7. Allowance of noise floor below that which is required for the final product






8. Ultra low- latency - 512- channel (on a gigabit network) - less flexible AoE format; Routed like audio cables...not network cables






9. Cable used to transmit data; Inner cable is surrounded by a plastic insulator - which is surrounded by a wire mesh conductor that insulates the internal signal wire from external interference and an outer casing that functions as a ground






10. The process of reducing the space required to store data by efficiently encoding the content.






11. Algorithm uses matrix of a mid/side microphone pair to determine a side signal & that signal is reduced then distributed as code in stereo






12. Measure of sound pressure over the frequency spectrum - for which a listener perceives a constant loudness when presented with pure steady tones






13. Digital Word -> Series of Resistors (each with assigned charges) -> Sample- and-Hold Circuit -> Anti-Imaging Filter (Smoothing Filter) -> Reconstructed Sample






14. Increases or decreases the digital signal so that the loudest sample is brought up to 0dBfs; Uses all bits from dynamic range and makes it even from track to track






15. The number of compressions or rarefactions in one second; The higher the frequency the more compressions & rarefactions per second; Measured in Hertz






16. A method of representing real numbers using a mantissa and an exponent






17. When recording you want the smallest buffer available; When mixing you want the largest buffer available






18. A frequency specified for a filter (digital or electronic) the marks the point at which the frequency content of a signal is altered +/- 3dB






19. Fractional part of a floating- point number; Also called the mantissa; Defines precision






20. Root Mean Square; Refers to taking the square root of all instantaneous amplitudes; Takes the average of those squares; (-6 Peak Level is approximately equal to -20 RMS)






21. Amplitude meter that takes the square root of all instantaneous amplitudes and averages them to find a mean and squares that value; Useful with particularly complex waveforms






22. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding); MP3; RA; WMA; OGG Vorbis; Dolby Digital/AC-3; DTS; ADPCM






23. Eight channel digital surround sound system by Dolby






24. Defines the number of sample per second taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal; Governs the frequency response of digital audio






25. Low Pressure; Part in a longitudinal wave where the particles are spread apart






26. Very quiet digital amplifier that produces a series of output pulses with the audio signal coded the same as the width of the output pulses; Pulses are used to represent wave forms and are either on or off; Intense signals have long pulses with short






27. Very selective method of lowering buffer levels by halting different levels of audio processing






28. Signal voltage is relayed to a register from sample- and - hold circuit; Holds reference frequencies in binary form that decrease in value; Finds approximated value & assigns binary number accordingly






29. A situation where a calculated value cannot fit into the number of digits reserved for it






30. Number of bits per second processed when sampling sound; (Sampling Rate x Bit Depth) = Resolution






31. Reference voltage determined by summing the voltage values of a predetermined number of previous samples; Numbers of 1 in row = waveform peak; Numbers of 0 in row = waveform trough; Basis of Sony's Direct Stream Digital (DSD)






32. Inner ear component that attaches to the stapes and helps to decrease the amplitude of vibrations; Causes the masking phenomenon






33. Perceptual coding technique that uses louder sounds of a similar frequency to decide what information is to be saved during data reduction






34. Toshiba developed digital audio interface utilizes fiber optics as a transmission medium.






35. Same as 'aliasing'






36. Measurement at regular intervals of the amplitude of a varying waveform (in order to convert it to digital form); There must be a minimum of 2 samples for each cycle in a waveform






37. Only 2 digits used; The value of each place (ones - hundreds - etc.) are as follows from greatest to least: 128 - 64 - 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1






38. 15.9 GB; DS/DL






39. 1.) Bit Rate x Sample Rate (you'll get b/sec) 2.) Multiply by 60 if converting seconds to minutes 3.) Divide by 8 to convert bits to Bytes and get B/min 4.) Divide by 1 -024 to get KB/min and keep doing it until you get desired bit rate specification






40. Describes acceptable data - performances both offered and essential for a disc player - and the complete user experience






41. The art of deciding where to place a processor in signal flow based on how that processor will be influenced by the other processors in the path






42. Samples are duplicated and the playback sampling rate correspondingly increased; Significantly raises the Nyquist limit to a range well beyond human hearing; Processing 'pushes' the distortion resulting from quantization error into these higher frequ






43. 8- in/8- out on one cable; 25- pin D- sub connector






44. Signal that uses variable voltage to create continuous waves resulting in an inexact transmission






45. Series of dots and dashes representing the letters of the alphabet; Most common letters are represented by the shortest dots and dashes; Example of entropy coding






46. Used as the main disc from which other discs are made; Composed of ground glass with a very fine photoresistor layer; An imaging laser burns pit and land patterns in preparation for duplication






47. Overtones that contribute to the timbre of a sound and make up a complex waveform's physical characteristics






48. Data is transmitted over fiber optic lines; Uses a TOSLINK connecter instead of an RCA type; Can transmit multi- channel audio; Not susceptible to ground hum and loops; Able to support far higher rates of data transfer over greater distances than coa






49. Single- pin RCA cable or fiber- optic TOSLINK connector used for digital transfer; 75O coaxial - 2- channel unbalanced; 'Consumer' format of AES3






50. Ratio of magnitude of the analytical signal to the magnitude of the background noise signal