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. Discrete incremental distinctions made between the value of one sample and the next; Breaks down bit depth into a series of evenly spaced intervals






2. Eliminates frequencies above the Nyquist limit from becoming samples; Occurs prior to quantization






3. Unit of measurement that is equal to one millionth of a meter






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






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






6. 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






7. (Time Based) Frequency: Aliasing; Anti-Aliasing Filter; Sample Rate; Nyquist Limit






8. As sample rate is increased more room is created for a smoother slope of the attenuation band because Nyquist limit extends well beyond range of hearing with each increase






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






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






11. Removes high frequency images and noise and smoothes the stair case output coming from of the sample and hold circuit; Also called a SMOOTHING FILTER






12. Multi-Bit Words; (Pulse Code Modulation)






13. 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






14. RAM holds in memory audio data before it is transferred to the memory controller; Certain amount of data is processed before large amounts of data are streamed to prevent latency






15. Anytime bit depth is reduced the gap gets bigger so more dithering is required






16. 8- in/8- out on one cable; 25- pin D- sub connector






17. CBR; Codecs encodes data at a constant rate regardless of density of the audio file






18. In order to play multiple channels at one time data is buffered as read to disk; Latency happens between play command & beginning of playback






19. French mathematician that noted that any complex sound can be broken down into a series of component pure tones






20. Full Scale; Type of metering that measures level in digital recording system; Recording and Mixing levels should NEVER exceed 0dB FS in digital audio or clipping will occur






21. Serial Copy Management System; main difference between AES3 & S/PIDF






22. A drive that can read and write on optical media that hold up to 50 GB on two layers; 24- bit/96 kHz for 8-Channel; 24- bit/192 kHz for 6-Channel






23. Allows for an internal sample rate at multiples of the input and output rates; Alleviates the need for steep 'brickwall' filters; Often combined with internal '1- bit' processing; Increases smoothing effect






24. Branch of psychology concerned with the subjective perception of sound






25. Playback; I/O Connections; CPU (Streaming); Conversion from DAW or Software






26. Take up half as many bits (50%); Algorithm can keep same quality by lossing the stereo track






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






28. Level above which audible sounds are painful (125 - 130 db)






29. EDL; Final list of samples used in the audio editing process; Identified by time code






30. (Amplitude Based) Amplitude: Voltage; Quantization; Bit Depth; Quantization Intervals; Quantization Noise; [Signal:Quantization Noise Ratio]; Dither; Dynamic Range






31. Joint-Stereo Technique; Since the human brain is unable to localize sounds at high frequencies well sounds above 9 kHz threshold are encoded in mono






32. VBR; Most common & best data reduction technique; Codecs that encode data by determining how dense or sparse areas of the audio are; Can result in buffering issues






33. Governs the frequency response of a digital system; The highest- frequency component that can be captured with a sampling rate; always 1/2 of sampling rate; Also called the limiting frequency






34. Measure of the amplitude of a longitudinal wave






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






36. 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






37. High Pressure - Part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together






38. (AES/EBU); 110O - 2- channel balanced digital audio cable with an XLR connection; NOT a mic cable!!






39. A network communications protocol that specifies how machines will exchange data; Uses a broadcast system in which one machine transmits its message on the communication medium and the other machines listen for messages directed to them






40. The elapsed time it takes for a packet of data to arrive at its destination; Lagging or pause of an audio signal as digital processing occurs; Can be managed utilizing several forms of 'audio monitoring'






41. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






42. Snippets of time in which frequency analysis takes place in a perceptual codec






43. A digital filter's time domain output sequence when the input is a single sample is input






44. 12.33 GB; DS/ML






45. Improper (false) sampling of high frequencies that cause much lower frequencies to be produced when the audio is reconstructed; Foldover happens at higher frequencies as harmonics reach levels that exceed the Nyquist limit.






46. 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






47. AES






48. Reduces A/D sample rate from the oversampled rate to nominal rate by turning series of one- bit samples into a series of multi- bit PCM samples; (ex. => 2.8MHz sample rate converted to 44.1kHz and simultaneously converts 1-Bit samples to multi- bit);






49. More aggressive lossy data reduction techniques that require further manipulation of the stereo field; Examples are 'Intensity' & 'M-S'






50. ABR; Codecs that encode data by determining how dense or sparse areas of the audio are while also keeping bit rate within specified limits to avoid rebuffering