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






2. Unit of measurement that is equal to one billionth of a meter






3. 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






4. Each bit in the bit depth is equal to a _____ increase in dynamic range






5. Eight channel digital surround sound system by Dolby






6. Have odd numbered harmonics






7. Subtract place values from the decimal number and place ones or zeros in the correct places






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






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






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






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






12. Contains all even and odd harmonics associated with a fundamental tone - making it a rich source for modeling other sounds; Amplitude of each overtone decreases exponentially as a ratio of the harmonic's frequency to that of the fundamental






13. Leaving space at beginning and ending of song for data crunching during mastering; Last step in mastering process






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






15. Smallest interval measurable by a scientific instrument; Defined by bit rate (sample rate x bit depth)






16. The mathematics - algorithms - and the techniques used to manipulate signals after they have been converted to digital form






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






18. Pertaining to hearing or sound; Combination of the intensity of air pressure molecules with amplitude






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






20. Sony sigma- delta modulation based technology that bypasses the decimation and interpolation steps found in PCM converters






21. EBU






22. A sample- by- sample operation on two signals






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






24. Based on Full Scale (dB/FS); -6dB represents a loss of one bit so account for this when calculating






25. Uses entropy coding as the basis; Computer data compression algorithm that packages files such as .ZIP & .RAR






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






27. The difference in volume between the loudest and quietest sounds of a source






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






29. 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






30. 8- in/8- out on one cable; 25- pin D- sub connector






31. The continuous loss of signal strengths as a signal travels through a medium






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






33. Based on psychoacoustics - these are the basis of frequency analysis for a perceptual codec;






34. Circuit that interprets the meaning of the symbols as they were chosen and arranged by the encode






35. Channels are processed one at a time and the results are stored on multiple CPU buffers that alternately send data as DAW requests the data for playback; First few seconds are relayed to the buffer prior to processing and playback and it continuously






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






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






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






39. Electromagnetic receptor that detects the radiation known as visible light






40. 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






41. The frequency above or below which attenuation begins in a filter circuit






42. Six channel (five speakers and one subwoofer for bass) digital surround sound system by Dolby






43. Lossless Format; Can hold up to 25GB on a single- layer disc and 50GB on a dual- layer disc






44. Digital (binary) measurements of how long each pulse is either on or off; Width of increasing voltage or decreasing voltage is assigned a 1 or 0 respectively






45. Voltage -> Dither -> Anti-Aliasing (Low Pass Filter) -> Sample & Hold Circuit -> Successive Approximation/Quantizer --) 100111010 (PCM Audio File)






46. 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)






47. The difference between the analog value and the approximated digital value due to the 'rounding' that occurs while converting the analog signal to digital






48. Industry Standards: -6 dB Peak = -20 RMS Meter






49. 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






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