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






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






3. Process of building a complex tone by starting with the fundamental frequency and adding pure tone harmonics






4. 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






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






6. ADAT Optcal; 8- in/8- out on two cables; Fiber- optic - TOSLINK connector






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






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






9. Rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces a flow of electricity in a circuit; Expressed in volts






10. 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






11. Used when the reference pressure of a sound is 20 microPa (0.00002); Sound Pressure Level; Measure of amplitude






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






13. Stores only one copy of a stereo signal and assigns it to both channels in order to save 50% of original bandwidth






14. Deviation from a normal - steady pulse or tick of a clock that contributes to misrepresentation of a signal; Result of small timing irregularities that become magnified during the transmission of digital signals as the signals are passed from one dev






15. 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






16. 'Capturing' part of digital audio; Never captures a signal perfectly






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






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






19. Having a repeated succession of waves or curves as in a sound waveform






20. The frequency range that is allowed through a filter






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






22. Have odd numbered harmonics






23. Method of representing an acoustic quantity with a series of binary numbers; Can have only specific individually distinct values






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. 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






26. Represents the amplitude component of the digital sampling process; Technique of incrementing a continuous analog event into a discrete set of binary digits (bits)






27. Measure of the amplitude of a longitudinal wave






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






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






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






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






32. Also known as equal loudness curves; Graph that indicates the average ear sensitivity to different frequencies at different SPL levels (as volume increases - these curves flatten out)






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






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






35. 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






36. 16-Bit; 44.1 kHz; PCM; Stereo






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






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






39. 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






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






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






42. How Loud (Y-Axis) & How Fast (X-Axis)






43. The ability of a digital system to perform complex DSP without running into problems with overflow or loss of resolution






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






45. Measures the highest levels of a signal being recorded or mixed; Monitors for clipping - which occurs at 0dBFS); Does not always reflect perceived volume of signal






46. The set of rules that computers use to move files from one computer to another on an internet






47. HD Audio format; Lossless Compression; 24- bit/96 kHz; 5.1 Surround or 24- bit / 192 kHz stereo sound






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






49. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






50. Found that aliasing was always a problem no matter how fast you sample; Less data recorded but more accurate; 2 samples per wave length.