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






2. ADPCM; Pulse code modulation that produces a digital signal with a lower bit rate than standard PCM; Records only the difference between samples






3. Splits the input signal and mixes it with an analog copy so that no latency is present






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






5. 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






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






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






8. 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)






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






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






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






12. The more bits allocated during quantization - the more accurate the measurement






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






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






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






16. Mixing data and control characters in a single operation






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






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






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






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






21. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






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






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






24. 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






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






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






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






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






29. Accuracy with which an electronic system reproduces the sound or image of its input signal






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






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






32. Sample Rate x Bit Depth x # of Channels






33. 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






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






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






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






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






38. Data transmission protocol over which computer network traffic travels; Poorly suited to real- time transmission but numerous attempts have been made to harness the technology because of its flexible routing; Uses simple Cat5 cabling; Resists interfe






39. CobraNet; EtherSound; Dante; AVB (currently under development)






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






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






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






44. 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






45. 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






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






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






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






49. 8- in/8- out on one cable; 25- pin D- sub connector






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