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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. A sample- by- sample operation on two signals






2. Number or variable that represents the number of times the base of a power is used as a factor; Defines magnitude






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






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






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






6. Signal conversions are mixed with playback tracks resulting in near-zero latency






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






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






9. Data reduction technique that does not effect quality of original audio; No effect on original quality; Typically around 50% reduction; Exact reconstruction of digital code for the audio signal






10. 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






11. 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






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






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






14. Apple Lossless; Windows Media Lossless; DTS HD Master Audio; Dolby True HD; FLAC






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






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






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






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






19. 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






20. 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






21. 4.38 GB; SS/SL






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






23. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






24. Built into DAWs; Bits are added when signals are mixed together to avoid clipping






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






26. 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






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






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






29. 1.) Taking a series of evenly- spaced measurements 2.) Signal contains no frequency components higher than half the sample rate






30. Sony and Philips optical disc format; Utilizes sigma delta DSD to offer higher resolution; 1- bit; 2.8224 MHz; 6-Channel






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






32. Circuit that seizes voltage values with each tick of an A/D device's internal clock






33. 12.33 GB; DS/ML






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






35. High channel count; 64 channels on one cable; Coaxial cable with BNC connector or fiber optic with ST1 connector






36. Same as 'aliasing'






37. Reduces the percieved distortion due to quantization error; Low level white noise source is introduced to make the profile of the quantization 'noise' more irregular; Useful when reducing the number of bits per word in a signal (i.e. when converting






38. AES






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






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






41. 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






42. Process that begins with a fast FFT analysis of the spectra of two input signals - then the multiplication of like frequencies - and IFFT to finalize the process






43. 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)






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






45. 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






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






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






48. 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






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






50. 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