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






2. 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






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






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






5. 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






6. 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






7. Difference in brightness between land and pit on a CD Physical Format






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






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






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






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






12. More accuracy in low amplitudes and less in higher amplitudes






13. Decibels Full Scale






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






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






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






17. 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






18. 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






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






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






21. 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






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






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






24. 1st commercially successful AoE format for the transmission of digital audio - video - and control signals over 64- channel 100Mbps Ethernet networks






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






26. Overtones that contribute to the timbre of a sound and make up a complex waveform's physical characteristics






27. 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






28. Specific set of instructions for carrying out a data reduction technique that determines how to 'save' binary data information efficiently






29. Sample Rate x Bit Depth x # of Channels






30. 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






31. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






39. 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






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






41. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






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






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






44. 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);






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






46. The loudest point of a Full Scale system






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






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






49. 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)






50. Sum of all harmonics; Sum of sine and cosine waves which have frequencies f - 2f - 3f - 4f...