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. Have odd numbered harmonics






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






3. Same as 'aliasing'






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






5. Describes various optical disc characteristics including the size and shape of the disc - the size of pits - the speed at which the disc spins - and a multitude of aspects regarding the specifications of the player itself






6. 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






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






8. Defines the number of sample per second taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal; Governs the frequency response of digital audio






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






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






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






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






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






14. 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






15. MPEG; Standardizing body of audio coding






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






17. Computer program or device capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream with the end result being a reduced file size






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






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






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






21. 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






22. Amplitude meter that takes the square root of all instantaneous amplitudes and averages them to find a mean and squares that value; Useful with particularly complex waveforms






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






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






25. Measurement at regular intervals of the amplitude of a varying waveform (in order to convert it to digital form); There must be a minimum of 2 samples for each cycle in a waveform






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






27. 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






28. The frequency range that is allowed through a filter






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






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






31. Removes high frequency images and noise and smoothes the stair case output coming from of the sample and hold circuit; Also called a SMOOTHING FILTER






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






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






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






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






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






37. 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






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






39. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






48. Very quiet digital amplifier that produces a series of output pulses with the audio signal coded the same as the width of the output pulses; Pulses are used to represent wave forms and are either on or off; Intense signals have long pulses with short






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. 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