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. Snippets of time in which frequency analysis takes place in a perceptual codec






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






3. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. Digital and analog processing capability is combined on a single microchip allowing for 1- bit resolution at high sample rates






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






13. 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






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






15. Waveform of a pure tone showing simple harmonic motion






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






17. 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






18. A time regulator that makes all samples and bits to align when working with interconnected digital devices; Basically a signal that all of the digital devices refer to when operating.






19. Psychoacoustic model of data reduction used for general audio compression that aims to transmit only features perceptible to the human ear; Useful for mastering streaming media






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






21. VBR; Most common & best data reduction technique; Codecs that encode data by determining how dense or sparse areas of the audio are; Can result in buffering issues






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






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






24. 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






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






26. 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);






27. Data reduction technique that selectively removes original information in order to significantly reduce the file size; Some data is lost; Files can be reduced up to 99% in size (90% with no perceived sound quality loss); Bit rate effects the perceive






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






29. Father of modern information theory; Solidified the Nyquist Theory by adding the concept that bits per second (binary representation of audio signals) must be at equal intervals to accurately represent data






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






31. 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






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






33. The elapsed time it takes for a packet of data to arrive at its destination; Lagging or pause of an audio signal as digital processing occurs; Can be managed utilizing several forms of 'audio monitoring'






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






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






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






37. Measure of the amplitude of a longitudinal wave






38. Series of dots and dashes representing the letters of the alphabet; Most common letters are represented by the shortest dots and dashes; Example of entropy coding






39. 8.75 GB; DS/SL






40. 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






41. Occurs as data is assembled into meaningful bits or information and as left & right channels are separated






42. 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)






43. The act of a frequency swinging back and forth with a steady - uninterrupted rhythm






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






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






46. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






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






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






49. 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






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