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






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






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






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






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






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






7. 'Reconstructing' part of digital audio






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






9. Measure of the amplitude of a longitudinal wave






10. (Amplitude Based) Amplitude: Voltage; Quantization; Bit Depth; Quantization Intervals; Quantization Noise; [Signal:Quantization Noise Ratio]; Dither; Dynamic Range






11. Electromagnetic receptor that detects the radiation known as visible light






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






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






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






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






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






17. 12cm plastic disc; 1.2mm thick; One- sided; Red Laser; 1.6 microns between tracks; 125 nanometer pits






18. 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






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






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






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






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






23. Measures the highest levels of a signal being recorded or mixed; Monitors for clipping - which occurs at 0dBFS); Does not always reflect perceived volume of signal






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






25. Having a repeated succession of waves or curves as in a sound waveform






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






27. The loudest point of a Full Scale system






28. If a signal is sampled at a rate higher than twice the highest significant signal frequency and at evenly spaced intervals - then the samples contain all the information of the original signal






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






30. EBU






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






32. Increases D/A sample rate from nominal rate to oversampling rate by turning series multi- bit PCM samples into 1- bit samples; (ex. => 44.1kHz sample rate converted to 2.8MHz and simultaneously converts multi- bit samples to 1- bit); Low Pass Filter






33. 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






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






35. 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






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






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






38. Digital Word -> Series of Resistors (each with assigned charges) -> Sample- and-Hold Circuit -> Anti-Imaging Filter (Smoothing Filter) -> Reconstructed Sample






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






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






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






42. 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






43. Decibels Full Scale






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






45. Used as the main disc from which other discs are made; Composed of ground glass with a very fine photoresistor layer; An imaging laser burns pit and land patterns in preparation for duplication






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






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






48. 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);






49. 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






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