In live audio, an equalizer inserted in the monitor system that attempts to compensate for frequency response changes caused by room acoustics.
The natural ambience of a room, including the reverberation and background noise.
The natural background noise occurring in a room without music playing or people speaking. In recording audio for film and TV, on-set sound mixers capture a take of room tone for the purpose of providing continuity between clips of dialogue during post-production.
The effective average value of an AC waveform. Used as a measure of the overall level of the sound rather than just measuring by the peaks. (See also “RMS Metering,” “Peak Metering.”)
A circular head with two (or more) gaps that rotates against the direction of tape motion at a slight angle to the tape travel.
A low-frequency noise, typically caused by earth/floor vibration or by uneven surfaces in the drive mechanism of a tape recorder or playback unit.
Abbreviation for “Sony/Phillips Digital Interface,” a protocol for sending and receiving digital audio signals using a common RCA connector.
A setting on an analog multitrack tape recorder that will prevent a track from recording when the record button is pressed.
An additional take of audio captured for good measure after a take of acceptable quality has been recorded.
1) In digital recording, the numerical measure of the level of a waveform at a given instant of time. Analog music is represented digitally by many samples taken in rapid succession. 2) A short segment of audio recorded for the purpose of reproducing and manipulating the sound digitally.
See “MIDI Sample Dump Standard.”
In digital recording, the number of times per second that samples are taken. The higher the sample rate, the more realistic the digital reproduction of the sound, and the higher frequencies of the sound can be reproduced. In digital audio, the quality and resolution of a digitally reproduced sound are described as a combination of sample rate and bitrate. (See also “Bitrate.”)
The conversion of digital audio taken at one sample rate to a different sample rate without first converting the signal to analog.
A device that records and plays samples, often with features for editing, manipulating and storing the samples.
1) The point at which magnetic tape reaches full magnetization due to an excess of sound level. This creates some distortion that some audiophiles describe as “analog warmth” a desirable quality in certain instances. 2) The audio distortion that occurs by overdriving a signal through a tube amplifier or preamp—again producing color and warmth in the sound that engineers often find appealing. 3) A digital plugin that emulates tape or tube saturation.
