Effects Return
An additional dedicated mixer input channel, usually with minimal facilities, designed to accommodate the output from an external effects unit. (cf. Aux Return)
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Warmth
A subjective term used to describe sound, where the bass and low-mid frequencies have depth and where the high frequencies are smooth-sounding rather than being aggressive or fatiguing. Warm-sounding tube (valve) equipment may also exhibit some of the aspects of compression.
Graphic Equaliser
An form of equaliser whereby multiple narrow segments or bands of the audio spectrum are controlled by individual cut/boost faders. The name comes about because the fader positions provide a graphic representation of the EQ curve. The bandwidths of the filters are typically octave (10 faders) or 1/3 octave (31 faders).
Cabinet
The physical construction which encloses and supports the loudspeaker drive units. Usually built of wood or wood-composites (although other materials are often used including metal alloys and mineral composites). Cabinets can be ‘sealed’ (often referred to, misleadingly, as an 'infinite baffle') or ‘vented’ in various ways (ported, bass-reflex, ATL, transmission line), the precise design influencing the bass and time-domain characteristics.
Cabinet Resonance
Any box-like construction will resonate at one or more frequencies. In the case of a loudspeaker, such resonances are likely to be undesirable as they may obscure or interfere with the wanted sound from the drive units. As resonance also involves the storing and releaseing of energy over time, cabinet resonances can result in 'time smearing', causing a sharp impulsive sound like a 'thud' to be reproduced as a prolonged 'boom'. Cabinets are usually braced and damped internally to minimise resonances.
Capacitor
A passive, two-terminal electrical component which stores energy in the form of an electrostatic field. The terminals are attached to conductive ‘plates’ which are separated by a non-conductive dielectric. Capacitance is measured in Farads and the amount of capacitance depends upon the size of the plates and the spacing between them. If a voltage is applied across the terminals of a capacitor a static electric field develops across the dielectric, with positive charge collecting on one plate and negative charge on the other. Where the applied voltage is an alternating signal, a capacitor can be thought of as a form of AC resistance that reduces with increasing signal frequency. The old-fashioned term is a ‘condensor’.
Capacitor Microphone
Also known as a 'condenser microphone'. This is a specific form of electrostatic microphone which operates on the principle of measuring the change in electrical voltage across a capacitor which contains a constant static charge. The capacitor is formed from two metal electrodes, one fixed (the back-plate) and the other a thin conductive membrane that flexes in response to sound pressure, and the static charge comes either from a DC-bias voltage or a dielectric material. (See also 'Back Electret', and 'RF Capacitor Microphone'.)
Acoustic Foam
An open-celled expanded polyurethane or melamine foam that allows sound waves to enter and flow through the foam to dissipate their energy and thus prevent the sound waves from being reflected. The density and depth of the foam affects the frequency range over which it is effective as an acoustic absorber.
Acoustic Treatment
A general term embracing a range of products or constructions intended to absorb, diffuse or reflect sound waves in a controlled manner, with the intention of bestowing a room with acceptable reverberation times at all frequencies, and a neutral overall sound character.
Active
The term typically describes an electronic circuit containing transistors, integrated circuits (ICs), tubes or other devices that require power to operate, and which are capable of amplification. Also used to describe loudspeaker monitoring systems which employ separate amplifiers to power each drive unit individually.
A/D [A-D] Converter
A device which converts an analogue audio signal into a digital representation. (Cf. D-A Converter.) (An explanatory video is available when subject link is clicked.)
ADAT Lightpipe
A widely used eight-channel optical digital audio interface developed by Alesis as a bespoke interface for the company's digital eight-track tape machines in the early 1990s (Alesis Digital Audio Tape). The interface transfers up to eight channels of 24-bit digital audio at base sample rates (44.1 or 48 kHz) via a single fibre-optic cable. This 'lightpipe' and its conenctors are physically identical to that used for the TOSlink optical S/PDIF stereo interface found on many digital consumer hi-fi devices. However, while the light-fibre itself can be used interchangeably for either format, the S/PDIF and ADAT interfaces are not compatible in any other way.
Additive Synthesis
A system for generating audio waveforms or sounds by combining basic waveforms or sampled sounds at different pitches, prior to further processing with filters and envelope shapers. The Hammond tonewheel organ was one of the first additive synthesizers, allowing harmonically complex waveforms to be created by combining tones of different pitches using 'harmonic drawbars'.
ADSR — Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
When creating artificial waveforms in a synthesizer, changes in the signal amplitude (or frequency) over time are controlled by an ‘envelope generator’ which typically has controls to adjust the Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release times, triggered by the pressing and subsequent release of a key on the keyboard.
Active Sensing
A system used to verify that a MIDI connection is working. It involves the sending device sending frequent short messages to the receiving device to reassure it that all is well. If these active sensing messages stop for any reason, then the receiving device will recognise a fault condition and switch off all notes. Not all MIDI devices support active sensing.
Buffer
Buffer — An electronic circuit designed to isolate the output of a source device from loading effects due to the input impedance of destination devices.
AES3
A digital audio interface which passes two digital audio channels, plus embedded clocking, control and status data, with up to 24 bits per audio sample and supporting sample rates up to 384kHz.