Insulator
A material that does not conduct electricity. (Also see conductor)
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Instrument Level
The nominal signal level generated by an electric instrument like a guitar, bass guitar or keyboard. Typically around -25dBu. Instrument signals must be amplified to raise them to line-level.
Interface
A device that acts as an intermediary to two or more other pieces of equipment. For example, a MIDI interface enables a computer to communicate with MIDI instruments and keyboards.
Intermittent
Something that happens occasionally and unpredictably, typically a fault condition.
Intermodulation Distortion
A form of non-linear distortion that introduces frequencies not present in and musically unrelated to the original signal. These are invariably based on the sum and difference products of the original frequencies.
I/O
The input/output connections of a system.
IPS
Inches Per Second. Used to describe tape speed. Also the Institute of Professional Sound (www.ips.org.uk)
IRQ
Interrupt Request. Part of the operating system of a computer that allows a connected device to request attention from the processor in order to transfer data to it or from it.
Isolator (also decoupler)
A device intended to prevent the transmission of physical vibrations over a specific frequency range, such as a rubber or foam block. The term can also be applied to audio isolation transformers, used to provide galvanic isolation between the source and destination, thus avoiding ground loops.
Isopropyl Alcohol
A type of alcohol commonly used for cleaning and de-greasing tape machine heads and guides.
Jackfield
A system of panel-mounted connectors used to bring inputs and outputs to a central point from where they can be routed using plug-in patch cords. Also called a patchbay.
Jack Plug
A commonly used audio connector, usually ¼ inch in diameter and with either two terminals (tip and sleeve known as TS) or three (tip, ring, sleeve called TRS). The TS version can only carry unbalanced mono signals, and is often used for electric instruments (guitars, keyboards, etc). The TRS version is used for unbalanced stereo signals (eg for headphones) or balanced mono signals.
Jargon
Specialised words associated with a specialist subject.
Jog Wheel
A hardware controller in the form of a rotary encoder which is often used to enable audio scrubbing in a DAW or audio editing platform.
k
(lower-case k) The standard abbreviation for kilo, meaning a multiplier of 1000 (one thousand). Used as a prefix to other values to indicate magnitude, eg. 1kHz = 1000Hz, 1kOhm = 1000 Ohms.
K-Metering
An audio level metering format developed by mastering engineer Bob Katz which must be used with a monitoring system set up to a calibrated acoustic reference level. Three VU-like meter scales are provided, differing only in the displayed headroom margin. The K-20 scale is used for source recording and wide dynamic-range mixing/mastering, and affords a 20dB headroom margin. The K-14 scale allows 14dB of headroom and is intended for most pop music mixing/mastering, while the K-12 scale is intended for material with a more heavily restricted dynamic range, such as for broadcasting. In all cases, the meter's zero mark is aligned with the acoustic reference level.
Lay Length
The distance along the length of a cable over which the twisted core wires complete one complete turn. Shorter lay lengths provide better rejection of electromagnetic interference, but make the cable less flexible and more expensive.
LED
Light Emitting Diode. A form of solid state lamp.
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display.
LFO
Low Frequency Oscillator, often found in synths or effects using modulation.