iSound Vocabulary

Mga Paps, care to share some words, phrases, places, abbreviations, acronyms or initials that you can describe in its simpliest form? These are our every day words that we speak in communicating about ICE or car stuffs. This will also serve as our guide or dictionary which will be our reference in our everyday forum posting.

Let me start.

A
ACOUSTIC SUSPENSION - a sealed or closed box speaker enclosure.
ALPHA - in sealed enclosure designs, the ratio of Vas to Vb, where Vb is the volume of the box you will build. See sealed enclosure.
ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC) - an electrical current that periodically changes in magnitude and direction.
AMPERE (A) - the unit of measurement for electrical current in coulombs per second. There is one ampere in a circuit that has one ohm resistance when one volt is applied to the circuit. See Ohms Law.
AMPLIFIER - A device which increases the level of a signal (by increasing the voltage or current). Some amplifiers are used to isolate or control a signal, and may not increase level -or may actually decrease the level (line out converter, head amp).

B
BANDWIDTH - Refers to the "space" in the frequency response of a device through which audio signals can pass (between lower and upper frequency limits, those points where the signal level has rolled off 3 db).
BASS - The frequency range covering approximately 20-1000 Hz.

C
CAPACITOR - are used to store energy for the amplifier to draw on demand. They come in many different sizes ranging from .5 Farads to well over 100.
CLIPPING - Occurs when the continuous power-to-peak power capabilities (headroom) of an amplifier are exceeded. The result is very audible distortion, also visible on an oscilloscope.

D
Db - The "db" (decibel) is a unit of measurement for ratios of sound level, power, voltage, and other quantities. The db is only meaningful when referenced to some actual value (e.g., speaker output: 93 db at one meter with 1 watt of input power).

E
EMMA - European Mobile Media Association.
EQUALIZER - electronic device used to boost or attenuate certain frequencies.

F
FREQUENCY - The rapidity of change in current or voltage in an electrical signal or of air pressure in an acoustical (sound) signal. Frequency is measured in cycles per second; 1 cycle per second (cps) is 1 hertz (hz). The higher a note on the musical scale, the higher its frequency.
Fs- free air resonance of driver in Hz

G
GROUND LOOP - Caused when multiple grounding points are used in a multi component system. Many stray electrical currents are flowing through the car chassis, as a result of the grounding of different electrical components in the car. If both ends of a braided shield are grounded, or if multi-component systems are grounded independently, electrical currents in the vicinity of the ground connections will take the path of least resistance to the other end, which is over the shield (or audio cables) rather than through the higher resistance of the ground. When an electrical current flows through a conductor (the braided shield or audio cables in this case), magnetic forces expand and contract around the conductor. This is the condition that exists when multiple grounding points are used. This induced current is what causes the noise on a system (generally seen as high-frequency oscillations on an oscilloscope).

H
HERTZ - A unit of measurement for frequency, equal to one cycle per second. Named after the physicist H.R. Hertz. Commonly abbreviated Hz. May also be a brand of car audio electronics.
HIGH PASS - A filter that passes frequencies above the one it was designed for unchanged, and attenuates , or reduces the level of the signal below the frequency range it was built for.
HIGH-PASS FILTER - an electric circuit that passes high frequencies but blocks low ones. See Band-pass and Low-pass filters.

I
IASCA - International Auto Sound Challenge Association.
ICE - In Car Electronics.
IMPEDANCE - Opposition to the flow of an alternating current (music is one form of alternating current). Although impedance and resistance share the same unit of measurement, the Ohm, they are not the same thing. In an electrodynamic speaker, the impedance varies with the frequency of the signal being applied to it.
INDUCTOR - An inductor is a coil of wire used in crossover filters that creates a frequency dependent impedance (lower at low frequencies and higher at high frequencies - the opposite of a what a capacitor creates).

J

K
KAC - Kotse Audio Club.

L
LOW PASS - A filter that passes frequencies below the one it was designed for unchanged, and attenuates , or reduces the level of the signal above the frequency range it was designed for.

M
MDF - Medium Density Fiberboard.
MONO - monophonic sound. A method for reproducing sound where the signals from all directions or sources are blended into a single channel.
MOSFET - Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors. Used in most modern, quality car audio amplifiers in the power supply (and sometimes in the output stage). MOSFET's run cooler than normal bipolar transistors, and have a faster switching speed.


N

O
OHM - A unit of measurement for resistance and impedance.

P
PINK NOISE - A sound which contains all frequencies perceptible to the human ear. Is used in the equalization of systems.
PRE-AMP - A pre-amp includes all of the controls for regulating tone, volume, and channel balance. It is a circuit unit which takes a small signal and amplifies it sufficiently to be fed into the power amplifier for further amplification.

Q

R
REAR FILL - in autosound, the ambience created by a pair of rear speakers that helps complete the soundstage. A set of high quality components for the front powered by an external amp and a set of coax mounted on the rear deck powered by the head unit or small amp is a good example of a rear fill application. Rear fill speakers should be faded so that they create a richer ambience, but you should not be able to isolate any sounds coming from them.
RESONANCE - The lower end of the frequency response spectrum (bass tones) is heavily influenced by the resonance (pitch) of the speaker. If you tighten a drum it raises its resonance. This same effect is achieved in a speaker by stiffening its cone suspension. A speaker with good resonance features good bass response without bottoming out (rattling or vibrating).
RMS - an acronym for "root mean square." Used in audio to help rate the continuous power output of an amplifier or input capability of speakers. This is the preferred method for comparing anything in audio applications.

S
Sd- surface area of cone.
SOUND STAGE - the sound systems ability to correctly place instruments on an imaginary soundstage; reproduction of the way the music would sound if you were actually watching the musicians play in front of you. The stage should always appear to be in front of you, with a proper "image" of where each musician is playing on the imaginary soundstage.
SPL- sound pressure level, the loudness of an acoustic wave stated in dB that is proportional to the logarithm of its intensity.
SQ- sound quality

SUBWOOFER - A loudspeaker made specifically to reproduce the lowest of audio frequencies, approximately between 20 hz and 125 hz.

T
THREE-WAY - a type of speaker system composed of three ranges of speakers, specifically a woofer, midrange, and tweeter.
TRANSDUCER - Any device which converts energy from one form to another, as electrical to acoustic or vice-versa. For example, loudspeakers and microphones are two types of transducers.
TREBLE - The high end of the audio spectrum, covering from approximately 4 kHz to 20 kHz.
TWEETER - A loudspeaker used in a 2-way or more complex speaker system to reproduce only the treble or high frequencies of the audible spectrum or speaker designed to reproduce the high or treble range of the sound spectrum.
TWO-WAY - a type of speaker system composed of two ranges of speakers, usually a woofer and tweeter


U

V
Vas- volume of air equivalent to driver from rest position
Vc- volume of a closed enclosure
Vb- volume of a vented enclosure
VOICE COIL - A coil of wire wrapped around a tube (coil form) attached to the speaker cone or driver diaphragm. The coil becomes an electromagnet when an audio signal is applied; this interacts with a permanent magnet and causes the cone or diaphragm to vibrate.
VOLT (E) - a unit of measurement used to measure how much "pressure" is used to force electricity through a circuit.


W
WATT - A unit of measure for electrical or acoustical power. A watt of electrical power is the use of one joule of energy per second. Watts of electrical power equals volts times amperes.
WAVELENGTH - the length of a sound wave in air. It can be found for any frequency by dividing the speed of sound in air (1120 feet per second) by the frequency of the sound, or: WL = 1120 / Freq.
WOOFER - A loudspeaker or driver in a 2-way or more complex speaker system that is used to reproduce only the bass or lower part of the audible spectrum.


X
Xmax- the maximum linear excursion of a loudspeaker piston

Y

Z

nice one pre..

marx wrote:

nice one pre..

Add ka pa ng terms pre, kulang pa vocabulary natin.

add ko lang
F
Fs- free air resonance of driver in Hz

S
Sd- surface area of cone
SPL- sound pressure level
SQ- sound quality

V
Vas- volume of air equivalent to driver from rest position
Vc- volume of a closed enclosure
Vb- volume of a vented enclosure

X
Xmax- the maximum linear excursion of a loudspeaker piston

Include ko na lang sa first post ang lahat na additions.

great post! something really relevant to this forum hehehhee

str8jaket wrote:

great post! something really relevant to this forum hehehhee

i agree, i like this one. galing bayerboy ah, looks like we got another worthy member na naman mga paps

that took a lot of effort on bayerboy's part ehehehe mo na ya hehehe

E

Equalizer - electronic device used to boost or attenuate certain frequencies.


H

High-pass Filter - an electric circuit that passes high frequencies but blocks low ones. See Band-pass and Low-pass filters.


M

Mono - monophonic sound. A method for reproducing sound where the signals from all directions or sources are blended into a single channel.

MOSFET - Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors. Used in most modern, quality car audio amplifiers in the power supply (and sometimes in the output stage). MOSFET's run cooler than normal bipolar transistors, and have a faster switching speed.

Mono - monophonic sound. A method for reproducing sound where the signals from all directions or sources are blended into a single channel.


R

RMS - an acronym for "root mean square." Used in audio to help rate the continuous power output of an amplifier or input capability of speakers. This is the preferred method for comparing anything in audio applications.

Rear fill - in autosound, the ambience created by a pair of rear speakers that helps complete the soundstage. A set of high quality components for the front powered by an external amp and a set of coax mounted on the rear deck powered by the head unit or small amp is a good example of a rear fill application. Rear fill speakers should be faded so that they create a richer ambience, but you should not be able to isolate any sounds coming from them.


S

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) - the loudness of an acoustic wave stated in dB that is proportional to the logarithm of its intensity.

Sound Stage - the sound systems ability to correctly place instruments on an imaginary soundstage; reproduction of the way the music would sound if you were actually watching the musicians play in front of you. The stage should always appear to be in front of you, with a proper "image" of where each musician is playing on the imaginary soundstage.

T

Three-way - a type of speaker system composed of three ranges of speakers, specifically a woofer, midrange, and tweeter.

Tweeter - a speaker designed to reproduce the high or treble range of the sound spectrum.

Two-way - a type of speaker system composed of two ranges of speakers, usually a woofer and tweeter



V

Voice coil - the wire wound around the speaker former. The former is mechanically connected to the speaker cone and causes the cone to vibrate in response to the audio current in the voice coil.

Volt (E) - a unit of measurement used to measure how much "pressure" is used to force electricity through a circuit.


W

Watt - a unit of electrical power. A watt of electrical power is the use of one joule of energy per second. Watts of electrical power equals volts times amperes.

Wavelength - the length of a sound wave in air. It can be found for any frequency by dividing the speed of sound in air (1120 feet per second) by the frequency of the sound, or: WL = 1120 / Freq.