Conceptually, hypersonic sound (HSS) systems do to sound what laser technology does to light – focus sound into a tight beam that can travel great distances without dispersing. HSS systems can create sound that is meant only for a certain individual(s), not for everyone who just happens to be in the vicinity. HSS Speakers versus …
TOSLINK or Toshiba – LINK is a connection standard for digital audio streams. It is a standard which uses fiber optic cables. The important feature of fiber optic cables is that they convert audio signals into light impulses as opposed to electric signals. TOSLINK cables usually transmit their signals as the red LED lights. The …
One of the significant developments with the widespread adoption of the personal computer for home, business, and school use is the digitalization of media and the subsequent mass adaptation by consumers and industry. While digital media is not a new concept, it has only recently made its way into the “normal” household and is commonly …
A microphone is a device that converts acoustic power into electric power. Both the acoustic power and the electric power have similar wave characteristics that convert sound waves into electric voltages that eventually convert back into sound waves through speakers. Microphone were used with the first telephones, and then with radio transmitters soon after. Sir …
Most people usually look to Signal to Noise Ratio to measure the signal quality of either audio or video communications. Signal to noise ratio is usually written either S/N or SNR. Most of the time the signal to noise ratio is measured in decibels. A decibel is a measure of power or loudness. Not to …
A hydrophone is a type of microphone that is specifically designed to be used under water. Hydrophones depend on piezoelectric transducers to detect sound waves and other pressure waves coming from underwater vehicles, animals, and natural structures. Hydrophones were widely used in World War I, and II to detect U-boats (German submarines) and are still …
Noise-canceling headphones are headsets that have the ability not just to block out noise but to cancel it using the properties of sound waves. Sound waves have compression and rarefaction characteristics similar to the crests and troughs of a transverse wave. They also have amplitude and frequency characteristics. These characteristics of sound waves are used …
A breakout box is a device in which a multi-cable electric line is split into its component cables in order to allow for testing or signal enhancement. There are two main types of breakout boxes. They include breakout boxes that are built to enhance or customize audio or visual signals and breakout boxes that are …
Experts in science and technology developed a known digital audio standard, AES/EBU, to handle signals from digital audio systems. It is known officially by the name AES3 and an Audio Engineering Society and the European Broadcasting Union developed it, hence the name. It was first publicized in 1989, but was revised later in 1995, 1998, …
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio format similar to MP3, but it is a lossless encoding format, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. FLAC is unique as it is the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, …