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DAC
Digital to Analogue Converter. A device that takes numerical digital data, and converts it into analogue electrical signals.
DA CAPO
Literal xxxxxxx. In classical music, it is the convention of an assumed repetition of the opening section of music to a point marked fine.
DAISY CHAIN
Term used to describe the serial connection of various devices.
DAISY CHAINING
The process of connecting devices in series. 1. MIDI equipment is daisy chained by sequentially connecting the MIDI THRU port of one device to the MIDI IN port of the next device. Any MIDI information entering the first device will be sent to all the following devices in the chain. 2. IT. Storage devices such as hard drives and CDroms can be connected in series, daisy chained from a single IDE input to the main board.
DAMPING
Refers to an object, which interferes with a vibrating object. A damper may stop the vibration (and thus the sound) of the object completely, however if a damper touches a vibrating object only lightly it may change the way the object vibrates, thus changing the characteristic of the sound itself. An example of this is a string harmonic produced by lightly touching a vibrating string at a perfect fifth or octave from the fundamental.
DAMPING FACTOR
DASH
Digital Audio Stationary Head
DATA
DAT
Digital Audio Tape
dB(A)
A measurement produced by a sound-level meter reading with an A-Weighting network. It is used to simulate the human ear response at a loudness level of 40 PHONS
dB(B)
A measurement produced by a sound-level meter reading with a B-Weighting network simulating the human ear response at a loudness level of 70 PHONS
dB(C)
A measurement produced by a sound level meter reading, used for analysis at high SPL levels. The reference level is 20 microPa
dBm
A dB value used to express electrical power with reference to 1 mW
dB/OCTAVE
dBu
A dB value used to express electrical voltages with reference to 0.775V -
dBSPL
A dB value to express Sound Pressure Level with reference to 0.00002 Pa (or N/m2).
dBV
A dB value to express electrical voltage with reference to 1V
DBX
A noise reduction system.
dB(Z)
A measurement produced by a sound level meter reading with no weighting network in its circuit, i.e. flat.
DCA
Digital Control Amplifier/Attenuator
DCO
Digital Control Oscillator
DEAD ROOM
A room designed with minimum reverberation properties.
DECADE
Ten times any quantity or frequency range. The human hearing range is about 3 decades.
DECAY
See ADSR
DECAY RATE
A measure of the decay in level of acoustical signals. It is expressed in dB/second.
DECIBEL
(db) A logarithmic measurement of electrical power, voltage or current ratios. Named after Alexander Graham Bell. A decibel is 1/10th of a Bel, which is the logarithm of the ratio of two powers.
DE-EMPHASIS
A process of reducing the level of the high frequency content in a signal.
DE-ESSER
A device that reduces the amount of sibilance in an audio signal. It consists of a compressor with a very narrow band filter.
DELAY
A specialized form of reverberation. Reverb is commonly used to denote acoustic properties of spaces, such as rooms and halls, whereas delay controls tangible echoes.
DELAY LINE
A a device whose output signal is delayed in time compared to its input. Digital, analogue or mechanical delay lines are available.
DEMAGNETISATION
The process of removing remnant magnetism on a device, often tape heads.
DEPTH
DEVELOPMENT
Musical See Sonata form.
DIAPHRAGM
1.Resonant membrane 2.Muscle used for breath control, located just below the rib cage
DI
Direct Injection.
DIFFRACTION
The distortion of a wave front caused by the presence of an obstacle in the sound field.
DIFFUSOR
A device that diffuses sound through reflection-phase grating means.
DIELECTRIC
An insulating material found between the two plates of a capacitor.
DIGITAL
Refers to a means of storage. Audio may be stored in various different digital formats such as .MP3 or .WAV. These files may be stored on various media such as Carom or a magnetic disk.
DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACES
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
DIMINUENDO
Literal Italian phrase used in Western music notation. Used to denote a phrase getting quieter.
DIN CONNECTIONS
Refers to a multi-connection cable and pin connection standard.
DIN NOISE LEVEL
DIRECTIONAL PERCEPTION
DISK
Refers to a magnetic disk. This can be a fixed disk, which at the time of writing ranges up to 20 gigabytes of storage space, or a removable format, such as a floppy disk or a zip disk.
DISTORTION
An overdriven signal used to pleasing effect by generations of musicians.
DITHER
The noise introduced to an analogue signal to linearize the quantisation process.
DOLBY
Noise Reduction system
DOLBY SURROUND SOUND
Means of encoding a four signal/speaker format within a stereo format. Stereo equipment will play the file in stereo. Equipment, which is capable of decoding the signal, will recognize phase shifting within the stereo files.
DRUM MACHINE
An electronic musical device producing percussive sounds. These may be samples of acoustic instruments, or synthesised in various ways.
DSP
Digital Signal Processor. A special computer processor optimised for audio use.
DSZ
Diffused Sound Zone
DUBBING
DUCKING
DYNAMIC MIC
Type of microphone. Unlike a capacitor microphone does not require phantom power.
DYNAMIC RANGE
The difference in an audio signal between the loudest and quietest portions. Expressed in dB.
DYNE
The force that will accelerate a 1 gram mass at the rate of 1 cm/sec. The old standard reference level for sound pressure level for sound pressure was 0.0002 dynes/sq cm. the same level today is expressed by 20 micro Pascals.
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