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THE AUDIO DICTIONARY THE AUDIO D I C T I O N A RY Glenn D. White and Gary J. Louie Third Edition, Revised and Expanded University of Washington Press Seattle and London Third edition, revised and expanded © 2005 by the University of Washington Press Printed in the United States of America 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. University of Washington Press PO Box 50096 Seattle, WA98145-5096 www.washington.edu/uwpress Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data White, Glenn D., 1933– The audio dictionary / by GlennD. White and Gary J. Louie.—3rd ed., rev. and expanded. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-295-98498-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sound—Recording and reproducing—Dictionaries. I. Louie, Gary J. II. Title. TK7881.4.W48 2004 621.389'3—dc22 2004029425 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. This edition contains several entries from Larry Blake’s Glossary of Film Sound terms. The complete version of which is only available on his Swelltonelabs website <www.swelltonelabs.com>. To Naomi Pascal, who first suggested that I write this book, and who, with characteristic enthusiasm and good humor, inspired me to finish it. —G.W. Contents Preface to the Third Edition ix Introduction xi The Audio Dictionary 1 Appendix 1. The Art and Science of Good Acoustics 429 Appendix 2. Some Frequently Used Symbols and Units 438 Appendix 3. How to Subdue a Hi-Fi Salesperson 441 Appendix 4. Good Acoustics in Small Rooms and Auditoria 445 Appendix 5. Some Notes on Audio Measurements 464 Appendix 6. The Balanced Line 477 Appendix 7. Some Notes on Digital Audio 480 Appendix 8. Musical Scales and the Tuning of Musical Instruments 482 Appendix 9. Some Notes on the History of High Fidelity 487 Appendix 10. Some Notes on Decimal and Binary Arithmetic as Used in Computer Terminology 491 Appendix11. Some Notes on Impedance and Frequency Response 493 Bibliography 497 Preface to the Third Edition Although the second edition ofThe Audio Dictionaryis enjoying healthy sales, friends, acquaintances, and strangers have asked me now and then when a third edition would be published. When my good friend Naomi Pascal, now Editor-at-Large at the University of Washington Press, who inveigled me to write the book in the first place, asked me the same question, I decided it was time. I realized at once that putting a new edition together would be a daunting task to tackle because of the new audio-related technologies such as the explosion of the home theater systems market, and the upgrades in motion picture sound. I asked Gary Louie, who gave me many suggestions and lots of information when I was preparing the first two editions, if he would like to cowrite this new edition. Gary, a longtime friend and crack audio/video electronics technician, experienced recording engineer, and avid collector of audio memorabilia and arcana, agreed, and the present volume is the result. Gary and I were amazed at the magnitude of changes the audio industry has undergone in the last ten years. This third edition contains over 400 new entries, the second edition entries and appendices have been thoroughly gone over and in some cases enlarged and brought up to date, and two new appen- dixes have been added. Glenn White 2005 ix
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