APPENDIX - Glossary
AES/EBU
Professional digital In/Out standard, using balanced XLR cables. The AES/EBU format outputs 24 bit.
S/PDIF
Consumer digital In/Out standard, using coaxial
TC products outputs all 24 bits on S/PDIF.
Tos-link
Also called optical S/PDIF. 24 bits can be transferred with this format.
ADAT/TDIFF
Format capable of transferring 8 channels of 24 bit 48kHz using optical cables.
Bits & Bytes
1 bit is the smallest unit for information in the digital world. Its value can be can be 0 or 1 or you could say on/off. 1 byte=8 bit.
Compressor Overshoot
When slow attack times are used overshoots might occur. This causes an unwanted click/distortion. To prevent compressor overshoots you can use a brickwall type limiter.
Cross-over point
Splitpoint indicating where the different bands begins/stops working
dBFS
dB full scale. 0dBFS is the absolute max in the digital world. Any signal above 0dBFS will cause serious unwanted distortion.
dBu
Measuring unit in the analog world. 0dBu=0,775V in 600ohm
Dithering
When going from one type of bit resolution to a lower, e.g. from 24 bit to 16 bit, you actually loose 8 bits of information.
The process of cutting of bits is called truncation and it introduces digital distortion of low level signals, due to the lack of complete signal information. To compensate for this, dithering must be applied. Dithering is a small amount of filtered noise, shaped and optimized for the human ear, and when added to the truncated signal the effect is a less distorted low level signal.
Dithering is only relevant on digital Outputs and it is always the receiving device that determines the number of bits you must dither to.
A DAT or CDR recorder should always be dithered to 16 bit. TC Products do not perform truncation on digital Outputs. Truncation is left to be done by the receiving device.
House Clock
A separate piece of equipment used only to generate a common standard clock keeping all the attached digital equipment in sync.
Master Clock
If you don’t use a separate House Clock you can use most digital units for the same purpose. In this case the unit you sync to is called the Master Clock.
Sample Rate
The quality of sound depends on how precise you can measure the analog signal. This is done by taking “pictures” of the wave at a given rate: The Sample Rate.
The maximum frequency that can be successfully reproduced is the Sample Rate divided by two since you need two points to define a sinus curve. E.g. the max frequency that can be successfully reproduce with a Sample Rate of 48kHz is 24kHz.
Sys-Ex - System Exclusive MIDI Commands
Device dependent MIDI commands normally used for remote control.
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