Glossary 203
D24—Owner’s Manual
Physical formatting—Also known as “low-level formatting,” disk formatting that,
in addition to initializing the disk’s filing system, divides tracks into sectors. Contrast
with logical formatting.
REL—An abbreviation for Relative. Contrast with ABS.
Rew—An abbreviation for rewind.
RTZ—An abbreviation for Return To Zero. A recorder function providing a quick way
to locate the zero position.
S/PDIF interconnect format—The digital audio interconnect format, developed
by Sony and Philips, for transferring digital audio between consumer-type digital audio
equipment, such as CD players, consumer DAT decks, and MiniDisc decks. Two chan-
nels of digital audio (left & right) are carried in an unbalanced connection, usually a
phono or optical connector.
Sampling rate — The number of times per second an analog audio signal is sampled
(i.e., measured) during A/D conversion.
SCMS (Serial Copy Management System)—Pronounced “scums,” a protection
system intended to prevent illegal copying of music. SCMS allows one-time serial copy-
ing of copy-protected material. If the source is not copy protected, it’s possible to make
any number of digital-to-digital copies of the material. If the source is copy protected,
however, it’s possible to make a first-generation copy, but further copies cannot be
made from the first-generation copy. SCMS is only effective when copying via digital
connections. Recordings made via analog connections are not affected.
SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface)—Pronounced “scuzzy.” A parallel
interface for connecting computers and peripherals, such as hard disk drives, remov-
able disk drives, and scanners. Up to eight devices (including the host computer) can
be connected to a single SCSI bus.
SCSI ID—An exclusive identity number assigned to each device on the SCSI bus.
SCSI terminator—A resistive device, installed at both ends of the SCSI bus, to elim-
inate transmission errors.
Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)—In an audio system, the difference between the oper-
ating signal level and the residual noise floor, expressed as a decibel ratio, and com-
monly used to measure a system’s noise performance.
SMPTE/EBU timecode—SMPTE/EBU timecode is the timecode format approved
for television by the SMPTE (Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers) in
the United States and the EBU (European Broadcast Union) in Europe.
Tascam TDIF-1 interconnect format—The Tascam Digital InterFace audio inter-
connect format typically found on Tascam TDIF-1-compatible digital audio equip-
ment. TDIF-1 is a bidirectional, 8-channel format, which uses 25-pin D-sub
connectors.
TC—An abbreviation for timecode.
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion)—The amount of distortion introduced by an
audio system relative to the audio signal, expressed as a percentage. Compared to
third-harmonic distortion, which is the measure of a single harmonic, total harmonic
distortion is the sum of distortions produced at all harmonics.
TR—An abbreviation for track.
Unity gain—A gain of one.
VFD—An abbreviation for vacuum fluorescent display.
Video sync—The black burst or color bar component of a composite video signal
used as a timecode reference with video editing equipment.