This'll Help Most People

[musicsdarkangel]

Alright, one thing I've noticed, is whenever I take a look at some new piece of recording software, i'm like, what the heck does that mean??? There are all sortsa wierd features and crap...... I say lets start a list, and it'll contain what each component is.

Such as soundcards

Digital I/O? Analog I/O? (whats the difference?) (ins outs i'm guessing)
24 bit (well duh)
Frequency Response (so it doesn't record other frequencies?)
Analog to Digital Converters?? (what are those for?)
kHz?? (what does it do so that bigger is better?)
How can you tell how good the preamps are??

Alright, how about mixers?

Phantom power??
Trim controls?
Mix inserts??
Aux sends??
Mix buses?
XLF inputs??
Balanced Line Inputs?

Well, anyway, if any of you can help with this, it would help all of us newbs, thank you very much.

 

[tubedude]

Sounds like a good idea for the next tip-o-the-day in the newbies forum. Stay tuned....

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

OK... I'll bite...

Digital I/O? Analog I/O? (whats the difference?) (ins outs i'm guessing)

digital I/O - for transmission of a digital signal to and from the device. A variety of formats but AES/EBU is common in pro gear, S/PDIF is common in consumer and pro-sumer gear.

24 bit (well duh)

The word size of a digitally-stored signal - in very broad and general terms, the larger the word size, the higher the quality of the reproduced signal.

Frequency Response (so it doesn't record other frequencies?)

The operating frequency range of a device. If a device is only rated to 10Khz, it will not pass signals higher than that... wider is better, and the typical accepted range of human hearing response is loosely 20hz - 20kHz... The frequency response spec is also meaningless without a specified tolerance as in 50hz-17KHz +/-3db - meaning that the deviation is within 3db above or below the ideal of ruler-flat response.

Analog to Digital Converters?? (what are those for?)
kHz?? (what does it do so that bigger is better?)

A/D converters convert an analog signal to digital. D/A converters convert a digital signal back to analog. We hear only analog signals....
(I don't know what you mean by "kHz" or "bigger/better" here!)

How can you tell how good the preamps are??

With your ears!

Phantom power??

DC power supplied to mics or DI boxes via the mixer, thru the mic cable.

Trim controls?

Gain adjustment controls on a preamp.

Mix inserts??

Allows connection of outboard gear in-line of the mixer channel.

Aux sends??

Allows routing of multiple channels to a multi-purpose send. You can connect outboard gear thru the Auxes, or use them as monitor feeds... generally any type of multi-channel routing purpose.

Mix buses?

Allows assigning multiple channels to a single buss, to control many channels by a single (or 2) faders.

XLF inputs??

No such thing... I assume you mean XLR - which is the standard mic connector (also known as Cannon connectors)

Balanced Line Inputs?

Signal/cable connection mechanism that allows for noise-free transmission.

 

[Gidge]

https://homerecording.com/newbies.html

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Dammit - forgot about the glossary... I *hate* typing for nothing!

http://www.cp.duluth.mn.us/~dkrantz/glossary.html

Bruce

 

[musicsdarkangel]

damn i'm good