Brooks HI FI projectors Compact Disc CD

A small optical disk with digital audio recorded on it.

Active/Inactive Microphones
Scientific definitions aside, active microphones generally sound better than inactive ones, but they generally cost more. They also require the use of either a battery or phantom power while inactive mics need only be plugged into the mic cord in order to work. In most playing situations, the subtle improvement in sound quality from an active mic isn't worth the extra cost and hassle. One possible exception it the headset mic. Put simply, inactive headset mics just plain suck. Active headset mics put out a much stronger signal and feed back much less.

Brooks Hi Fi speakers Cable, XLR
A balanced cable used for low impedance microphones and sometimes for connections between some parts of the PA. Commonly referred to as a "mic cord".

Bar
A term meaning the same thing as the term Measure (the grouping of a number of beats in music, most-often four beats).

Brooks Hi Fi reviews Capsule
1) The variable capacitor section of a condenser microphone.
2) In other types of microphones, the part of the microphone that includes the diaphragm and the active element.

Gain Structure
The way in which the gain varies in the stages or sections of an audio system.

Direct box
Used in line to convert a high impedance signal into a low impedance signal.

Chorusing
1) A term meaning the same thing as Chorus (Definition 3 or 4).
2) In some delay effects devices, a term used to mean the term Depth (the amount of change in the controlled signal by the control signal).

Brooks HI FI projectors Compact Disc CD

A small optical disk with digital audio recorded on it.

Cycle
1) An alternation of a waveform which begins at a point, passes through the zero line, and ends at a point with the same value and moving in the same direction as the starting point.
2) On a Solid State Logic Console, a command to have the console computer control the tape machine to play and replay a certain section of the tape.

Brooks RM 909 reviews Compressor
A signal processing device that does not allow as much fluctuation in the level of the signal above a certain adjustable or fixed level.

Diaphragm
A thin flexible membrane or cone that vibrates in response to electrical signals to produce sound waves. Distortion is usually referred to in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) which is the percentage of unwanted harmonics of the drive signal present with the wanted signal. Generally used to mean any unwanted change introduced by the device under question.

Brooks Hi Fi reviews High Frequencies
The audio frequencies from 6000 Hz and above.

Feed
To send an audio or control signal to.

Clean
Describes a distortion free sound with few effects.

Automation
In consoles, a feature that lets the engineer program control changes (such as fader level) so that upon playback of the multitrack recording these changes happen automatically.