| A | B |
|---|
| AAC | (Advanced Audio Coding)—works on iTunes, iPhones, and other Apple products |
| ADC | The acronym used to describe the process of converting sound from analog to digital. |
| Amplitude | Distance from rest to crest or rest to trough. |
| Analog audio | Sound recorded as continuous vibrations. |
| AIFF | (Audio Interchange File Format)—audio format used primarily on the Macintosh platform |
| Audio File Size | Determined by the sample rate, sample size and number of channels used. |
| AU | AUdio)—works on both the PC and Mac platforms, but is no longer very common |
| Channels | The number of sides from which sound is heard, either mono (one) or stereo (two). |
| CODEC | An algorithm that compresses sound or video to reduce its file size and then decompresses it when played. |
| Crest | Point that exhibits maximum amount of upward displacement from the rest position |
| DAC | The acronym used to describe the process of converting sound from digital to analog. |
| Decibel | Unit of measurement for sound pressure level and signal level |
| Digital Audio | Sound recorded as a series of digits |
| Frequency | Number of waves to pass a point in one second |
| Hertz | A measurement of the frequency of sound, or the number of times the wave pattern is repeated per second |
| MIDI | Communication protocol that allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and other devices to communicate with each other |
| MP3 | MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 |
| MONO | One channel; audio is a single channel, where sound comes from a single direction |
| OGG | Ogg Vorbis is a fully open, non-proprietary, patent-and-royalty-free, general-purpose compressed audio format for mid to high quality audio and music formats |
| Ripping | The process of transferring music from a CD to a computer. |
| Sample rate | The number of samples taken per second, often measured in Kilohertz (kHz) |
| Sample size | The number of bits used to represent the sound in a sample |
| Sequencer | Hardware device or software application that handles necessary data to record, edit, or play back music |
| Sound card | Computer component that allows computers to play or record sound.) |
| Sound Wave | An audible vibration that travels through air or water |
| Stereo | Two channels; creates the impression of sound being heard from various directions, as in human hearing |
| Subwoofer | A speaker that reproduces very low bass sounds |
| Trough | Point that exhibits maximum amount of downward displacement from the rest position |
| WAV | (WAVeform Audio Format)—the audio format used primarily on the PC platform |
| WMA | Windows Media Audio)—proprietary to Microsoft but can be played on a number of devices and has both lossless and lossy versions |
| Wave editor | Software that allows one to modify or edit audio files |
| Waveform | A graphical display that represents the changes in recorded sound waves |
| Wave Length | Distance from crest to crest |
