Audio Glossary

3:1 Rule

Microphones that are recording in close proximity to one another are subject to phase issues. To avoid phase problems, separate the microphones by a distance that is at least three times the distance of the mics to the source (3:1). For example, if a mic is two feet away from the sound source, then no mic should be closer than six feet from the first mic. This is an approximate rule.

Ambient

Amplitude

Attack

Balanced/Unbalanced Cable

Bandwidth

Bit Rate

Cardioid

Channel

Compression

DAW

Decay

Decibel

Delay

Distortion

Dynamic Microphone

Dynamic Range

Envelope

Equalization (EQ)

Feedback

Foley

Frequency

Gain

Generational Loss

Graphic Equalizer

Ground

Headroom

Leakage

Limiter

Line Level

Mastering

Mic Level

Mix

Mono

Noise

Nyquist Frequency

Omnidirectional Mic

Oscillation

Overdub

Panning

Preamp

Passive Speaker

Phantom Power

Phase

RCA Connector

Resolution

Reverberation

Ribbon Mic

Sampling

Sampling Frequency

Sampling Rate

Sound Wave

Stereo

Supercardioid & Hypercardioid

Sustain

Timbre

Track

Transient

TRS

USB

Waveform

XLR