Glossary of Audio Engineering Terms

There is no point being specific if we don't even know what we are talking about.

Here is a short list of terms you may come across on this site.

• Decibel or dB - A unit of measurement used to describe audio levels (loudness).
• Distributed Mode Loudspeaker or DML - the use of one or more electro-acoustic exciters to induce a uniformly distributed vibration into a flat panel made of a resonating material.
• Digital Signal Processor or DSP - a device placed between a preamp and an amplifier that modifies the waveforms of an audio signal to equalize or otherwise process/improve sound.
• Hertz or Hz - A measure of signal frequency in terms of cycles per second.
• Sound Pressure Level or SPL - a measure of the change in air pressure caused by a sound wave. Measured in decibels (dB), changes in SPL are experience as changes in amplitude (loudness).