Back to Basics Audio

Back to Basics Audio

by Julian Nathan
Released October 1998
Publisher(s): Newnes
ISBN: 9780080499758

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Book description

Back to Basics Audio is a thorough, yet approachable handbook on audio electronics theory and equipment. The first part of the book discusses electrical and audio principles. Those principles form a basis for understanding the operation of equipment and systems, covered in the second section. Finally, the author addresses planning and installation of a home audio system.

  • Notes on home theater systems, speaker placement and calibration
  • System planning, diagram analysis, and signal processing
  • Easy introduction to practical audio, acoustics, and electrical theory

Table of contents

  1. Cover image
  2. Title page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Introduction
  6. About the Author
  7. Chapter 1: Electrical Principles
    1. AUDIO’S THREE PARTS
    2. ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICITY
    3. AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT
    4. ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLES
    5. OHM’S LAW
    6. USING OHM’S LAW
    7. VOLTAGE DROP
    8. POWER
    9. INTRODUCTION TO MEASUREMENTS
    10. INDUCTANCE, CAPACITANCE, AND IMPEDANCE
    11. RESONANCE
    12. LINE IMPEDANCE
    13. MAGNETISM AND SPEAKER DRIVERS
    14. SPEAKERS AND ELECTRIC MOTORS
    15. THE INVERSE SQUARE LAW AND SPEAKER DESIGN
    16. BI-POLARITY
    17. DIRECT AND ALTERNATING CURRENT
    18. GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF WAVEFORMS
  8. Chapter 2: Meters and Electrical Measurements
    1. MULTIMETERS
    2. VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT
    3. CURRENT MEASUREMENT
    4. A WORD OF WARNING ABOUT METER CURRENT RANGES
    5. RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT
    6. USING ANALOG AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS
    7. ACCURACY OF A METER
    8. METER SENSITIVITY
    9. ADDITIONAL FEATURES AVAILABLE IN MULTIMETERS
    10. OSCILLOSCOPES
    11. OSCILLOSCOPE EXPERIMENTS
  9. Chapter 3: Amplifiers and Transmission Lines
    1. POWER AMPLIFIERS AND LOADS
    2. THE INPUT CIRCUIT
    3. THE OUTPUT CIRCUIT
    4. AVOIDABLE FAILURES
    5. SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING
    6. CONSTANT VOLTAGE LINES
    7. RMS VOLTAGE AND CURRENT
    8. POWER
    9. AMPLIFIER OUTPUT POWER MEASUREMENT
    10. DC OFFSET VOLTAGE
    11. CATASTROPHIC FAILURES
    12. DUMMY LOADS
    13. CASCADING POWER AMPLIFIERS
    14. LINE AMPLIFIERS
    15. VOLTAGE AMPLIFIERS
    16. AUDIO LINES
    17. COAXIAL TRANSMISSION LINES
    18. HEARING AID INDUCTION LOOPS
    19. DC COUPLED AMPLIFIERS
  10. Chapter 4: Sound Waves and Decibels
    1. THE AUDIO AND ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRA
    2. THE 630 HZ TOOL
    3. FREQUENCY AND WAVELENGTH
    4. PROPAGATION
    5. AUDIO MEASUREMENTS
    6. NOISE AND DISTORTION THRESHOLDS
    7. DECIBELS AND POWER
    8. DECIBELS FURTHER EXPLAINED
  11. Chapter 5: Transfer Characteristic and Networks
    1. TRANSFER CHARACTERISTIC AND DISTORTION
    2. ELECTRO-MECHANICAL AND ACOUSTIC TRANSFER
    3. PREPARING FOR UNAVOIDABLE TRANSFER ERRORS
    4. NETWORKS
    5. ATTENUATORS
    6. VARIABLE ATTENUATORS
    7. LOSS PADS
    8. FILTERS AND EQUALIZERS
    9. RESISTANCES IN SERIES AND PARALLEL
    10. WHEN TO USE A FIXED EQUALIZER
    11. CAUTIONS REGARDING EQUALIZER USE
    12. RECOVERY AMPLIFIERS
    13. ACTIVE CROSSOVERS AND SPEAKER PROCESSORS
  12. Chapter 6: Speakers
    1. SPEAKER POWER RATINGS
    2. ESTIMATING THE POWER TO A SPEAKER
    3. IEC SPEAKER POWER RATING
    4. DIRECTIONAL PROPERTIES AND STEREO IMAGE
    5. STEREO SURROUND
    6. POOR MAN’S SURROUND
    7. USING SPEAKER DIRECTIONAL PROPERTIES
    8. FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF SPEAKERS
    9. RESPONSE LIMITS OF SPEAKERS
    10. STANDING WAVES
    11. EFFICIENT BASS SPEAKER PLACEMENT
    12. SPEAKER BAFFLES
    13. BASS BOX DESIGN
    14. INTERMODULATION DISTORTION
    15. PHASE RESPONSE OF SPEAKERS
    16. SPEAKER AND DRIVER PHASING
    17. SPEAKER EFFICIENCY
    18. THEATER SPEAKER EVOLUTION
    19. IMPORTANCE OF THEATER SPEAKER DISPERSION ANGLE
    20. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
    21. CINEMA HIGH FREQUENCY ROLL-OFF
    22. AUDITORIUM RESPONSE LIMITATIONS
    23. MONITOR SPEAKERS
    24. LIMITED MONITORS
    25. AUDITORIUM AND MONITOR CALIBRATION
    26. SPEAKER RESPONSE MEASUREMENTS
    27. AUDITORIUM AND MONITOR LEVELS
    28. WHY DO COMMERCIALS SOUND LOUDER?
    29. HEADPHONES
  13. Chapter 7: Tape Recorders and Monitor Selectors
    1. MAGNETIC RECORDERS
    2. RECORDER FEATURES AND TYPES
    3. SIMPLIFYING COMPLICATED CONCEPTS
    4. GENERAL PURPOSE MONITOR SELECTORS
    5. INTRODUCTION TO STUDIO MONITOR SELECTORS
    6. MONITOR SELECTORS FOR STUDIO MIXERS
    7. DROP-EDITS AND INSERT RECORDERS
    8. ZERO LEVEL AND LINE LEVEL
    9. RECORDER LINE-UP TONE
    10. TAPE RECORDER ALIGNMENT
  14. Chapter 8: Mixers
    1. INTRODUCTION TO MIXERS
    2. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPEECH AND DIALOG
    3. DIALOG PROCESSING
    4. DIALOG EQUALIZER / COMPRESSOR COMBINATION
    5. WHERE NOT TO USE DIALOG PROCESSING
    6. BACKGROUND SUPPRESSION
    7. BANDPASS FILTERS
    8. DIP FILTERS
    9. POINTS TO CONSIDER WHEN MIXING
    10. THE EFFECTS CHANNELS
    11. DIGITAL SOUND PROCESSING AND EQUIPMENT
    12. UNLOCKING THE NOISE GATE
  15. Chapter 9: Acoustics
    1. ROOMS AND ACOUSTICS
    2. REVERBERATION AND THE ABSORPTION SPECTRUM
    3. SOUND ISOLATION AND ACOUSTICS
    4. EQUALIZING THE ABSORPTION FREQUENCY RESPONSE
    5. ACOUSTIC CONTROL BY DIFFUSERS AND RESONATORS
    6. SOUND ISOLATION CONSTRUCTION
    7. OVERCOMING BUILDING NOISES
    8. PLANNING AND SUPERVISING A BUILDING PROJECT
    9. SILENCING A GENERATOR
  16. Chapter 10: Audio Cabling
    1. BALANCED AND UNBALANCED LINES
    2. SHORT RUN AUDIO WIRING
    3. LONG BALANCED AND UNBALANCED LINES
    4. REDUCING NOISE INTERFERENCE AT SOURCE
    5. SAFETY
    6. CONNECTIONS TO VARIOUS TYPES OF EQUIPMENT
    7. CABLE SEGREGATION AND RACK TERMINATION
    8. THERE-AND-BACK CABLE TERMINATION
    9. PRE-MEASURED CABLE RUNS AND JUNCTION BOXES
    10. PREFABRICATED CABLE LOOMS
    11. KEEPING RF OUT OF SYSTEMS AND CABLES
  17. Chapter 11: Transformers and Power Supplies
    1. TRANSFORMERS
    2. AUTO-TRANSFORMERS
    3. MAKING AUTO-TRANSFORMERS TO ORDER
    4. TRANSFORMER FREQUENCY RESPONSE
    5. THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY MAINS
    6. RECTIFIERS AND POWER SUPPLIES
    7. REGULATORS
    8. VOLTAGE AND CURRENT REGULATION
    9. ZENER DIODES
    10. REGULATOR NOISE
    11. SWITCH-MODE POWER SUPPLIES
    12. THREE DOLLAR TESTER
    13. POWER SUPPLY FAULTS
    14. BATTERIES AND CHARGERS
    15. LEAD-ACID BATTERIES
    16. PRECAUTIONS WITH ACID BATTERIES
    17. NICKEL - CADMIUM BATTERIES
    18. CHOICE OF BATTERY
  18. Chapter 12: Control Systems
    1. BASIC CONTROL GROUPS
    2. RELAYS
    3. RELAY TIMER CIRCUITS
    4. MOTOR REVERSING
    5. SOLID STATE CONTROL DEVICES
    6. RELAYS VERSUS ELECTRONIC CONTROL
  19. Chapter 13: Solder and Assembly Methods
    1. SOLDERING
    2. TOOLS
    3. SOLDERING TECHNIQUES
    4. USING ADDITIONAL FLUX
    5. TROUBLESHOOTING, INSPECTION, AND RE-SOLDERING
    6. WHEN NOT TO RE-SOLDER
    7. CHOOSING AND FITTING CONNECTORS
    8. SOLDERLESS AND CRIMP CONNECTORS
    9. WIRE WRAP
  20. Chapter 14: Installation Planning
    1. DIAGRAMS
    2. HOW FAR TO GO WITH DRAWING DETAIL
    3. DRAWING A SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM
    4. PATCHBAY LAYOUT AND WIRING
    5. RACKS AND PANELS
    6. EXAMPLES OF STANDARD AND SPECIAL RACKS
    7. COMMUNICATING IDEAS
    8. FRONT OPENING RACKS
    9. PANEL DESIGN
    10. CONTROL GROUPING
    11. LAYING OUT A PANEL
    12. LETTERING, STYLING, AND ENGRAVING
    13. SCALES FOR POTENTIOMETERS AND SWITCHES
    14. BEFORE STARTING WORK ON A PANEL
    15. MATERIALS AND PANEL THICKNESS
    16. PANELS FOR MEMBRANE SWITCHES
    17. BRACKETS AND SHELF UNITS FOR MOBILE EQUIPMENT
    18. DRILLING PRECISION HOLES IN METAL AND PLASTIC
  21. Chapter 15: Home Theater Sound
    1. REAL THEATER SOUND AT HOME
    2. SURROUND SPEAKER POSITION
    3. EQUALIZING THE CENTER CHANNEL
    4. ADDING A SUB-BASS
    5. BASS DISTORTION AND POWER LOSS
    6. MAINTAINING PROGRAM DYNAMIC RANGE
  22. Appendix A: Working with Formulae—Practical Examples of Common Calculations
  23. Appendix B: Diagram Symbols
  24. Appendix C: A Mechanical Design Exercise
  25. Appendix D: Estimating Power to Speakers
  26. Glossary — Index

Product information

  • Title: Back to Basics Audio
  • Author(s): Julian Nathan
  • Release date: October 1998
  • Publisher(s): Newnes
  • ISBN: 9780080499758