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balance 1) The subjective relationship between the relative loudness of the upper and lower halves of the audio spectrum; "tonal balance." 2) The relative loudness of the instruments in a performing group. 3) Equality of signal level between the left and right stereo channels, which centers the soundstage and allows mono program material to image at the center. Also called channel balance.

ballsy Describes a system which is stentorian, punchy, and visceral.

banger A very loud LP surface-noise pop.

bass The range of frequencies below 160Hz, characterized by low…

damping The amount of control an amplifier seems to impose on a woofer. Underdamping causes loose, heavy bass; overdamping yields very tight but lean bass.

dark A warm, mellow, excessively rich quality in reproduced sound. The audible effect of a frequency response which is clockwise-tilted across the entire range, so that output diminishes with increasing frequency. Compare "light."

dead Dull and lifeless.

decay The reverberant fadeout of a musical sound after it has ceased. Compare "attack."

deep bass Frequencies below 40Hz.

definition (also…

far field Pertains to that range of listening distances in which the predominant sounds reaching the ears are reflections from room boundaries.

fast Giving an impression of extremely rapid reaction time, which allows a reproducing system to "keep up with" the signal fed to it. (A "fast woofer" would seem to be an oxymoron, but this usage refers to a woofer tuning that does not boom, make the music sound "slow," obscure musical phrasing, or lead to "one-note bass.") Similar to "taut," but referring to the entire audio-frequency range instead of just the bass.

fat The sonic…

"ih" (as in "bit") A vowel coloration caused by a frequency-response peak centered around 3.5kHz.

image See "phantom image."

imagery Descriptive terminology intended to convey an impression or mental image of a subjective observation. Imagery is usually employed to describe qualities in reproduced sound in terms of more familiar sensory responses like vision, taste, and touch.

imaging The measure of a system's ability to float stable and specific phantom images, reproducing the original sizes and locations of the instruments across the soundstage. See "stereo…

nasal Reproduced sound having the quality of a person speaking with his/her nose blocked. Like the vowel "eh" coloration. In a loudspeaker, often due to a measured peak in the upper midrange followed by a complementary dip.

naturalness Realism.

near field Pertains to that range of listening distances in which the sounds reaching the ears are predominantly direct. See "far field," "critical distance."

neutral Free from coloration.

noise Any spurious background sounds, usually of a random or indeterminate pitch: hiss, crackles, ticks, pops, whooshes.

reaction A counterforce imparted to a speaker enclosure in response to the air resistance to the motion of a moving diaphragm or cone. On a thick carpet, a reacting enclosure will rock slightly back and forth, impairing LF quality and overall detail. See "spike."

realism A subjective assessment of the degree to which the sound from an audio system approaches that of live music. This has meaning only when the recording purports to reproduce an acoustical event taking place in a real acoustical space. See "quality."

recessed Very laid-back.

reflected sound A sound…

tail The reverberant decay of a sound in an acoustical space.

taut In bass reproduction, under tight control of the electrical signal; detailed and free from "hangover."

tempo The actual number of beats per minute in a musical performance. Compare "pace."

texture, texturing A perceptible pattern or structure in reproduced sound, even if random in nature. Texturing gives the impression that the energy continuum of the sound is composed of discrete particles, like the grain of a photograph.

thick Describes sodden or heavy bass.

thin Very deficient in…

vague, vagueness Having poor specificity, confused.

veiled, veiling Pertaining to a deficiency of detail and focus, due to moderate amounts of distortion, treble-range restriction, or attack rounding.

velvet fog (as in "listening through a...") Describes a galloping case of haze, wherein virtually all detail and focus are absent.

vertical-venetian-blind effect See "picket-fencing."

violining See "scrape flutter."

visceral Producing a bodily sensation of pressure or concussion.

vowel coloration A form of midrange or low-treble coloration…

In order to describe reproduced sound informatively, it is necessary to listen individually to the sonic bits and pieces that comprise the entire fabric of the sound, and to make qualitative judgments about them. That fabric is made up of a number of sonic characteristics, each of which is judged according to its elements…

Audibility (of flaws)
From best to worst: Inaudible, subtle, slight, moderate, significant, conspicuous, severe, extreme, intolerable, or Aaagghh! (screaming-up-the-walls)

Detail
Good: accurate, crisp, delicate, focus, resolution, snap
Not Good:
    Excess: accurate (misused), analytical, clinical…