The Haas Effect describes how humans figure out where sounds come from when they hear slightly delayed copies of the same sound. Named after German scientist Helmut Haas, this effect shows that our brains pay special attention to the first sound wave that reaches our ears. People often call it the “precedence effect” or the…
Hi-Z stands for “High Impedance” in the world of audio equipment. Think of impedance as how much something resists electrical signals trying to flow through it. When you plug in a guitar or microphone, this resistance shapes how the sound travels from your instrument to your speakers or recording device. The Science Behind Impedance Impedance…
A high-pass filter helps clean up audio and electrical signals by letting through the higher-pitched sounds while blocking lower-pitched ones. Think of it like a bouncer at a club who only lets certain people in – except in this case, it’s frequencies instead of people. What Makes High-Pass Filters Special High-pass filters show up everywhere…
Headroom is the extra space between the loudest sound an audio system can handle and the regular level of the sound. It is like having a big enough container so the sound does not spill over. When there is enough headroom, the audio stays clean even if there are sudden loud parts. Why headroom matters…
Hiss is a sound that you sometimes hear in audio recordings or live sound. It’s a bit like the sound a snake makes – a constant “sssss” in the background. Hiss is usually high-pitched and can be annoying to listen to. It’s not something you want in your recordings or at a concert. Audio engineers,…
Genre is a way of putting different kinds of music into groups. It’s like sorting your toys into different boxes based on what they have in common. Just like you might put all your toy cars in one box and all your stuffed animals in another, music experts put songs that sound similar into groups…
Ghost production is when a music track gets made by someone who doesn’t take credit. They let another artist put their name on it and release it like they made it themselves. This happens a lot in the music world. Ghost production can involve a few different things. A ghost producer might make a full…
Audio feedback is a sound problem that can happen with microphones, speakers, and sound systems. It is the loud, annoying noise that sometimes happens when a microphone gets too close to a speaker. The noise can sound like a loud squeal, screech, or whistle. Audio feedback happens when the sound from a speaker goes back…
Audio distortion happens when sound gets changed in ways we don’t want. It makes music and sound different from how they should be. People working with sound need to know about these changes because they can make or break how good something sounds. Common Types of Audio Distortion Harmonic Distortion Harmonic distortion adds new sounds…
Fidelity is how close a recording sounds to the original sound. If you record a sound and play it back, you want it to sound just like it did in real life. The closer it sounds to the real thing, the higher the fidelity. High fidelity means the recording is very accurate and sounds almost…
