AA ... Audiophile Acronyms

[Radmanna]

Hello. Reading through the "Pink Floyd of the Moon" thread, and find I haven't learned the language yet. Perhaps we can provide some teaching for me and other kindergarden-class audiophiles, by explaining acronyms? I can post em' here, as I find em', and we could soon have a directory put together?

Here's some acronyms from the "PFOTM" thread mentioned above: < http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/136784.aspx?PageIndex=1 >. Can the users of these terms, or someone familiar with the terms, please clarify what these acronyms (or terms) mean?

* handrewmoore ... "SACD DTS". What does DTS mean?

* Mallette ... "digital DSOTM". What is meant by a digital SACD?

* Mallette ... "DSD has the ability ...". What does DSD mean?

Steve

[RockOn4Klipsch]

SACD DTS : This is a Super Audio Compact Disc, that is using the Digital Theatre Systems audio packagaing protocol.

Digital DSOTM: To me it sounds like they're talking about a Digital copy of Pink Floyds Dark Side of The Moon (DSOTM).

DSD: Is Direct Stream Digital, Has to do with the way bits/data are packed and transported from the Medium/Media to device

[Radmanna]

Digital DSOTM: To me it sounds like they're talking about a Digital copy of Pink Floyds Dark Side of The Moon (DSOTM).

Thanks for input, RockOn. How about the following from anyone?

* Analog (does this mean vinyl recordings?)

* Digital (does this mean CD recordings?)

* Comparing Analog to Digital. Apparently a long-going comparison on this forum, but I don't know what this comparison is about. When you are comparing analog to digital ... are you comparing vinyl LPs to electronic CDs?

[RockOn4Klipsch]

Yes and No, Digital is represented by a series or numbers, 0's and 1', binary, On and Off.

Analog can be thought of as mechanical, for example, a record player, inside the cartridge, where the needle is at that touched the record, there is a magnet, the up and downs of the record create an eletrical charge or "pulse". Simple and dumbdown of how it works.

[dtel]

Don't forget an important one for some people WAF. [:-*]

[Mallette]

I suppose we often assume way too much of newcomers to these proceedings. A love and knowledge of music doesn't necessarily mean one has a background in audio technology, and certainly none is required to enjoy the music.

There are plenty of good explanations of the science of digital music in this forum as well as elsewhere on the web, so I am going to be different and talk about analog a bit.

The highest fidelity analog by definition is (shock and surprise), an acoustic recording. Of course, it doesn't sound much like it to our ears, but in fact an acoustic recording is a true "ghost" of a space-time audio event. A musician playing into one of those big old horns directly excited the cutting stylus to produce the very image of the sound. Sort of like having the original 10 commandmants in God's own hand rather than a copy. If it doesn't sound so "hifi" it's simply because the amount of force required to create a perfectly clean image simply wasn't there. There are a few other issues dealing with the nature of the materials used, but that would get a bit beyond the basics. Suffice to say those were greatly improved by electrical amplifictaion and things like the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) pre/demphasis standards.

It's been postulated that we could write a highly sophisticated computer program to extract positional information from these acoustic recordings based on the phase information in the signal. This information would include both distance and position from the horn with great precision...just math.

The point is that when you examine the grooves of a phono disc or dip a piece of recorded magnetic tape in a colloidal iron suspension you are looking directly at the "ghost" of an acoustic space-time event. There are people who can look at an LP and tell you precisely what piece of music it is.

Look at the 1s and 0s of digital music and you cannot tell whether it's code from an accounting program or Beethoven's 9th...but that's another story that, as I mentioned, can be found elsewhere.

As to the rest of the alphabet soup in these discussions, most of it (DSD, PCM, DSF, DTS, SACD, HDCD, DVD-A, etc) deal with various digital recording schemes. Without going into the science, I will state as TRVTH that the highest level of these possess a far higher ability to store audio information than analog. I will also state as TRVTH that this ability is often not used to its best advantage.

It is these errors in application that so vex the analog loving crowed (which includes myself) and cause them to run for thier beloved discs. However, those brought up on digital find the noise, the high degree of knowledge and the costs associated with analog, and the dynamic range compression required on vinyl and magnetic tape (due to the physical characteristics) just as annoying.

When all is said and done these debates are largely academic. The true music lover wants to hear the MUSIC.

Would I love to hear "Muskrat Ramble" played live by Kid Ory and his band? You betcha.

Do I prefer listening to my 80 plus year old 78rpm of same to a modern recording by somebody else...no matter how good the fidelity or muscianship.

YOU BETCHA.

There is over a century of recorded music, the majority of which is only available to the audiophile willing to do what it takes to hear it. If you can get along without it, fine.

Not me...I want it ALL.

Dave

[Radmanna]

Thank you all, for providing input that goes beyond text-book definitions. I'm learning very much from this forum.

I would like to contribute, while learning, by buiding on the following "AA" list. If I see acronyms that I either don't know or think would be a good addition to the AA list, I'll add them to the list. I can maintain a Word file of these acronyms & terms, then cut'n'paste an updated list periodically. I'll post this list in the 2-Channel Audio forum, but we can also add acronyms from the other forums such as the Home Theater forum.

So, if any audiophiles or newbies have any acronyms you'd like to share, please add them and give your interpretation of them, so I will know where to research the term and provide follow-up links or summarized definitions. Thanks again, RockOn & dtel & Mallette.

Acoustic … < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic >

Analog … < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_recording >

Digital … < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_recording >

Digital vs Analog … < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_recording_vs._digital_recording >

DSD … Direct Stream Digital

DTS … Digital Theatre Systems

RIAA … Recording Industry Association of America

WAF … Wife Acceptance Factor

PS: My wife has approved the above commentary.

[twistedcrankcammer]

Is PS like PMS?? []

Roger

[Mallette]

I should add:

PAW: Perfect Audiophile Wife. For my sweet love Kecia who puts up with 6 music systems scattered throughout the house and two systems with main speakers on the scale of small refrigerators.

Very special, indeed.

Dave

[Radmanna]

PAW: Perfect Audiophile Wife. Dave

Temporary definition, lest I be cast adrift on the ship of 10 links per thread: < http://home.earthlink.net/~joesarno/pictures/BLONDIE2.JPG >

I'll clean up future AA directories, if this turns out to be useful to everyone, to minimize thread-size in the directory updates, and so Amy doesn't take me to the wood-shed for excessive links.

[dtel]

I should add:

PAW: Perfect Audiophile Wife. For my sweet love Kecia who puts up with 6 music systems scattered throughout the house and two systems with main speakers on the scale of small refrigerators.

Very special, indeed.

Dave

Marshal, Groomlake also has one.......SWMBO......She who must be obeyed.

[dtel]

Not exactly Acronyms, but some definitions of audio terms, here on the Klipsch website.

http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/support/glossary/

[JerolW]

Don't forget -

RTFM

jerol

[Mallette]

Marshal, Groomlake also has one.......SWMBO......She who must be obeyed.

From "Rumpole of the Bailey," a great British comedy of the 80's. Loved it...

Dave