Glossary of Electronics Terms

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
Audio terminology can be very confusing and ambiguous. We talk about things all the time that our readers may not be able to fully understand. Back by popular demand, we've reconstituted our Glossary of Electronics Terms (with some very important updates) and included it here for all to reference as needed. We'll try to keep it updated as we expand our vocabulary and horizons and as technology coins new terms and phrases.


Discuss "Glossary of Electronics Terms" here. Read the article.
 
Hi Ho

Hi Ho

Audioholic Samurai
Well done and comprehensive. I did find a typo though. See "Equalizer", "Farad" is not separated as it should be.
 
B

Bill Whitlock

Audiophyte
A couple of errors in the glossary of terms:
1. Micro-farad is correctly abbreviated uF (letter u is used when Greek character mu isn't available). The listed "mF" would stand for milli-farads, just as "mH" which you've correctly listed as milli-henry.

2. Damping factor is much, much more dependent on the amount of negative feedback used in a power amplifier - not its power supply. I should also point out that damping factors over about 50 are essentially superfluous. Even if the output impedance of an amplifier were absolutely zero, the dc resistance of the speaker itself is the ultimate limiting factor to damping - at least until we start winding speaker voice coils with super-conducting (zero resistance) wire.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Audio terminology can be very confusing and ambiguous. We talk about things all the time that our readers may not be able to fully understand. Back by popular demand, we've reconstituted our Glossary of Electronics Terms (with some very important updates) and included it here for all to reference as needed. We'll try to keep it updated as we expand our vocabulary and horizons and as technology coins new terms and phrases.
].
Here is a better explanation of Daming Factor:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.audio.tech/msg/ac12552519a4eb04?q=author:DPierce@world.std.com+back+emf&start=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&rnum=34

Efficiency is incorrect usage. But, more or less correct for Speaker sensitivity, just add dB SPL @....
 
B

Bill Whitlock

Audiophyte
Damping Factor Myth and Market-Speak

I absolutely agree with **** (this message system apparently discriminates against people with the popular nickname for Richard - geez, it's not porn talk!) RICHARD Pierce in the link cited above! The fellow who said "speaker system mechanical resonances in fact appear as an emf source that sees the speaker impedance in PARALLEL with the amplifier source virtual impedance as the load." has his assumption/fact wrong. Voice coil resistance is, in fact, in SERIES with all the motion-related equivalent circuit of a speaker, including its back-emf. The same is true for transformers - the winding (wire) resistance is also in series with all the other equivalent circuit elements. High damping factors, and their overstated importance, are the result of "marketing weasels" jockeying for market share. In doing so, they perpetrate yet another myth among potential customers - who, I'm sure, they would rather "dumb-down" to their own advantage. Can you tell I don't like marketing folks very much? :mad:
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Can you tell I don't like marketing folks very much? :mad:
Let me see here;) Scratching head, it looks like that.:D But, you are not alone with that sentiment:D

Oh, welcome aboard, nice credentials and I am sure you will enjoy this place more so that some other audio loony bin or asylum. :D
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
Let me see here;) Scratching head, it looks like that.:D But, you are not alone with that sentiment:D

Oh, welcome aboard, nice credentials and I am sure you will enjoy this place more so that some other audio loony bin or asylum. :D
Remember, marketers rule the world.:D
 
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