Audio

Audio may refer to:

 Titles

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Sound

Soundis vibration transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.[1]

Contents

 Perception of sound

Human ear

For humans, hearing is limited to frequencies between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz), with the upper limit generally decreasing with age. Other species have a different range of hearing. For example, dogs can perceive vibrations higher than 20 kHz. As a signal perceived by one of the major senses, sound is used by many species for detecting danger, navigation, predation, and communication. Earth's atmosphere, water, and virtually any physical phenomenon, such as fire, rain, wind, surf, or earthquake, produces (and is characterized by) its unique sounds. Many species, such as frogs, birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, have also developed special organs to produce sound. In some species, these have evolved to produce song and speech. Furthermore, humans have developed culture and technology (such as music, telephone and radio) that allows them to generate, record, transmit, and broadcast sound.

 Physics of sound

The mechanical vibrations that can be interpreted as sound are able to travel through all forms of matter: gases, liquids, solids, and plasmas. The matter that supports the sound is called the medium. Sound cannot travel through vacuum.

 Longitudinal and transverse waves

Sinusoidal waves of various frequencies; the bottom waves have higher frequencies than those above. The horizontal axis represents time.

Sound is transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also called compression waves. Through solids, however, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal and transverse waves. Longitudinal sound waves are waves of alternating pressure deviations from the equilibrium pressure, causing local regions of compression and rarefaction, while transverse waves in solids, are waves of alternating shear stress.

Matter in the medium is periodically displaced by a sound wave, and thus oscillates. The energy carried by the sound wave converts back and forth between the potential energy of the extra compression (in case of longitudinal waves) or lateral displacement strain (in case of transverse waves) of the matter and the kinetic energy of the oscillations of the medium.

 Sound wave properties and characteristics

Sound waves are characterized by the generic properties of waves, which are frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, intensity, speed, and direction (sometimes speed and direction are combined as a velocity vector, or wavelength and direction are combined as a wave vector).

Transverse waves, also known as shear waves, have an additional property of polarization.

Sound characteristics can depend on the type of sound waves (longitudinal versus transverse) as well as on the physical properties of the transmission medium[citation needed].

Whenever the pitch of the sound wave is affected by some kind of change, the distance between the sound wave maxima also changes, resulting in a change of frequency. When the loudness of a sound wave changes, so does the amount of compression in air of the wave that is traveling through it, which in turn can be defined as amplitude.

 Speed of sound

U.S. Navy F/A-18 breaking the sound barrier. The white halo is formed by condensed water droplets which are thought to result from a drop in air pressure around the aircraft (see Prandtl-Glauert Singularity).[2][3]
Main article: Speed of sound

The speed of sound depends on the medium through which the waves are passing, and is often quoted as a fundamental property of the material. In general, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of the ratio of the elastic modulus (stiffness) of the medium to its density. Those physical properties and the speed of sound change with ambient conditions. For example, the speed of sound in gases depends on temperature. In 20 °C (68 °F) air at the sea level, the speed of sound is approximately 343 m/s (1,230 km/h; 767 mph). In fresh water, also at 20 °C, the speed of sound is approximately 1,482 m/s (5,335 km/h; 3,315 mph). In steel, the speed of sound is about 5,960 m/s (21,460 km/h; 13,330 mph).[4] The speed of sound is also slightly sensitive (a second-order anharmonic effect) to the sound amplitude, which means that there are nonlinear propagation effects, such as the production of harmonics and mixed tones not present in the original sound (see parametric array).

 Acoustics and noise

The scientific study of the propagation, absorption, and reflection of sound waves is called acoustics. Noise is a term often used to refer to an unwanted sound. In science and engineering, noise is an undesirable component that obscures a wanted signal.

 Sound pressure level

Main article: Sound pressure
Sound measurements
Sound pressure p
Particle velocity v
Particle velocity level (SVL)
   (Sound velocity level)
Particle displacement ξ
Sound intensity I
Sound intensity level (SIL)
Sound power Pac
Sound power level (SWL)
Sound energy density E
Sound energy flux q
Surface S
Acoustic impedance Z
Speed of sound c
v • d • e

Sound pressure is defined as the difference between the average local pressure of the medium outside of the sound wave in which it is traveling through (at a given point and a given time) and the pressure found within the sound wave itself within that same medium. A square of this difference (i.e. a square of the deviation from the equilibrium pressure) is usually averaged over time and/or space, and a square root of such average is taken to obtain a root mean square (RMS) value. For example, 1 Pa RMS sound pressure in atmospheric air implies that the actual pressure in the sound wave oscillates between (1 atm -\sqrt{2} Pa) and (1 atm +\sqrt{2} Pa), that is between 101323.6 and 101326.4 Pa. Such a tiny (relative to atmospheric) variation in air pressure at an audio frequency will be perceived as quite a deafening sound, and can cause hearing damage, according to the table below.

As the human ear can detect sounds with a very wide range of amplitudes, sound pressure is often measured as a level on a logarithmic decibel scale. The sound pressure level (SPL) or Lp is defined as

L_\mathrm{p}=10\, \log_{10}\left(\frac{{p}2}{{p_\mathrm{ref}}2}\right) =20\, \log_{10}\left(\frac{p}{p_\mathrm{ref}}\right)\mbox{ dB}
where p is the root-mean-square sound pressure and pref is a reference sound pressure. Commonly used reference sound pressures, defined in the standard ANSI S1.1-1994, are 20 µPa in air and 1 µPa in water. Without a specified reference sound pressure, a value expressed in decibels cannot represent a sound pressure level.

Since the human ear does not have a flat spectral response, sound pressures are often frequency weighted so that the measured level will match perceived levels more closely. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has defined several weighting schemes. A-weighting attempts to match the response of the human ear to noise and A-weighted sound pressure levels are labeled dBA. C-weighting is used to measure peak levels.

 Examples of sound pressure and sound pressure levels

Source of sound RMS sound pressure sound pressure level
  Pa dB re 20 µPa
Theoretical limit for undistorted sound at
1 atmosphere environmental pressure		 101,325 191
1883 Krakatoa eruption   approx 180 at 100 miles
Stun grenades   170-180
rocket launch equipment acoustic tests   approx. 165
threshold of pain 100 134
hearing damage during short-term effect 20 approx. 120
jet engine, 100 m distant 6–200 110–140
jackhammer, 1 m distant / discotheque 2 approx. 100
hearing damage from long-term exposure 0.6 approx. 85
traffic noise on major road, 10 m distant 0.2–0.6 80–90
moving automobile, 10 m distant 0.02–0.2 60–80
TV set – typical home level, 1 m distant 0.02 approx. 60
normal talking, 1 m distant 0.002–0.02 40–60
very calm room 0.0002–0.0006 20–30
quiet rustling leaves, calm human breathing 0.00006 10
auditory threshold at 2 kHz – undamaged human ears 0.00002 0

 Equipment for dealing with sound

Equipment for generating or using sound includes musical instruments, hearing aids, sonar systems and sound reproduction and broadcasting equipment. Many of these use electro-acoustic transducers such as microphones and loudspeakers.

 

Audio Frequency

An audio frequency (abbreviation: AF), or audible frequency is characterized as a periodic vibration whose frequency is audible to the average human. While the range of frequencies that any individual can hear is largely related to environmental factors, the generally accepted standard range of audible frequencies is 20 to 20,000 hertz. Frequencies below 20 Hz can usually be felt rather than heard, assuming the amplitude of the vibration is high enough. Frequencies above 20,000 Hz can sometimes be sensed by young people, but high frequencies are the first to be affected by hearing loss due to age and/or prolonged exposure to very loud noises.

 Frequencies and descriptions

Frequency (Hz) Octave Description
16 to 32 1st The human threshold of feeling, and the lowest pedal notes of a pipe organ.
32 to 512 2nd to 5th Rhythm frequencies, where the lower and upper bass notes lie.
512 to 2048 6th to 7th Defines human speech intelligibility, gives a horn-like or tinny quality to sound.
2048 to 8192 8th to 9th Gives presence to speech, where labial and fricative sounds lie.
8192 to 16384 10th Brilliance, the sounds of bells and the ringing of cymbals. In speech, the sound of the letter "S" (8000-11000 Hz)
 
MIDI Note Frequency (Hz) Description
C-2 4.09 Lowest note for Gregg Bailey's 64' PVC subcontrabass clarinet
C-1 8.18 Lowest organ note
C0 16.35 Lowest note for tuba, large pipe organs, Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano
C1 32.70 Lowest C on a standard 88-key piano.
C2 65.41 Lowest note for cello
C3 130.81 Lowest note for viola, mandola
C4 261.63 Middle C
C5 523.25 Lowest note for a piccolo.
C6 1046.50 Approximately the highest note reproducible by the average female human voice.
C7 2093 Highest note for a flute.
C8 4186 Highest note on a standard 88-key piano.
C9 8372  
C10 16744 Approximately the tone that a typical CRT television emits while running.

 See also