Calista Home Theaters

A Compact Disc used to store digital data, such as large programs, that can be read by a computer. High Impedance Mic A microphone designed to be fed into an amplifier with input impedance greater than 20 k ohms. Calista C2-88 Projector Hall A large building designed for concerts; also called a concert hall. Bi-Directional Pattern A microphone pick up pattern which has maximum pick up directly in front and directly in back of the diaphragm and least pick up at the sides. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Feed To send an audio or control signal to. Comb Filter 1) The frequency response achieved by mixing a direct signal with a delayed signal of equal strength especially at short delays. 2) Loosely used to also describe effects that can be achieved with comb filtering as part of the processing. Feedback Control The control on a delay line or delay effects device that controls the amount of feedback. Calista Reviews Assistant Engineer A less elevated ...

Short for the term High Frequencies (the audio frequencies from 6000 Hz and above). In-Line Console A console with modules that have controls for all console sections in one long strip. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Headphones Devices that can be worn on the head with small speakers that fit over the ears (or sometimes into the ears). Electromagnetic Field Magnetic energy put out because of current travelling through a conductor. Calista C3-S Security System Floppy Disk (Floppy Disc) A round flat object (usually housed in a protective sleeve) coated with material that can be magnetized in a similar manner to tape. Ambient Field A term with the same meaning as the term Reverberant Field (the area away from the sound source where the reverberation is louder than the direct sound). DC Abbreviation for direct current. Calista Reviews Circuit 1) One complete path of electric current. 2) Similar to definition 1, but including all paths and components...

1) Effect used to create echo…echo…echo…echo…echo… 2) In more advanced systems used in very large venues, delay can be used to time the arrival of the signal to the speakers in the back of the room so that people in the back hear the sound coming from those speakers at the same time that the sound coming from the speakers in the front of the room arrives. Key The control of a dynamics processing device by an external audio signal. Calista C2-88 Projector ADSR The letters A, D, S &R are the first letters of: Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. These are the various elements of volume changes in the sounding of a keyboard instrument. Headstock The area of the guitar at the end of the neck where the strings are tuned. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Field 1) In video, one half of a frame. 2) In computer-controlled devices a window display with functions and choices that the operator can make Face The front or body of the guitar. Generation A term us...

Pressing and immediately releasing the switch on a computer's mouse. Foot Pedal 1) An effects device where the amount of the effect can be controlled by a musician with his foot. 2) The beater mechanism of a foot drum that is activated by the drummer's foot to play the drum. 3) Any device, like a volume control, that can be operated by the foot. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Error Message A prompt on a computer screen telling the operator that an error has occurred. Coincident Microphones (Coincident Pair) Two microphones whose heads are placed as lose as possible to each other so that the path length from any sound source to either microphone is for all practical purposes, the same. Calista C3-S Security System Axis A line around which a device operates. Example: In a microphone, this would be an imaginary line coming out from the front of the microphone in the direction of motion of the diaphragm. In Short For "in the circuit," in oth...

1) In multitrack tape machines, this term means the same thing as the term Track (one audio recording made on a portion of the width of a multitrack tape). 2) A single path that an audio signal travels or can travel through a device from an input to an output. Electrostatic Charge The excess or deficiency of electrons in a given area. Calista C3-S Security System High Frequencies The audio frequencies from 6000 Hz and above. Auxiliary Equipment Effects devices separate from but working with the recording console. Calista C2-88 Projector Earth The British version of the term Ground (In electronics, a place that has zero volts). Hypercardioid Pattern A microphone pick up sensitivity pattern where the least sensitive pick up point is more than 90 degrees but less than 150 degrees off axis (usually 120 degrees). Echo Chamber 1) A room designed with very hard, non-parallel surfaces and equipped with a speaker and microphone. 2) Any artificial or ele...

An index signal (digital data that gives the machine information of where selections start, their selection number, etc.) on a DAT or CD. Ground Lift A switch that breaks the connection between the ground point in one circuit and the ground point in another circuit. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Edit A switch that does different things depending on the operational mode that the machine is in: 1) If a computer-controlled transport is in "Stop," pushing the "Edit" switch deactivates the computer-controlled tension system and allows the reels to be moved by hand to find the exact spot desired on the tape. 2) If the machine is in "Play", the "Edit" switch makes the take-up reel cease taking up the tape and it falls to the floor. 3) If the machine is in a fast-wind mode, the tape lifters are defeated so the tape is in contact with the reproduce head and the engineer can hear where the selections begin and end. Insulator A substan...

Short For "in the circuit," in other words "active." Condenser Mic (Capacitor Mic) A microphone that uses the varying capacitance between two plates with a voltage applied across them to convert sound to electrical pulses. Condenser microphones need a power supply to provide the voltage across the plates, which may be provided by a battery within the case of the microphone, or it may be provided from an external phantom power supply. A condenser mic is more sensitive and has a faster reaction to percussive sounds than a Dynamic mic and produces a more even response. See Electret Mic. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Ground Lift A switch that breaks the connection between the ground point in one circuit and the ground point in another circuit. Joystick 1) A quad pan pot which distributes what percentage of on signal is sent to each of 4 outputs. 2) A control that is separately controlling two functions at one time. Calista C3-S Security System Erro...

The smallest particle which makes up a specific substance. It's composed of a center around which electrons revolve. Engineer 1) A technician in charge of a recording session; Also called Recording Engineer. 2) A person with an engineering degree. 3) A person with sufficient experience in the field to be equivalent to the education one would receive earning an engineering degree. Calista C2-88 Projector Gain Reduction The working of a limiter or compressor reducing gain during high-level passages. Auxiliary Equipment Effects devices separate from but working with the recording console. Calista C1-9 Home Theater Chorus Common type of effect that makes sounds fuller and thicker. Input Overload Sending too high of a signal level into a device so that the first amplifier of the device overloads. Decibel (dB) 1) Relative measurement for the volume (loudness) of sound. Also used to measure the difference between two voltages, or two currents. See...

1) A device that removes signals with frequencies above or below a certain point called the cut-off frequency. 2) An equalizer section, used in this sense because filters are used with other components to give an equalizer its frequency response characteristics. 3) The action of removing signals of some frequencies and leaving the rest. 4) A mechanical device to smooth out speed variations in tape machines called a Scrape Flutter Filter- more usually called a Scrape Flutter Idler Condenser An older term meaning the same thing as Capacitor (an electronic device which is composed of two plates separated by an insulator and can store charge) but sill in common use when referring to a microphone's active element. Calista C3-S Security System Error Correct Exact replacement of lost information bits in digital audio. Compressor A signal processing device that does not allow as much fluctuation in the level of the signal above a certain adjustable or fixed level....

Sets output volume of individual PA input channels. Usually positioned as sliders at the bottom of the soundboard. Jack Bay A series of jacks which have connections for most of the inputs and outputs of the equipment in the control room. Calista C2-88 Projector Amplifier (Power amp, Head) It's the part of the sound system that actually magnifies or "amplifies" the sound. In other words, it makes stuff louder. CD-ROM An abbreviation of the term Compact Disc, Read Only Memory (A Compact Disc used to store digital data, such as large programs, that can be read by a computer). Calista C3-S Security System Formant An element in the sound of a voice or instrument that does not change frequency as different pitches are sounded. Distorted The way your PA sounds just before it blows up. Fuzzy and scratchy. If you hear this, it either means you have something hooked up wrong, or something in the system is going bad. It could be anything from your sup...

To prepare a digital storage medium (like a floppy disk) so that it will accept and store digital information bits. Attenuation A making smaller: reduction of electrical or acoustic signal strength. Calista C2-88 Projector Far Field The area from 3 feet away from the sound source up to the critical distance. Electric Instrument Any musical instrument that puts out an electrical signal rather than an acoustic sound. Calista C3-S Security System Error Correct Exact replacement of lost information bits in digital audio. Frame 1) A division of one second in synchronization and recording coming from definition two. 2) The amount of time that one still picture is shown in film or video. Input/Output Module A set of controls, on one housing, for an in-line console that has two channels (one for recording and one for monitoring) and has controls for all console sections. Bose Cue Send Control A control that will adjust the amount of signal sent to ...