Audio Reference
Start here:
Links in bold text indicate recommended places to start reading (in no particular order).
Please report broken links by leaving a comment or sending me a pm.
Books
- Loudspeaker and Headphone Handbook (pdf)
- The Audio Expert: Everything You Need to Know About Audio
- Spatial Hearing - Revised Edition: The Psychophysics of Human Sound Localization
- Principles of Digital Audio
Glossaries
- Glossary | headphone.com
- Describing Sound - A Glossary
- Learn the Language of Good Sound
- Understanding Frequencies
Ear Training
Measurements
- Headphone Data Sheet Downloads | Innerfidelity
- HeadRoom: Build a Graph
- Golden Ears
- DIY-Audio Heaven
- SuperBestAudioFriends Measurements Forum
Headphones & Loudspeakers
Overview
- Headphone Technology Guide (Dynamic vs Planar vs Electrostatic)
- Inside Headphones with Yuri Shulman, Shure Engineer
- Headphones: Comparison Buying Guide
- Headphone Fundamentals (pdf)
- How to Evaluate Loudspeaker Sound and Accuracy
- The Engineering and Art of Headphone Design
- Headphones, Mixers and Headphone Amplifiers
- Open Or Closed Headphones
Impedance & Sensitivity
- NwAvGuy: Headphone Impedance Explained
- Headphone Impedance and Sensitivity - Benchmark Media Systems
- Understanding Impedance Curves & Phase Angles
- Understanding Loudspeaker Sensitivity
- Sensitivity vs Efficiency
Transducer Characteristics
- Headphone Measurements Explained - Frequency Response Part 1
- Headphone Measurements Explained - Frequency Response Part 2
- Headphone Measurements Explained - Square Wave Response
- How to Interpret Graphs
- HT Measurements Explained: We've Got Some Explaining To Do
- Understanding Frequency Response, Part 1
- Understanding Frequency Response, Part 2
- Testing Loudspeakers, Part 1 (pdf)
- Testing Loudspeakers, Part 2 (pdf)
- Square Wave & Frequency Response
- Ups and Downs of Square Waves
- Waveform Analysis
- Beyond Frequency Response: A New Approach to Audio Measurements via Wavelets
- What Makes a Speaker Sound Good?
- Effect of Acoustic Impedance on Headphones
- Is transient response a problem with headphones?
- What is the effect of impedance on headphone sound quality?
Soundstage and Stereo Imaging
Amps & DACs
Overview
- NwAvGuy: Headphone Amps/DACs Explained
- NwAvGuy: Headphone & Amp Impedance
- Headphone Amplifiers - Part 1 - Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.
- Headphone Amplifiers - Part 2 - Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.
- How Audio Amps Work
- Audio Amplifiers
- 10 Things about Audio Amplifiers You've Always Wanted to Know
- Introduction to the Amplifier an Amplifier Tutorial
- The Differences Between a Power Amplifier and a Voltage Amplifier
- A Discussion Of Power Amplifier Specifications
- Amplifier Sound
- Amplifier Input and Output Impedance
- Amplifier Classes
Power
- NwAvGuy: More Power?
- NwAvGuy: All About Gain
- Audiobot 9000 (Headphone amp matching)
- How Much Power (pdf)
- Headphone Power Calculator
- Amplifier Sensitivity, Decibels, and You!
- The Interrelationship of Speakers and Amplifiers
- Understanding Amplifier Power Specifications
- How can I tell if I don't have enough power for my headphones?
- Questions about voltage/current headphone requirements
- Can speakers be protected from amplifier damage? How do amps work?
- Headphone & Amp Impedance Questions?
- Effect of more powerful amp on subwoofer
Audio Science
Sound Characteristics
- Frequency, Amplitude & dB
- NwAvGuy: Music vs Sine Waves
- Fourier Analysis (pdf)
- Using the Equalizer Effectively (pdf)
- Impulse Responses
- Sound Radiation Patterns
Sound Perception
Electrical Engineering Principles
- Ohm's Law Calculator
- Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Ohm's Law
- Capacitance in AC Circuit and Capacitive Reactance
- Square Wave Testing for Frequency Response of Amplifiers (pdf)
- Distortion & Negative Feedback
- Phase Angle vs. Transistor Dissipation
- Impedance Matching of Audio Components
- Op-Amp Working Voltage Considerations
- Slew Rate Explained
Distortion
- Headphone Measurements Explained - Total Harmonic Distortion Plus Noise Part 1
- Headphone Measurements Explained - Total Harmonic Distortion Plus Noise Part 2
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- Understanding Audio Distortion
- Linear Distortion
- Non-Linear Distortion
- Intermodulation Distortion
- The Sound of the Machine
- Phase, Time and Distortion in Loudspeakers
- Jitter and its Effects
- Clipping Revisited
- Music Clipping: How To Avoid It
- Audio Distortion Measurements
- Nonlinear distortion testing of loudspeaker driver units
- Power Amplifier Clipping
Digital Audio & Digital Signal Processing
- The Science of Sample Rates (When Higher Is Better — And When It Isn’t)
- How Surround Sound for Headphones Works
- The Importance of Mono in a Stereo Mix
- Perceptual Coding - Shrinking Your Audio
- Traditionally, bass is usually in mono...
- What is Joint Stereo?
- What is dither?
- Mp3 conversion causes clipping?
- Linear vs. Minimum Phase Upsampling Filters Test
- Brickwall Filtering and Multibit
Acoustics
Audio Myths
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- Subjective vs. Objective Debate
- Why We Remember So Many Things Wrong
- Science and Subjectivism in Audio
- Dispelling Popular Audio Myths
- Common Amplifier Myths
- SoundStage! Max dB - Fast Bass, Slow Bass - Myth vs. Fact
- Audio Myths Busted!
- Audiophoolery
- Bass Myths
- Balacned vs Unbalanced Headphone Amps
- 24/192 Music Downloads are Very Silly Indeed
- Why Too Little Power will NOT blow Your Speakers
- Valve Myths
- Op Amps: Myths & Facts
- The Truth About Cables
- Speaker Cables: Science or Snake Oil
- White Paper on Speaker Cables and Interconnects
- The High-End Mythology of the Toroidal Power Transformer
- Measurements: USB cables for Audio DACs
- Review of Audioquest Jitterbug and Uptone Regen USB Conditioners
Diagrams
Human Ear
Instrument Frequencies and Sound Terminology
Sealed vs Ported Subwoofer
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