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When electrical equipment is improperly grounded, a HUM is heard at one of those PITCHes, or a
multiple thereof. Alternating current was introduced in the 1890's, and is now used almost universally to 1
distribute electricity on a large scale.
Noise Generator
When energy occurs at all frequencies, this is known as a distributed spectrum or
noise. More specifically, when energy is distributed uniformly over frequency this is
known as white noise. Pink noise, which sounds subjectively less tinny than white
noise, exhibits a 3 dB / octave reduction in high frequency energy.
Below is a time domain graph of a noise signal. Notice the random nature of the
signal, which is very different from a sine or square wave.
1.2 Amplitude v
0.8 Time Graph of
0.4 a Noise Signal
Amplitude
-0.4
-0.8
-1.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s)
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NOISE Danger
The red bar below shows how long it takes before a particular sound
level becomes dangerous to the human ear.
For example, a chain saw has a sound intensity of about 110 dB. Without
proper hearing protection, running a chain saw for only 2 minutes can
become dangerous to the human ear!
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NOISE DEFINED Truax.1
NOISE Acoustics /
NoiseEtymologically the word can be traced back
to Old French (noyse) and to 11th century
Provenal (noysa, nosa, nausa), but its origin is
uncertain.
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Subtractive Synthesis
CREATIVE USES OF NOISE
Subtractive synthesis is technique which creates musical timbres by
filtering complex waveforms generated by oscillators. Subtractive
synthesis is usually (but not exclusively) associated with analogue
voltage controlled synthesizers such as the moog or the minimoog.It
can produce very natural changes in a sound, owing to the intuitive
way in which it works.
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NOISE DEFINED Truax.3 &4
3. Any loud sound: In general usage today, noise often
refers to particularly loud sounds. In this sense a noise
abatement by-law prohibits certain loud sounds or
establishes their permissible limits in DECIBELs.
See: JET PAUSE, LOUDNESS, NOISE POLLUTION,
SOUND INTRUSION, SOUND POLLUTION.
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NOISE DEFINED. (2)
Subjectively speaking
noise is unwanted sound.
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NOISE Two kinds of noise
Two kinds of noise are intentionally
generated and used for a variety of
purposes such as
sound sources for electroacoustic
composition
and sound reinforcement setup and
calibration.
The term pink noise refers to a kind of NOISE where each OCTAVE
band has the same intensity, and therefore does not sound as bright
as white noise since the intensity of the SPECTRUM does not
increase with higher frequencies.
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NOISE: White & Pink Noise
This is a frequency domain graph of both white and pink noise signals. Notice that the
white noise signal has a flat frequency response whilst the pink noise signal has a high
frequency drop-off of 3 dB per octave (doubling of frequency).
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10
0
Level v Frequency Graph
Level (dB)
-10
-20 of Pink and White Noise
-30
-40 Signals
-50
10 100 1000 10000
Frequency (Hz)
White Pink
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NOISE: White Noise.2
This is the same noise heard in electronic devices and is the result of random
movements of electrons in the components of those devices as a result of heat.
One of the characteristics of white noise is the perception that it is louder in the high
frequency regions.
This is because white noise has equal amounts of energy per hertz.
This is a result of the fact that with each octave increase in frequency there is a
corresponding doubling of frequency.
This also results in a doubling in the range of frequencies available between octaves.
Consider the range of frequencies in the octave described by 100 to 200 hertz
compared to that of the octave described by 5000 to 10000 hertz.
Clearly the second octave has a much greater range of frequencies. Consequently
white noise, because it has equal energy at all frequencies, exhibits a 3 db per octave
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rise in level over its range of frequencies
NOISE: Pink Noise.1
A type of noise with equal energy in each octave
vs white noise which has its energy distributed
throughout the frequency range of audio.
Pink noise more closely approximates the
frequency/energy distribution of conventional
music. pink noise
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NOISE: Pink Noise.2
Pink noise is the result of a white noise signal
being rolled off by a 3 db per octave low pass
filter with a start point at a sub-audio frequency.
This results is a noise which has equal energy
per octave. Because pink noise is more
balanced in its levels over a wide frequency
range it is useful in testing and calibrating audio
equipment which must perform equally well over
the range of audible frequencies
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NOISE: for simple calibration.1
For home theater use, aside from increased accuracy, there is an important
benefit of using full range pink noise to calibrate your speakers.
That is the fact that with this signal, TIMBRE changes are VERY audible
from speaker to speaker.
By ear, you can readily hear any changes in tone caused by room
influences or non-identical speaker systems as the signal is switched from
speaker to speaker.
The pink noise should sound identical in every speaker (except for the
sub).
.As a calibration signal source, you can take advantage of the greater
accuracy of full bandwidth pink noise.
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NOISE: for simple calibration.2
on your SPL meter, set the "weighting" to "A", rather than the more
common "C". This "A" weighting makes the meter more sensitive to the
mid range frequencies and less so to the bass and treble, but nowhere
near as extreme as the bandwidth limited test tone built into receivers,
pre/pros, and on test DVDs. After you get all the main and surround
speakers to the same level, swtich to "C" weighting and note any
differences: this will be mainly due to the greater sensitivity in the bass
region of the meter. If the needle is still relatively easy to read, you might
want to do any final touch-ups in the level of any speakers that give largely
different readings from the "A" weighting reading. . Some by-ear level
setting will probably need to be done in conjunction with the readings from
the meter.
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NOISE: step by step calibration
Things required : dB Meter, Pink Noise
Source
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Distortion
Distortion is usually thought of as an undesirable
change in the waveform as it passes through
electronic equipment or any kind of transducer,
although, like noise, this is a highly subjective and
context dependent judgement. Some sound
synthesis techniques such as non-linear
waveshaping use distortion to achieve their
ends. The familiar sound of the rock guitar is largely
dependent on distortion techniques. Any technique
which changes the signal can be considered a form
of distortion, so even a simple equalizer may be
thought to distort the signal.
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Distortion: Types
Clipping
Frequency
Harmonic
Phase
Transient
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Distortion: Types: Clipping
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Distortion: Types: Frequency
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Distortion: Types: Harmonic
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Distortion: Types: Phase
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Distortion: Types; Transient
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