Analysis of terminology of speaker effects
As a sound engineer, you should understand the terminology of speaker effects. Below is the terminology analysis of speaker effects that I will share with you. I hope it will be helpful to you.
Cable: connection, over-the-line, the above is the conventional translation, which means to connect one output to another input, but depending on the signal, cable can be divided into very fine types.
Instrument cable: Instrument cable, in the electroacoustic field, refers specifically to high-impedance and low-current signal passing lines. It must have a complete shielding structure and a solid shell. We do not commonly use this kind of line because of its The requirements are too high, and the quotation is also very expensive.
Signal cable: Signal cable, we usually use this kind of cable to connect guitars, usually this kind of cable is used for the transmission of low-resistance signals.
Speaker cable; speaker cable, a type of wire that is often overlooked in the guitar field, is the speaker cable that transmits signals between the power amplification signal and the speaker. The most commonly used place is between the speaker head and the cabinet. The connection cable, this cable cannot be shielded (otherwise the amplifier will be burned). It is a cable that transmits large currents, and the quality must be good!
Power cable: Power cable, this is usually used for hifi speakers Talented people burn the wires, and the guitar category usually does not replace the power cord.
Effect: The direct translation is the meaning of function, and the meaning of this word in China has great ambiguity. In a broad sense , as long as it is not a piano and a speaker, other equipment is called an effector. In foreign definitions, it is divided very finely, as will be mentioned below. In the standard musical instrument world, the word effect usually refers to chorus. , erratic, delay, reverberation and other spatial effects, but does not include distortion, equalization, compression, etc.
Preset: This word is simply replaced by timbre. Almost no one in China says the word preset. , and it is said to be timbre, so the word timbre mentioned before has many misunderstandings in the field of musical instruments. The so-called preset means that you have adjusted all your relevant parameters and fixed them, and all the system parameters are It is called a preset. In the composition effector, this word specifically refers to a file in which all parameters are adjusted and stored in a certain location to facilitate real-time call.
foot switch: foot switch, this Sometimes it is randomly translated into a pedal, which controls a certain parameter or a preset switch or a called device. For example, the selection of a library in a composition effector and the selection of a preset in a library are all accomplished by foot switches.
pedal: Pedal, this is what is actually called a pedal. As long as it can be stepped forward and backward, it is called a pedal, including volume pedals, frog pedals, expression pedals, etc., which are almost always used in advanced compositions. All parameters can be controlled with a pedal, and the minimum and maximum values ??of the parameters to be controlled need to be set. Variable resistor control is used to work, but because the variable resistor will be worn out, it is necessary to adjust the minimum and maximum values ??of the pedal after a while. Reset.
Bank: library. In some advanced effects, the defaults are stored according to the library, that is, all effects can store several banks, and one library can store several Timbre. The convenient thing is that when you change the bank, the timbre you play will still keep the previous preset. When you switch to another bank and select the preset, the timbre you play will change. In other words, you are playing at the same time. You can arbitrarily select each preset in the effector as the next switching tone.
wah wah: Wah sound, raising and lowering the level of a specific frequency band to create an effect similar to a child crying, usually Related pedal use.
Level: Level, many people misunderstand it as volume. In a certain amplifier circuit, level can be understood as volume, but in functions, level is the expression of the degree of function application. It is also the degree of mixing of the initial signal and the effect signal, so it is also expressed by mix. The level is the increase or decrease of the processed signal
gain: gain, distortion, in a non-distortion circuit, gain Indicates the control of increasing or attenuating the initial signal input to this level. In a distortion circuit, the principle is the same as mentioned before, but in terms of expression, it is the degree of distortion, because the distortion circuit is originally at least two levels. Expansion, and the amount of distortion depends on the expansion rate of the previous level, so gai
The number of n is also the degree of distortion! Gain is the increase or decrease of the initial signal (relative to the level) drive: literally means drive, but in an overload circuit it is similar to the degree of distortion.
Overdrive: Overload, a kind of weak distortion, warm and smooth
Distortion: Distortion, especially severe distortion, sharp, with large fluctuations in distortion.
Crunch : Generally speaking, the tone is between overdrive and distortion, especially in the British tone.
Tone: tone, in the distortion circuit, it specifically refers to the lightness and darkness of the tone, soft/hard. Usually common in Overload.
Channel: Channel, usually refers to speakers, but now many effects are originally imitating speakers, so this word can also be seen in effects. Channel specifically refers to a group that processes signals. The combination of (usually including gain eq level) in the effector channel is actually a simulation of a distortion type or clean type. Usually the channel is used to adjust the desired timbre and then perform other effects. In the speaker That is to say, it refers to a set of pre-processing, either cleansing or distortion.
Compressor: Compression, the most common use of compression in guitar is to control dynamics, but this is only one aspect of compression. In the field of recording, compression has many other uses. It’s very complicated, I I don’t know much about it, but I suggest that we use compression with caution. If you don’t know what compression is, or you don’t know what tone you want, it’s better not to turn on compression. It’s better to use it on unvoiced sounds, and the quality of compression is good for you. The timbre has a certain meaning, it must be of high quality, and it should not be turned up too loud.
eq: The full name is equalizer, Chinese equalizer, Taiwan is called equalizer, equalization is also a college knowledge, at least two stages, up to dozens of equalization stages, guitars usually use three to four stages of equalization, single block The more equalizers are, the better. The more equalizers, the harder it is to adjust. Failure to adjust the equalizer properly will only degrade the sound quality, and the probability of this is far higher than adjusting a good tone. Equalization is the process of electrically adjusting a specific frequency band. The increase or attenuation in the level will also affect the surrounding frequencies depending on the size of the Q value. Therefore, random adjustment of the balance will cause a burr feeling in the tone. This is also the most difficult and critical part of adjusting the effector. Professional grade effectors will provide Control as many parameters as possible, and the cheaper ones are closer to fool-proof operation, which is to prevent the sound quality from being deteriorated due to improper equalization operation. The multi-band equalization used in other stage audio is not to adjust the sound, but to prevent certain frequency bands. The response, and the standing wave of the sound, may be to compensate for the acoustic environment of the place. Don’t think that the more equalization, the better.
Boost: Encouragement, this is an incentive that people who use tube speakers are very concerned about. When choosing an amplifier, the actuator was created to compensate for the lack of distortion inherent in the tube, repair the frequency band, and make the tone richer. Initially, it was intended to add an expansion level in front of it to compensate for the lack of distortion of the tube, but now it is basically used To modify the tone rather than add distortion, tube distortion technology can now achieve very large distortion.
Single pedal: refers to a single pedal
stomp box: Same as above, sometimes it refers to overload distortion type pedal effector. Traditional synthesis effects are basically distortion sources, then waveform processing such as equalization and compression, and then effect processing. And modern effects The effector is not just the simple process mentioned above, but a complete simulation of a professional sound-producing process. When this kind of effector first appeared, it was called a speaker simulator, but now the boundary between the effector and the speaker simulator is getting closer and closer. The more ambiguous it is. To use the best example, the traditional synthesis effector's description of distortion is usually blur, distortion, metal, fuzz, which describe the music or the tone itself, while the modern synthesis effector or speaker simulator's description of distortion The description of types is accustomed to naming them with the names of classic equipment in history. For example, clean sound is no longer called clean but is named after equipment commonly used for clean sound such as black face or vox or ac30, and a metal distortion is no longer called metal. Instead, they are defined by mesa, rectifier, 5150, etc., so to play with these effects, you must understand the characteristics or tendencies of these historically representative devices. Here are some explanations of the terms that make up the effects:
MODES: Mode, this word appears on the synthesizer and means a lot of things. It can be output mode, input mode, single block mode, or default mode. The key is to see what it is used for. Where.
AMP CHANNEL: This is the description of the speaker simulation. It is the simulation of the amplifier pre-amplifier channel, which usually includes GAIN, EQ, LEVEL, etc. This is also the way to adjust the clean sound or distortion. The position, the key part of the timbre.
DATA WHEEL: Data wheel, modern advanced effectors basically have this data wheel, that is, when you adjust a specific parameter, that is, Use the data wheel to perform fixed-point settings (increase or decrease)
AMP SAVE: This is not available on all effectors. It means speaker storage, which is a set value for you. The speaker simulates the unique storage of timbres, rather than all timbres. In fact, it is the setting storage of clean tone type or distortion type. STORE: Storage, this is the storage of the preset, that is, the one you have adjusted. Storage of overall parameters.
PATTERN: variety, usually a selection of type, usually used in drum machine rhythm types.
TEMPO: speed, usually refers to the speed of a drum machine, Maybe the time delay works.
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TAP: Generally refers to a device that controls the delay time in real time, that is, the delay time is controlled by hand or foot. The rhythm is defined according to the time when you trigger this switch.
EXPRESSION PEDAL. This pedal can be a wah sound or a volume. Generally, all adjustable timbre parameters in advanced components can be controlled by the expression pedal, and several settings can usually be set. The parameters are changed together.
BALANCED: Balanced input or output. Balanced signal is the most standard and best signal transmission method in signal transmission. The method used is the front, neutral line, and ground wire to transmit alone. It is not commonly used in the field of musical instruments, but in the PA system, that is, in the field of stage sound, it is the most standard signal input and output standard. Because today's large-scale composite effects basically need to be connected to the mixer for recording and performance, so in the effector Balanced inputs or outputs are also constantly being added to the interface. XLR is usually used as the interface standard, but sometimes two-channel 6.5 is also used as the interface.
UNBALANCED: Compared with the balanced signal above, unbalanced signal It is a signal protocol commonly used in the field of guitar and musical instruments. Mono unbalanced only requires two signal ports, one front and one neutral and ground. Two-channel unbalanced requires three signal ports, each occupied by two channels. One front port, neutral line, ground line, four signals are merged. Note: balanced two-channel requires 6 ports.
STEREO: Stereo
true bypass: Same The reason is the above, but this bypass uses real connecting wire output without passing through any circuit part, so the input signal is preserved in the best possible way, which is an essential feature of high-end monoblocks.
Hand made: It means hand-made, but some manufacturers confuse things and write hand-made assembling skills.
Hand wired: Technical manufacturing in the true sense. In a monoblock effector, this means manual production in the true sense such as manual welding and technical wire crossing. The meaning is far more than that. Manual manufacturing means manual selection of components, manual testing, and a series of humanized manufacturing processes. What you get are basically works of art that have passed the human ear test, not industrial products, so it also means Sky-high price! This word has the same meaning in speakers. Speakers:
Preamp: Preamp, broadly speaking, everything before the suffix can be called the preamp, including the pickup, which can also be part of the preamp. In a narrow sense, the amplifier processes the weak signal input from the guitar into a part that can be amplified by circuit processing - the part before entering the subsequent stage is called the preamp. The preamplifier is divided into three categories: tube, analog (solid state), and digital (digital) based on different technical classifications. For details, please refer to SLAYEST's "Introduction to Distortion Types" power amp; power amplifier, or power amplification. Amplifying the front-stage signal to meet the expansion level of the propulsion speaker is called the rear stage. The post-amplifier is also classified in the same category as the above-mentioned preamp, but the tube post-amp is divided into CLASS A and CLASS A/B. There can be a variety of different tube configurations according to preference. This too professional physical question is waiting for SLAYEST to explain.
CABINET: Cabinet, the box with the speaker is called the cabinet
SPEAKER OR LOUD SPEAKER: Speaker or speaker, a device that converts electrical signals into sound waves. C
COMBO; an integrated box, preamp, power amplifier, and speakers in one device
FULL STACK: specifically refers to a complete set of equipment with two 412 cabinets and one HEAD
HALF STACK: A 412-box device.
HEAD: front-stage and rear-stage merger machine.
AMPLIFIER: Amplifier, same as above, or perhaps a general term for the above.
RMS: rated power, refers to the power of the amplifier under long-term operation.
Peak value: peak power, the instantaneous expansion of power allowed by the amplifier.
FX LOOP: The effect loop, the channel between the front and rear stages, allows the equipment to be connected after the front stage and before the rear stage. When using the distortion of the front stage, it can be used when peripheral effects are needed. , can also be used as a direct input power stage.
IMPEDANCE: Impedance, that is, resistance. On a tube amplifier, the impedance of the connected box must not be lower than the calibrated impedance of the amplifier, so the tube amplifier cannot be used without connecting the box. There is a risk of burning if you turn it on.
VALVE: Electron tube, British version TUBE: Same as above, American version.
BIAS: Gate voltage adjustment, one of the working principles of electron tubes, please explain it to Professor He.
SCOOP: Specifically refers to the attenuation type equalization of midrange, also known as V-shaped equalization.
BRIGHT: Brightness, usually appears in the clean channel. It is a button that refers to adding brightness to this channel.
PRESENCE: Presence, usually can be understood as a balance higher than the treble. Adjustment is an interpretation of the distance of sound.
STANDBY: Standby. On a tube amplifier, you usually turn on the power switch first, and then wait for the tube to warm up before turning on the STANDBY switch. Before the tube enters the operating voltage, if the external input signal is too strong, it will easily cause damage. , so STANDBY is a protective measure. When turning off the speaker, turn off STANDBY first and then turn off the power;