Mackie 1402-VLZ Pro Owner's Manual Glossary - Page 3

B balanced input An input consists of two leads, neither of which is common to the circuit ground. This is a "differential pair", where the signal consists of the difference in voltage between the two leads. Balanced input circuits can offer excellent rejection of common-mode noise induced into the line. bus An electrical connection common to three or more circuits. In mixer design, a bus usually carries signals from a number of inputs to a mixing amplifier, just like a city bus carries people from a number of neighborhoods to their jobs. It comes from the British "omnibus". C balanced output Cannon In a classic balanced audio circuit, the output is carried on two leads (high or + and low or -) which are isolated from the circuit ground by exactly the same impedance. A symmetrical balanced output carries the same signal at exactly the same level but of opposite polarity with respect to ground. A special case of a balanced output carries the signal on only one lead, with the other lead being at zero voltage with respect to ground, but at the same impedance as the signal-carrying lead. This is sometimes called impedance balanced. bandwidth The band of frequencies that pass through a device with a loss of less than 3 dB, expressed in Hertz or in musical octaves. Also see Q. bit The smallest component of a digital word, represented by either a one or a zero. A manufacturer of electrical connectors who first popularized the three-pin connector now universally used for balanced microphone connections. In sound work, a Cannon connector is taken to mean a Cannon XLR-3 connector or any compatible connector. You can tell an audio geezer because he refers to this connector as "Cannon". Today the term "XLR" is more common. cardioid Heart-shaped. In sound work, cardioid refers to the shape of the sensitivity vs. direction plot for a particular style of directional microphone. A cardioid mic rejects sound arriving from the rear. channel A functional path in an audio circuit: an input channel, an output channel, a recording channel, the left channel and so on. channel strip bridged mono A mode of operation for a stereo amplifier that routes a single input to both channels, but inverts the signal on channel 2, thereby providing twice the voltage of an individual output by connecting the speaker between the two positive output terminals (the negative output terminals are not used). The physical realization of an audio channel on the front panel of a mixer; usually a long, vertical strip of controls. chorusing A time-based effect available in some digital delay effects units and reverbs. Chorusing involves a number of moving delays and pitch shifting, usually panned across a stereo field. 3