Car Audio Terms defined

[KARLEON]

U

Ultrasonic Sensor A form of spatial sensor that is designed to detect an intrusion into a vehicle by monitoring the space within the vehicle with ultrasonic energy.2

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Unfused Wire Any section of wire between the power supply and a load that does not include the protection of a fuse or circuit breaker.2

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Unilink Sony's proprietary control bus technology incorporation "serial", two-way communication between all components on the bus.1

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Unloading The tendency of an enclosure to produce no spring or pressure on the woofer. Unloading produces an uncontrollable over-excursion of the woofer cone (it vibrates out of control); the speaker will exhibit low power handling at lower frequencies

 

[KARLEON]

V

Valet A word used to describe the state in which a security system may be placed in which it would be prevented from arming passively and/or actively.2

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Valet Switch The switch designed to provide control to place the security system into or bring the system out of the valet state.2

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Variable Coefficient Digital Filter A feature which allows the user to adjust the oversampling process. Changes to the phase and impulse response can be achieved which allow fine tuning the filter to adjust for various source material, system parameters, and room acoustics.1

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Variable LP/HP Filter Crossover components which offer adjustable cut-off frequencies, and levels.1

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Variable Resistor (VR) A wire-wound resistor in which resistance can be changed to vary the amount of current or voltage that the resistor passes through the circuit .4

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Vas Compliance. A measurement in liters or cubic feet of the volume of air that is equal to the compliance of the speaker's total suspension.2

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Vented Enclosure A type of speaker enclosure with a vent (or port). The combination of: (1) the specific internal volume of air and 2) the action of the port allowing some sound waves from the enclosure's interior to pass through, enhances the speaker's response .4

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Voice Coil A coil of wire and the former (bobbin) around which the wire is wound. It is part of a speaker's electromagnetic motor that drives the cone to produce sound waves .4

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Voice Guide Confirmation A feature which provides audible confirmation of a system adjustment. Voice confirming control inputs reduces need for the driver to divert eyes from the road.3

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Voltage Electromotive pressure that forces current through an electrical conductor. The difference of potential between any two conductors of a circuit .4

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Voltage Drop The amount of energy consumed when a device has resistance in its circuit. The voltage (E) set up across a resistance ® carrying a current (I). E=IR (Also see Volt).2

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Voltage-fed Antenna An antenna in which the feeder is attached to the radiator at a voltage loop. This type of antenna does not require a ground plane.2

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Voltage Sensing A name given to a form of alarm system trigger that relies on sensing a change in the voltage of the vehicle (Also see Current Sensing).2

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Volt The term used to refer to the property of electrical pressure through a circuit. The basic practical unit of difference of potential.2

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Volume The amount of space occupied in three dimensions (it's cubic space)-in the case of enclosures, the space inside. It can also refer to the loudness of sound .4

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VOM Volt-Ohm-Meter, sometimes called a Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter. A multimeter that measures voltage, ohms, and milliamperes.2

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VSWR Voltage Standing Wave Radio. In a standing wave system, the ratio of the voltage of the incident wave to the voltage of the reflected wave.2

 

[KARLEON]

W

Watt The basic practical unit of measure for electrical or acoustical power.2

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Wattage Electrical power.2

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Wave A single oscillation in matter (i.e., a sound wave). Waves move outward from a point of disturbance, propagate through a medium, and grow weaker as they travel farther. Wave motion is associated with mechanical vibration, sound, heat, light, etc.2

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Waveform The shape of a wave.2

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Wavelength The length of distance a single cycle or complete sound wave travels.2

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Wide-Bit Stream Processing This technology maintains 20-bit precision through the recording process, for clearer reproduction of delicate, low-level music.1

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Windings The wire in a voice coil that is wound around the former (also called a bobbin) to create a coil.4

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Window-Clip Glass-Mount Antenna A non-permanently installed antenna used in cellular applications.2

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Window Roll-Up The term used for the feature that causes the window(s) on a vehicle to close upon arming, or open and close as part of a convenience feature of a security system.2

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Woofer A large dynamic loudspeaker that is well suited for reproducing bass frequencies.2

 

[KARLEON]

X

Xmax The distance a speaker cone can travel before the magnet loses control over the voice coil.2

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X-tal Lock Sony's proprietary tuning technology which employs a quartz crystal to generate a reference frequency from which all others are derived. Assures accurate frequency selection.1

Y (none as of now)

Z

Zero Bit Detection A circuit in a D/A converter that monitors the digital audio bit stream. upon encountering all bits low, or zero bits, the output of the D/A is disconnected from the preamp. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio specification.1

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Zero Output The absence of output signal or output power.2

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Zone The specific area of the security system's coverage or a term used to describe a specific trigger input.2

 

[jer_stud56]

Yay. Was this on a website or something? Could've just posted a link to save some bandwidth...heh. But whatever gets everyone to understand it. We'll send the newbies here from now on. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[KARLEON]

Yea, i thought about all the newbies who doesnt know what certain terms mean we use, and i figured their should be a thread here that addresses that. I didnt even think about the bandwidth, but i know how lazy some people can get and even if you post a link, you will have that few who wont open it and would rather post another thread asking what does such and such mean.

 

[KARLEON]

Cant find what you are looking for in this thread? Then check out these other helpful sites....They might have what you are looking for.

http://diyaudiocorner.tripod.com/def.htm

http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/education/glossary.htm

http://www.sonicspot.com/guide/glossary.htm

http://www.elitecaraudio.com/tips/car_audio/terms/

http://www.audioc.com/information/audio_glossary/glossary.html

http://www.stereophile.com//reference/50/index1.html

http://www.carsound.com/glossary.shtml

http://www.jasonlorette2.50megs.com/photo2.html

http://www.mmxpress.com/jvc/glossary.html

http://www.thespeakerstore.com/glossary/glossary.htm

http://www.lakelandmusic.com/article_AudioTerms.htm

http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/glossary.htm

http://www.caraudioresources.net/tech/glossary.html

Just to name a few //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[kickerlivinloud]

Good stuff Karleon......:thumbsup

Jon

 

[Administrator]

Thanks for taking the time to do this! I sticky'd it so everyone will see it.

 

[KARLEON]

Thanks for taking the time to do this! I sticky'd it so everyone will see it.

No problem.

 

[the_flatlander]

thanks for all the definitions, not that anyone cares but I copied and pasted that to word and it's 50 pages :thumbsupw //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[maniackilla]

as far as bandwidth goes ..... it pulls about as much as a regular post, not even close to an image size .... roughly 1/5th the size of a single regular image depending on varying factors

 

[UNCFMM]

Good post, very helpful.

 

[MegaHurtz]

Waht do the numbers at the end of the definitons mean?

 

[Megalomaniac]

I think those are his sources(# which the link is positioned on 2nd page) im not sure...just MO

 

[cool9]

Great list. You forgot Crossover slope:

The crossover slope describes how sharply or quickly the crossover attenuates (decreases) the amplitude (strength) of audio signals at frequencies above (low pass crossovers) or below (high pass crossovers) the crossover frequency. The slope is described in dB per octave. The higher the value, the sharper the roll-off, and the more control the listener will have over which frequencies are played by any particular speaker. A 24dB/octave slope is considered very steep (good) and a 6dB/octave slope is relative low (more difficult to control audio signals).

 

[Octavio]

so what exacly RMS means? thanks

 

[Tonyguy]

Root Means Square.

 

[Wragold]

what does the term big 3 stand for

 

[bdawson72]

this should actually be a sticky for all the nooblets out there