Audio is full of weird, nuanced terms that we use to describe speakers, headphones, and the people who love them. A lot of those terms are what we call “terms of art” in the legal world; i.e. those terms that have a well-accepted definition within the relevant community (see, e.g., open back and closed back) and others which … well, don’t (see, e.g. “detail“).
I don’t claim to be an expert on the audio world, audiophilia, or audio terminology, and my understanding of things has certainly shifted over time, but here’s the terms as *I* use them.
Alphabet:
A.
Active speaker — A speaker with a built-in amplifier that takes signals at line level and uses them to reproduce music. These require either a battery or a power source like a AC adapter. A smart speaker is an active speaker + a streamer.
Amplifier — Broadly, an amplifier is a device that receives an analog signal input at one level and outputs it at another, higher level. A complex audio system may have amplifiers at many different stages in the signal chain, including (but not limited to) a phono amplifier, a pre-amplifier, a power amplifier, and a headphone amplifier, and one or more of these may be combined into a unit called an integrated amplifier. If you add a streaming unit to an integrated amplifier, you get a super-integrated amplifier, and if you add a radio tuner to an integrated amplifier, you get a receiver.
Analog signal — this gets complicated, but basically it just means the thing you actually want to listen to through speakers or a pair of headphones. Transducers can only play analog signals.
ATMOS — A system for encoding, decoding, and reproducing surround sound. It’s object based (the audio file contains information about a sound and where it is in space) rather than channel-based (where there are a pre-set and pre-mixed set of channels) which gives it more flexibility.
Audio — The sounds we want to hear when we play music.
Audiophile — a person who likes high-quality audio; either music or equipment (aka “audiophile gear”) or both. Can be a perjorative, a self-identification, or a self-deprecating description. It’s a spectrum, from people who are obsessed with measurements (see, e.g. squigsniffers) to people who are music obsessed (see music-first audiophile) and everything in between.
Audiophile gear — This is gear aimed at folks who mostly self-identify as “audiophiles”. It usually requires a more configuration or setup than Consumer gear or Prosumer Gear and is much more focused on “quality” and objective measurements for sound. This includes most of the offerings from specialized hi-fi companies like Schiit, Devialet, Dali, Kef, etc. For streaming, this is things like Tidal or Qboz, which specialize in “HD” music and native/easy integrations with music systems like Roon.
B.
Bookshelf speaker — Also called standmount speakers. Bookshelf/standmounts speakers are generally smaller (and some of them even fit on bookshelves!), and need to sit on something to get the speakers to an appropriate ear height for most listening cases. This can be wall mounts, shelves, furniture, or dedicated speaker mounts. For higher end systems, the things they sit on start to matter for purposes of sound distortion/resonance/etc., but for these purposes I’m not going to get into it other than to say, listen to the speakers and see if they sound good. Standmounts typically have at least two speaker cones in them: a small one (a tweeter) for higher frequencies, and a larger one (a woofer) for mid/lower frequencies.
Brain burn-in — Brain burn is the idea that our brains get used to hearing sounds the way that we’re used to hearing them, and that anything else will sound weird or worse to us until we adjust. I’m pretty convinced it is really a thing, though some folks will disagree. I believe in it enough that I don’t start critical listening with a new pair of headphones for a review until I have 10-15 hours of background use to let my brain adjust. There have been very few pairs that I liked right out of gate, even ones that I came to love.
Burn-in/break-in — The idea that audio gear needs to be run with some kind of sound through it for some period of time before it performs as expected. The theory is that the moving parts inside a transducer need to break in a little before they’re at full, planned flexibility, and that electrical parts somehow relax into their proper function over time. It’s … controversial to say the least, with one camp suggesting that it’s a manufacturer ploy to prevent you from using a return window, and another suggesting that it’s absolutely crucial and nothing sounds right until you’ve played 50 hours of pink (or brown!) noise through it at a high volume. I personally haven’t noticed it (but see Brain burn-in above), but people whose opinions I trust (and who have a profit motive NOT to do burn in as part of the manufacturing process but do anyway) seem to think it’s real. In the end? I don’t bother. If you want to though, that’s cool. The incremental cost seems tiny.
C.
Commercial audio — a weird space I know next to nothing about. Sort of a parallel world to consumer, prosumer, and audiophile gear and encompasses everything from the terrible speaker system you hear at a Chilis to the speaker infrastructure you hear in a concert venue.
Component — a component is a piece of a audio system, generally one of the following: a source (a tape deck, CD player, streamer, etc.), an amplifier (pre-, phono, power, or headphone), or a transducer (a speaker or a pair of headphones). In a traditional separates system each of these is an individual piece of gear, but in modern systems they’re often combined in some way or another.
Consumer audio — Consumer audio devices are the things that most people use to listen to music. They usually feature easy setup, minimal configuration, lower quality sound (or at least much less focused on objective measurement). Think, e.g. Bose, Sonos, home theater gear from companies like Klipsch, most Sony products, etc. For streaming, this is Pandora or Spotify (or until a year or two ago, Apple Music).
D.
DAC — A DAC is a device that takes a digital signal (a CD, a computer file, or a streaming service) and converts it to an analog signal (the thing that speakers or headphones use to produce sound). If you are listening to digital music (any music from a digital file, a streaming source, or a CD), you’re using a DAC. DACs are usually either incidental components of something like a smartphone or a standalone, dedicated DAC unit.
DACTruther — “No human is able to hear the difference between two modern DACs!” See, e.g., this absolute champion. They are, generally, assholes.
Desktop DAC — A standalone DAC unit that’s primary purpose is to take a digital signal from a source and turn it into an audio signal to transmit to an amplifier. See, e.g., the Schiit Modi, Modius, and Mimir, the Topping E30/E30II, or
Detail retrieval — the amount of information that a pair of transducers replicate from a given piece of media. I don’t know a good way to measure it, so this is usually a *vibes, not thoughts* thing for me; basically, does it feel like I hear things I don’t hear from other systems? Are there things missing? There’s also some evidence that perception of detail retrieval is tied to the relatively treble level on a pair of tranducers, so make of that what you will. I use this more or less interchangeable with “resolution.”
Digital signal — audio encoded into a series of 0s and 1s (aka a computer file). Speakers cannot reproduce digital signals, so if you want to listen to a digital signal it will first have to be converted into an analog signal by a DAC.
Dynamic range — For a given volume setting, the variation in actual perceived volume within a track. I.e. can a song be very quiet and very loud at the same setting, or does the track stay roughly the same volume throughout regardless of internal dynamics. [I test this with Glass Animals’ “It’s All So Incredibly Loud”; a decently dynamic pair of headphones set to a reasonable volume at the beginning of the track should be uncomfortably loud by the end, and headphones with better dynamic ranges may have me reaching for the volume knob two or three minutes in.]
E.
F.
G.
H.
Headphone — a device that allows you to listen to music by resting on, around, or in your head. Generally smaller than a bookshelf or tower speaker, but you do you. See, e.g., over ears, on ears, in ears, headbands, etc.1
Headphone amplifier — an amplifier intended primarily to provide signal to one or more headphones. Many modern headphone amplifiers will also function as a pre-amplifier.
I.
Integrated amplifier — an integrated amplifier is a device that consists (generally) of a pre-amplifier and a power amplifier. It may also have a phono amplifier if it is intended to connect to a turntable. If it also contains a radio tuner it’s called a receiver, and it if contains a streamer it’s called a super-integrated amplifier.
J.
K.
L.
Line level — the level of signal that is used to transmit analog sounds between components in an audio system. It varies from device to device, but generally is in between the signal you get from a turntable/record player and the signal used to power passive speakers.
M.
Media — the thing that has a recording of the analog signal you want to listen to, or the format in which it is recorded. Media can be anything from a cassette tape to a CD to a .FLAC file on a computer or a streaming service like Spotify or Amazon Music.
Microdynamics — the way I use this term, it refers to how well notes are accented in music when they should be. I.e., does a bright, brassy fanfare sound bright and brassy, or are the notes the same volume the whole way through? When someone slaps the bass, or aggressively plucks a string, is the note sharper up front and then fade away, or is it the same volume throughout? [I test this with “Angel (Blur Remix)” by Massive Attack; the opening couple of minutes have a pattern of low bell tones and high bell tones that are heavily accented on a good system.]
Music-first audiophile — an audiophile who lacks the courage of his convictions. Kidding. Mostly. “Music-first audiophile” is a self-descriptor that appears to be intended to separate yourself from the people who are obsessed with measurements and gear in favor of actually listening to music. Joking aside, I’m probably in this category myself; I enjoy the gear, but I’m really here because I love music and listening to it. John Darko did a (tongue in cheek?) manifesto for our community that’s worth a watch.
N.
O.
P
Passive speaker — a speaker that requires a speaker-level signal from an amplifier to reproduce music. Compare to an active speaker.
Phono amplifier — a specific kind of amplifier intended to take a signal from a turntable (aka record player) and raise it to a line signal.
Power amplifier — an amplifier designed to take a line level signal and convert it to a speaker level signal to drive one or more speakers. These can be mono (one speaker), stereo (two speakers), or surround (5 to many speakers).
Pre-amplifier — an amplifier intended to take one or more line-level signals and pass them on to a power amplifier. Often also serves as both volume controller and source selector, collecting signals from multiple sources to let the user pick what they want to listen to at any given moment and how loudly to listen to it. For example, a pre-amplifier may have a CD player, a record player, and a network streamer connected to it, letting you use a single power amplifier and speaker setup to listen to all three sources.
Prosumer gear — Prosumer audio gear is aimed at enthusiasts but not hobbyists; still mostly easy to configure and setup, but with more customization and flexibility. Usually a little more focused on quality and measurements. Think, e.g., Bluesound, lower-end products from serious hi-fi manufacturers like PS Audio, Cambridge Audio, NAD, and some of the more home-theater focused products from companies like Kef. For streaming, this is the modern iteration of Apple Music. Prosumer gear is usually a step up from consumer audio in terms of quality but a step below audiophile gear.
Q.
R
Resolution — how finely grained the audio information that a pair of transducers replicate from a given piece of media. I don’t know a good way to measure it, so this is usually a *vibes, not thoughts* thing for me; basically, does it feel like I hear things I don’t hear from other systems? Are there things missing? There’s also some evidence that perception of detail retrieval is tied to the relatively treble level on a pair of tranducers, so make of that what you will. I use this more or less interchangeable with “detail retrieval.”
S
Separation, layer/instrument — To me: how distinct similar sounds appear to be in a mix. I.e. if you have two guitars playing a duet, are the two instruments distinct or do the blur together? If you have a crowded midrange and a singer competing with guitars or other instruments, can you hear the singer clearly or do they get a bit lost?
Smart speaker — a smart speaker is an active speaker with a built-in streamer (and often one of the major smart assistants like Siri, Alexa, or Google).
Soundstage — Soundstage is one of those terms that we all use differently, and I’ll be the first to admit I’ve historically used it inconsistently. I try to use it to refer to the perceived width of a particular track in space; i.e. whether it feels like all of the musicians are standing inside your head versus being spread out to the right, to the left, front, back, vertically, etc. Contrast this with layer separation or instrument separation.
Source — The source is the thing that provides the initial audio signal to your system by reading the media. This can be a turntable (aka record player), a CD player, a network streaming device (aka a streamer), a radio, a TV, etc.
Speaker — this is a device that takes current from an amplifier and turns it into sound. Together with headphones, these are called “transducers.” Speakers create sound using (mostly) one or more speaker cones, and are generally intended to fill a space with sound and be audible to more than one person, though us lonely audiophiles often have expensive speaker setups intended primarily or solely for our own solitary use. Generally divided into two main categories: 1) bookshelf/standmount speakers (smaller, generally less than two feet tall, usually mounted on a shelf, piece of furniture, or stands) and 2) tower speakers (larger, can be the size of a decent sized car, generally rest on the ground).
Squigsniffer — People who think that you can know how a headphone will sound from looking at a graph, enough to then tell you that you aren’t hearing what you’re hearing. They are, generally, assholes.
Standalone DAC — A separate DAC unit that’s primary purpose is to take a digital signal from a source and turn it into an audio signal to transmit to an amplifier. Also called a Desktop DAC.
Stereo sound — an audio signal that has two channels with potentially different contents, usually marked right and left.
Stereo system — an audio system designed to use the signal from a source to play back stereo sounds, generally (but not exclusively) traditionally mixed music. This can be as simple as a boombox, or as complicated as a separates system consisting of a source (like a record player), a phono amplifier, a pre-amplifier, a power amplifier, an equalizer, and a pair of speakers. May or may not include a subwoofer for additional bass reproduction.
Streamer — a streamer is a device that takes a digital signal from a source (usually either a streaming service or a network storage device with downloaded files) and sends either 1) a digital signal to a DAC (if it’s just a streamer) or 2) an analog signal to an amplifier/pre-amplifier (if it’s a combination streamer and DAC).
Subwoofer — a dedicated speaker, usually mono, designed to produce only very low frequencies that are often omnidirectional. Used to add bass to a system, particularly with main speakers that are not capable of reproducing very low frequency sounds. When I got into audio, these were mainly a concern for AV setups rather than pure music, but this is increasingly no longer the norm.
Super-integrated amplifier — an integrated amplifier with a streamer. Contains at least a pre-amplifier, power amplifier, and streamer. May also contain a phono amplifier for use with a turntable.
Surround sound — an audio signal that has more than two channels with potentially different contents. This gets a little complicated with systems like Atmos, but the smallest surround systems generally have at least five channels (left, right, center, right surround, and left surround) but may also include one or more subwoofer channels, rear channels, and presence channels (channels above ear level). Surround sound historically has mostly been for movies (and some TV), but music is increasingly available in spatial audio mixes with additional information that can be decoded into multi-channel speaker systems. See, e.g., ATMOS.
T
Timbre — A challenging term to define. Like pornography, you know it when you see it. I use it to refer to a particular tonality, the way an instrument or voice SHOULD sound. It’s one of the things I really value in a pair of headphones, particularly when it comes to human vocals. Basically, does the voice 1) sound like an actual person and 2) sound like that SPECIFIC person normally does?
Tower speaker — Tower speakers are larger speakers and usually have more than two individual speaker cones, often as many as five or six that all cover specific ranges of frequencies. They usually rest on the floor, and may have several different styles of feet depending on your listening room and its floor.
Transducer —
Tweeter — A small speaker cone that designed to reproduce higher frequencies.
U
V
W
Wireless headphone — A headphone capable of playing back music without wires. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but generally in the modern audio space this is referring to a Bluetooth headphone (most headphones) or 2.4 GHz wifi headphones (rare).
Woofer — A larger speaker cone designed to reproduce lower frequencies.
X
Xylophone — The xylophone (from Ancient Greek ξύλον (xúlon) ‘wood’ and φωνή (phōnḗ) ‘sound, voice’;[1][2] lit. ’sound of wood’) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African and Asian instruments, diatonic in many western children’s instruments, or chromatic for orchestral use.
Y
Z
- A lot of this is complicated, but some of it ain’t. ↩︎
Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm 