Frequency Response

The range a speaker reproduces — meaningless without the ±dB window attached.

Driver

Any of the moving elements that turn signal into sound — woofer, midrange, tweeter.

Tweeter

The high-frequency driver — usually a small dome, and not a shrunken woofer.

Woofer

The low-frequency driver; its size sets bass ability — and room requirements.

Two-Way Speaker

Woofer + tweeter with one crossover point; three-way adds a dedicated midrange.

Sealed Enclosure

A closed subwoofer box: tighter roll-off, small-room ally, apartment-safe choice.

Ported Enclosure

A bass-reflex box with a tuned port — more output per dollar, best in larger rooms.

Passive Radiator

A weighted, un-powered cone that does a port’s job without port noise.

Sensitivity

Output in dB from one speaker at 1 meter for a 2.83V input — the number that predicts how much amp you need.

Impedance

The speaker’s electrical load in ohms — the amp-compatibility number.

Binding Post

The threaded terminal that accepts bare speaker wire, spades, or banana plugs.

Banana Plug

A spring-sided connector that makes speaker hookup a five-second job.

Crossover Frequency

The handoff point where the subwoofer takes over from the speakers — 80Hz is the convention.

Crossover Slope

How steeply a crossover fades each driver out, in dB per octave.

Room Gain

The free low-bass boost small rooms add below their lowest mode.

Room Mode

Dimension-locked bass peaks and nulls; the room’s own resonances.

Standing Wave

The physics behind room modes: a wave reinforcing itself between parallel walls.

Listening Triangle

The equilateral setup rule: speaker spacing = distance to each ear.

Toe-In

Angling speakers so their tweeter axes aim at your ears.

SPL

Sound pressure level in dB — anchored to real sounds, or it means nothing.

Reference Level

The calibrated loudness convention mixes are checked at — around 85dB.

Sample Rate

Snapshots per second of the waveform — 44.1/48kHz covers audible reality.

Bit Depth

24-bit is headroom and noise floor, not “quality”.

Buffer Size

Samples processed per block: the latency ↔ CPU stability trade.

Round-Trip Latency

Input-to-output delay through the whole chain — the number you feel.

Direct Monitoring

Hearing your input straight from the interface — zero-latency by hardware.

Preamp Gain

How much an interface can amplify a mic signal — the range that decides your mic options.

Nearfield Monitoring

Sitting close to small monitors to hear more speaker, less room.

Phantom Power

+48V sent up the mic cable — condensers need it, dynamics ignore it.

Condenser Microphone

Detailed and sensitive — which means it hears your room, too.

Dynamic Microphone

The untreated-room’s friend: less sensitive, more forgiving.

Polar Pattern

The shape of what a mic hears: cardioid, omni, figure-8.

First Reflection Point

Where sound bounces once between speaker and ear — the mirror-trick target.

Absorption

Turning reflections into heat inside porous material — what NRC measures.

Diffusion

Scattering reflections instead of absorbing them — liveliness without slap.

Bass Trap

Thick corner absorption aimed at low frequencies, where rooms misbehave most.

NRC

Noise Reduction Coefficient — the panel honesty number, 0 to ~1.

DAW

Digital audio workstation — the recording, editing, and mixing hub of a studio.

Gain Staging

Setting healthy levels at each link of the chain — target ~−18dBFS average.

Clipping

Running out of headroom: the waveform’s tops get sheared off.