Live Sound Quiz 2

They are for showing signal flow and structure of a device.

A schematic has the components and values labeled where a block diagram doesn't.

they help show signal path for changing or customizing signal path

Sound you didn't intentionally create, and don't want to hear

Pink noise is equal energy per octave; White noise is equal energy per hertz

Pink noise better represents how we hear

Good cables make sure to carry a good signal from your other high-end gear; you don't want your quality gear to sound crappy because of cheap cables

Star Quad or Quad; have a shield and four conductors (2 pairs) that are twisted around each other for extra conductivity

• save time in setup
• neater than a large bundle of cables

power, mic/line, speaker

balanced mic level, low impedance; 3 pin connector with one shield and a twisted pair of conductors that carry the signal (one out of phase with the other to cancel out interference)

balanced phone plug, low impedance (tip for hot, ring for neutral, sleeve for shield)

unbalanced line level phone plug, high impedance (tip for hot, sleeve for shield)

unbalanced line level, high impedance; usually used in consumer electronics

Neutrik NL-4 and NL-8

• pin 1: sleeve (shield)
• pin 2: tip (hot)
• pin 3: ring (neutral/cold)

it's used to take a high impedance signal and make it low impedance

it lifts the ground if your amp is already grounded so you don't get a ground loop

• An insert cable is used for connecting dynamics signal processing to a mixer using a Y-split.
• It's made by wiring two TS plugs to one TRS (both TS have sleeve wired together; one TS has tip to tip, other TS has tip to ring)

A balanced circuit outputs a low impedance signal via three conductors, a hot, a cold (hot polarity reversed), and a ground.

• Balanced circuits have two conductors (one is flipped phase) and sometimes a third that is referred to ground.  They are less susceptible to pick up interference.  
• Unbalanced circuits have two conductors, one for signal and one for ground.  They are more susceptible to interference than balanced lines.

• Left (bigger blade): neutral
• Right (smaller blade): hot
• Rounded one: earth ground

120V AC

There is nothing protecting you from being electrocuted

• -Earth Ground: literally the electrical
• potential of the earth, which is the round prong on a US standard 120
• volt outlet.
• -Chassis Ground: the connection point
• of a component on the chassis; this is usually connected to the earth
• ground if a 3-prong plug is being used on the equipment.
• -Signal Ground: the reference point for
• expressing signal potentials against.

• Grounding is how a signal conductor is
• protected against unwanted induced currents (radio frequencies, AC
• power lines, motors, etc.). It also protects against electrocution
• in case there is a faulty wiring or maybe a short.

Shield (signal ground) gets connected to the chassis ground, which is connected to the third prong on a power cable for the earth ground

two pieces of equipment share a common earth ground and create a 60Hz hum; only made by things that need to be plugged into an outlet

• make sure everything is plugged into same earth ground
• use DI box to lift ground in problematic circuit
• use SHUNT adapter to lift ground in cable

• First locate the source by muting or unplugging different electrically connected components
• once found, plug it into something with a common earth ground
• you can use a DI box or Shunt adapter to lift ground
• if all else fails, use a noise gate