Audio Measurements
Audio measurements are lab tests that describe how a component changes a signal, from distortion and noise to frequency response. In Hi-Fi they give buyers a shared language to compare DACs, amplifiers and cables beyond marketing claims.
What audio measurements are & why they matter
A test rig feeds a known signal, often a pure sine wave, and analyses what comes out. THD+N (total harmonic distortion plus noise) shows how much unwanted content is added. Most results are stated in decibels, so figures from different labs can be set side by side. Frequency response shows how evenly a device passes 20 Hz to 20 kHz, usually with a tolerance such as plus or minus 3 dB.
What you'll find in this tag
Long-form technical articles that lean on numbers make up the page. One compares R-2R ladder and delta-sigma DAC architectures through resistor accuracy and noise shaping. Another examines speaker cables and interconnects by resistance, capacitance and inductance, asking which electrical values change anything at the speaker terminals.
Key measurements & topics to know
Resistor tolerance - decides linearity in a ladder DAC. Noise shaping - how delta-sigma chips push quantisation noise above the audio band. Cable resistance - matters most with long runs and low-impedance speakers. Capacitance and inductance - shape how an interconnect or speaker lead behaves with a given source. SINAD (signal to noise and distortion) - a single decibel figure that sums up noise and distortion of a DAC or amplifier.
Related topics & where to go next
Read R-2R Ladder DAC for converter design and High-Resolution Audio (Hi-Res) for format limits. Cable articles continue in the Cables section of the catalog, and new technical pieces land in the articles feed.