User`s guide

13—Glossary
2 ENSONIQ DP/Pro Reference Manual
Cycle
A sound wave’s single journey from exerting a greater amount of air pressure to a
lesser one and back to its starting point. The number of cycles per second determines
the pitch—or frequency—of the sound wave. The number of cycles per second is
expressed in hertz (Hz) and kilohertz (kHz).
Damping
A reverb parameter that determines how quickly the high-frequency content of a
reverb will be reduced as it decays to silence.
DDL
Abbreviation for “digital delay line,” an audio process that creates a digital copy, or
copies, of a source signal and plays it (or them) back later than the original signal.
Dec
Abbreviation for “decrement”; to decrease.
Decay
In a reverb, the time during which the envelope of the reverb tail decreases to a very
small level. Commonly referenced as RT60, the time for the reverberation to decay by
60 dB.
Definition
In a reverb, a control that affects the rate at which the number of echoes increases
with time.
Delay Smoothing
A parameter in some algorithms containing delays that even out any changes made to
the delay times (the changes can be made manually or through a modulator). The
higher the setting, the longer it will take for the delay time to ramp to its final value.
Density
In a reverb, a control that affects the degree to which echoes are regenerated, thus
producing a buildup of echoes with time.
Depth
The degree to which a signal is processed.
Diffusion
In a reverb, a control that affects the density of the initial cluster of echoes. Low
settings of diffusion result in a discrete echoes; higher settings produce a smoother
sound.
Doppler Shift
A frequency change produced by relative motion between a sound source and a
receiver; simulated electronically by processing a signal through a varying time delay.
Double-click
To rapidly press a button twice.
Download
The process by which the DP/Pro reads values saved in an effect or algorithm and
instructs the DP/Pro to use those values.
Dry
The state of an audio signal prior to signal processing; also a relative term used in
wet/dry mix parameters to describe the signal prior to additional processing.
DSP
Acronym for “Digital Signal Processor.”
Early Reflections
Early reflections are delayed signals that aurally suggest the size of ambient spaces. In
the real world, sound bounces off surfaces it encounters—walls, ceiling and floor.
Quick early reflections suggest small spaces, with these surfaces close by. Longer
early reflections imply to the ear that the surfaces are farther away, and that the
ambient space is therefore larger.
Effect
An effect in the DP/Pro is a preset containing all of the settings for the DP/Pro’s two
signal processing chips (ESPs) and a signal-flow routing.
Envelope
A curve that roughly describes the level of a signal over time.
EQ Trim
A control that adjusts the gain of a signal before it is fed into an equalizer. Used to
compensate for an EQ boost that would otherwise cause distortion, and in some cases
to compensate for an EQ cut that would otherwise result in a very low signal level.
Equalization (EQ)
The process of altering the frequency content of sound by changing the volume
balance of the frequencies it contains.
ER
Abbreviation for “early reflection.”
ESP
Acronym for “ENSONIQ Signal Processor”; refers in the DP/Pro to one of the
DP/Pro’s two processors. Also, the sixth sense.
ESP2
For “ENSONIQ Signal Processor 2”; second-generation VLSI DSP chip that powers
the DP/Pro. The DP/Pro contains two ESP2s.
Fc
Abbreviation for “center frequency” or for “cutoff frequency.”
Feedback
The process of scaling a system’s output and adding it back to the system’s input. In
the case of a DDL, the amount of feedback determines the number of decaying echoes
that are heard (synonymous in this case with regeneration).
Filter
A device that attenuates selected frequencies within an audio signal. A highpass filter
passes all signals higher than a selected frequency, attenuating all those frequencies
below it. A lowpass filter passes all signals below a selected frequency, attenuating all
those frequencies above it.
Flanger
A processor that simulates the effect of two synchronized tape machines playing back
the same signal, with the speed of one machine being slowed slightly by the gentle
pressing on the outer shell—or “flange”—of one of its tape reels. This small amount
of delay causes a phasing cancellation that filters out elements of the signal being
processed. Changing the delay time causes the “flange” effect.
FM
Abbreviation for “frequency modulation.”