Sony/Philips Digital Interface is, as its name suggests, a transfer protocol for digital audio, similar in concept to AES/EBU but requiring a different electrical specification. RCA coaxial connectors are most commonly used, although TosLink optical connectors can also be found.

The process that is performed by an analog to digital converter where the instantaneous amplitude of a sound source is measured at periodic intervals, the latter being know as the sample rate. The word also refers to an audio file that has been sampled in a sampler for instance.

Generally refers to the time taken by the head of a disc drive to access the sector where the information it has been sent to find, resides. An important specification for audio work since audio streaming is a time intensive process. Track count and edit density will dictate how much stress will be put on the drive, and therefore how low the seek time needs to be.

The measure of a receiver's ability to reject interfering signals at frequencies near the operating frequency.

In electronics all components produce some level of noise. In an electronic device or system, the total noise of all components is measured as the self-noise of the device or system. This measurement is taken into account when dealing with signal to noise ratios.

Describes the construction of a headphone cup. Closed designs reject a large proportion of outside noise, but also do not "leak" sounds to the outside. Real open designs do not interfere with outside noise and obviously do little to contain the source material. Semi-open designs are a compromise between the two.

Refers the amount of signal that is needed at an input for a device to deliver its rated output. A higher sensitivity is observed when the input signal is smaller for the given output and although this is generally preferred, too much sensitivity can result in a processor being overdriven by a preceding device.

A mechanical device that is designed to isolate the transducer of a microphone from shocks, vibrations or handling noise. Both internal and external mounts are used, but the most commonly used shockmount are external and use some kind of elastic material to suspend and isolate the microphone from the stand it is attached to.

A high frequency component of certain vocal sounds that can cause problems while recording. Usually words that start with an "s" can produce sibilance, and some vocalists are more prone to it than others. A de-esser is a device specifically designed to dynamically correct the problem without affecting the main vocal content too much.

Also know as key input, a sidechain is a part of a circuit that splits off a portion of the main signal to derive a control signal. It can also be a secondary physical input on a processor, such as a compressor that allows control over the compressors functions according to the sidechain input. Examples are ducking and de-essing.