Audio System Measurements: Overview
The measurements of any specific audio system are made for various specific intentions. For instance, a maintenance engineer would make an audio system measurement to guarantee the equipment is still in good shape, its working on the required specifications, or to ascertain that any collective defects in the audio paths of the specific system are within tolerable limits.
On the other hand, Audio system designers take audio measurements to be able to spell out the performance of the equipment in question. Still, others take measurements to determine the quality or conformity of the system. Although a lot of people misjudge systems functionality due to its measurements, it is important to take such index measurements based on psychoacoustic principles to be able to measure the system in a more valid manner.
For instance, psychoacoustic principles, such as measuring noise can be done by using weighting filters. This is due to the proven fact that the human ear is more sensitive to certain frequencies than others.
Imperative to note, a single measurement cannot give the final verdict of the type of audio system in question. It cannot assess the quality and capabilities of an audio. It is advisable that one takes a series of measurements to identify several degradations that may cause the reduction of fidelity. For example, test flutter, wow and tape speed variations, over an extended period of time, if you want to test an analogue tape machine. On the other hand, test timing jitter and aliasing when dealing with a digital system.
