It is easy to be confused by the language that amplifier makers utilize in order to express the performance of their products. I am going to explain the meaning of one regularly used amp specification: "signal-to-noise ratio" to help you make an informed decision when buying a brand new amp. Whilst trying to find an amp, you initially are going to check the cost, wattage amongst other basic criteria. Yet, after this initial choice, you are going to still have quite a few products to choose from. Next you will concentrate more on some of the technical specifications, such as signal-to-noise ratio and harmonic distortion. Every amp is going to generate a certain amount of hiss as well as hum. The signal-to-noise ratio is going to help calculate the level of hiss generated by the amplifier.
As soon as you have chosen a range of amps, it's time to investigate several of the specifications in more detail to help you narrow down your search to one product. One important parameter of power amplifiers is the signal-to-noise ratio. To put it simply, the signal-to-noise ratio describes how much hum or hiss the amp is going to add to the audio signal. This ratio is usually shown in decibel or "db" for short.
In order to help you evaluate the noise performance, amp producers publish the signal-to-noise ratio in their amplifier specification sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the amount of noise the amplifier produces. Noise is produced due to a number of reasons. One factor is that today's amps all use elements like transistors and resistors. Those components will generate some amount of hiss. Given that the amplifier overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements situated at the amp input, makers are going to attempt to select low-noise parts whilst developing the amplifier input stage.
Whilst glancing at the amp specification sheet, you want to look for an amplifier with a large signal-to-noise ratio number which indicates that the amplifier outputs a low amount of static. Noise is created due to a number of reasons. One factor is that today's amps all use elements like transistors along with resistors. Those elements are going to make some amount of noise. The overall noise depends on how much noise every component produces. Nonetheless, the location of these elements is also important. Elements that are part of the amp input stage will normally contribute the majority of the noise.
The signal-to-noise ratio is measured by inputting a 1 kHz test signal 60 dB underneath the full scale and measuring the noise floor of the amp. The amplification of the amplifier is set such that the full output power of the amplifier can be realized. Then the noise-floor energy is calculated in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz and compared with the full scale signal energy.
An additional convention to state the signal-to-noise ratio employs more subjective terms. These terms are "dBA" or "A weighted". You are going to spot these terms in the majority of amp specification sheets. In other words, this method attempts to state how the noise is perceived by a human. Human hearing is most perceptive to signals around 1 kHz while signals below 50 Hz and higher than 14 kHz are hardly noticed. An A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio weighs the noise floor according to the human hearing and is generally higher than the unweighted signal-to-noise ratio.
As soon as you have chosen a range of amps, it's time to investigate several of the specifications in more detail to help you narrow down your search to one product. One important parameter of power amplifiers is the signal-to-noise ratio. To put it simply, the signal-to-noise ratio describes how much hum or hiss the amp is going to add to the audio signal. This ratio is usually shown in decibel or "db" for short.
In order to help you evaluate the noise performance, amp producers publish the signal-to-noise ratio in their amplifier specification sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the amount of noise the amplifier produces. Noise is produced due to a number of reasons. One factor is that today's amps all use elements like transistors and resistors. Those components will generate some amount of hiss. Given that the amplifier overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements situated at the amp input, makers are going to attempt to select low-noise parts whilst developing the amplifier input stage.
Whilst glancing at the amp specification sheet, you want to look for an amplifier with a large signal-to-noise ratio number which indicates that the amplifier outputs a low amount of static. Noise is created due to a number of reasons. One factor is that today's amps all use elements like transistors along with resistors. Those elements are going to make some amount of noise. The overall noise depends on how much noise every component produces. Nonetheless, the location of these elements is also important. Elements that are part of the amp input stage will normally contribute the majority of the noise.
The signal-to-noise ratio is measured by inputting a 1 kHz test signal 60 dB underneath the full scale and measuring the noise floor of the amp. The amplification of the amplifier is set such that the full output power of the amplifier can be realized. Then the noise-floor energy is calculated in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz and compared with the full scale signal energy.
An additional convention to state the signal-to-noise ratio employs more subjective terms. These terms are "dBA" or "A weighted". You are going to spot these terms in the majority of amp specification sheets. In other words, this method attempts to state how the noise is perceived by a human. Human hearing is most perceptive to signals around 1 kHz while signals below 50 Hz and higher than 14 kHz are hardly noticed. An A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio weighs the noise floor according to the human hearing and is generally higher than the unweighted signal-to-noise ratio.
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