08-27-12: Inpepinnovations
Thanks Al, I guess all that process control math (Laplace transforms etc.) has conditioned me (I have a Chemical Engineering degree)to only think in the frequency domain. :)
And that, I think, is where some of the communication breakdowns occur in discussions of audio. So many of the audio tests are oriented toward *sound* and fundamental audiology irrespective of musical values such as timing and expressiveness. For example, since human frequency response disappears at around 20 Khz, many think that any engineering to widen the bandwidth out to 100-150 Khz is an unnecessary expense. But if you examine square wave response along with frequency response curves, you find that bandwidth (a frequency consideration) affects risetime (a timing and clarity consideration).
Another thing I've noticed is that there are often measurements of amplitude range (e.g., s/n ratio, headroom, sensitivity, power handling), but not measurements of amplitude *resolution*--how small the increments of source amplitude can be resolved. This translates into the musical values of expression and nuance.