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Figure 5-1: Sine waveform
In electronic sound recording and output devices, the attributes of sounds are represented
by the parameters of amplitude and frequency. Frequency is the number of cycles per
second, and the most common unit of frequency is the Hertz (Hz), which is 1 cycle per
second. Large values, or high frequencies, are measured in kilohertz (KHz) or megahertz
(MHz).
Frequency is strongly related to the perceived pitch of a sound. When frequency
increases, pitch rises. This relationship is exponential. An increase from 100 Hz to 200 Hz
results in a large rise in pitch, but an increase from 1,000 Hz to 1,100 Hz is hardly
noticeable. Musical pitch is represented in octaves. A tone that is one octave higher than
another has a frequency twice as high as that of the first tone, and its perceived pitch is
twice as high.
The second parameter that defines a waveform is its amplitude. In an electronic circuit,
amplitude relates to the voltage or current in the circuit. When a signal is going to a
speaker, the amplitude is expressed in watts. Perceived sound intensity is measured in
decibels (db). Human hearing has a range of about 120 db; 1 db is the faintest audible
sound. Roughly every 10 db corresponds to a doubling of sound, and 1 db is the smallest
change in amplitude that is noticeable in a moderately loud sound. Volume, which is the
amplitude of the sound signal which is output, corresponds logarithmically to decibel level.
The frequency and amplitude parameters of a sine wave are completely independent.
When sound is heard, however, there is interaction between loudness and pitch. Lower-
frequency sounds decrease in loudness much faster than high-frequency sounds.
- Audio Hardware 131 -
Summary of Contents for Amiga A1000
Page 1: ...AMIGA HARDWARE REFERENCE MANUAL 1992 Commodore Business Machines Amiga 1200 PAL...
Page 20: ...Figure 1 1 Block Diagram for the Amiga Computer Family Introduction 11...
Page 21: ...12 Introduction...
Page 72: ...Figure 3 12 A dual Playfield display Playfield Hardware 63...
Page 87: ...Figure 3 24 Horizontal Scrolling 78 playfield hardware...
Page 101: ...92 Playfield Hardware...
Page 199: ...Figure 6 9 DMA time slot allocation 190 Blitter hardware...
Page 203: ...Figure 6 13 Blitter Block Diagram 194 Blitter Hardware...
Page 229: ...220 System Control Hardware...
Page 246: ...Figure 8 8 Chinon Timing diagram cont Interface Hardware 237...
Page 265: ...256 Interface Hardware...
Page 289: ...280 Appendix A...
Page 297: ...288 Appendix B...
Page 298: ...APPENDIX C CUSTOM CHIP PIN ALLOCATION LIST NOTE Means an active low signal Appendix C 289...
Page 302: ...APPENDIX D SYSTEM MEMORY MAP Appendix D 293...
Page 343: ...334 Appendix F...
Page 351: ...342 Appendix G...
Page 361: ...352 Appendix H...
Page 367: ...358 Appendix I...