System information
Audio Compression Manager (ACM)
The Audio Compression Manager, from Microsoft, is a standard interface for audio compression and
signal processing for the Windows operating system. The ACM can be used by software to compress and
decompress .wav files.
B
Bandwidth
When discussing audio equalization, each frequency band has a width associated with it that determines
the range of frequencies that are affected by the EQ. An EQ band with a wide bandwidth will affect a wider
range of frequencies than one with a narrow bandwidth.
When discussing network connections, refers to the rate of signals transmitted; the amount of data that
can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time (stated in bits/second): a 56 Kbps network connection is
capable of receiving 56,000 bits of data per second.
Beats Per Measure
The time signature of a piece of music contains two pieces of information: the number of beats in each
measure of music, and which note value gets one beat. Vegas Pro uses this notion to determine the number
of ticks to put on the time ruler above the track view and to determine the spacing when the ruler is
displaying Measures & Beats.
Beats Per Minute (BPM)
The tempo of a piece of music can be written as a number of beats in one minute. If the tempo is 60 BPM,
a single beat will occur once every second.
Bit
A bit is the most elementary unit in digital systems. Its value can only be 1 or 0, corresponding to a voltage
in an electronic circuit. Bits are used to represent values in the binary numbering system. As an example, the
8-bit binary number 10011010 represents the unsigned value of 154 in the decimal system. In digital
sampling, a binary number is used to store individual sound levels, called samples.
Bit Depth
The number of bits used to represent a single sample. Vegas Pro software uses either 8, 16 or 24-bit
samples. Higher values will increase the quality of the playback and any recordings that you make. While 8-
bit samples take up less memory (and hard disk space), they are inherently noisier than 16 or 24-bit
samples.
GLOSSARY633