Passport Glossary

¼” Phone Jack/Plug – Common plug and receptacle used to connect amplifiers, musical instruments and recording equipment. The plug and jack can be stereo, balanced and unbalanced depending on it’s wiring.

Balanced Input/Output - A method of interconnecting electronic gear using three conductor cables. Like the XLR, the conductors are labeled as follows: “+”, “-“, & common. By sending the “+” and “–“vsignals across the same cable, noise that is picked up by long cables can be electronically eliminated at the receiving end.

Decibel (dB) - The ratio of two signal or sound levels  where a certain percentage change is one unit based on a logarithmic scale.

Hertz (Hz) – A measure of frequency in cycles per second.

High Impedance - Impedance of 5,000 or more ohms.

Impedance -The opposition to alternating current.

ImpedanceMatching –Matching the impedance of an output device to an input device. If not impedances are not correctly matched, electric losses and/or damage can occur to gear.

K – A prefix meaning 1,000. If something is rated at 1K Ohms, it has an impedance of 1,000 Ohms and so on. 10 KHz means 10,000 Hertz.

Line Input - An input designed to take a line level signal.

Line Level - An amplified signal level put out by an amplifier and used as the normal level that runs through the interconnecting cables in a control room. This level has a higher voltage than raw mic and instrument levels.

Line Output – An output that produces a amplified signal that generally has more amplitude (voltage) than a mic signal.

Low Impedance – An input or output that has an impedance of 500 Ohms or less.

Lo-Z - Abbreviation for the term Low Impedance (Impedance of 500 ohms or less)

Mic Input – An input that is designed to receive a balance mic. The connector is generally of XLR type.

Mono – Generally a reference to a system that has only one power amp.

NL4 Jack – A specialized 2 or 4 pole speaker jack and plug.

Ohm (Ω) – The unit of opposition to current flow.

Power Amp In – This is the input to a power amp. This will “cut off” any other signal that goes to the power amp in question.

Power Amp Out – Refers to the high power output of a power amp. The systems speakers are connected to this.

Pre-Amp Out – Refers to the output of a pre-amp/mixer or other amplified device. This is generally connected to a power amp.

RCA® Jack – A jack that is generally associated with home stereo type connectors. Was originally designed to replace the phone jack.