How much do you know about HIFI audio?

                                           How much do you know about   HIFI audio ?

Hi-Fi is the abbreviation of English High-Fidelity, literally translated as "high fidelity", and its definition is: a replay sound that is highly similar to the original sound. So what kind of audio equipment's playback sound is Hi-Fi? So far it is still difficult to make a definite conclusion. Professionals in the audio industry rely on various instruments and various means to detect various indicators to determine the Hi-Fi level of the equipment, while audio enthusiasts often use their own ears to judge whether the equipment has reached the Hi-Fi level in their minds. .

To judge the high-fidelity level of the playback sound, not only high-performance equipment and software are required, but also a good listening environment. Therefore, how to correctly measure the Hi-Fi degree of audio equipment, there is still a difference between objective testing and subjective evaluation.

The audio equipment that can perform what kind of performance is good audio equipment? Here, most of the complicated definitions of good sound are discarded, and the complicated things are simplified, and only

Take a performance. That is: the sound that can sing casually and sound good is the real good audio equipment. To put it more clearly: If your audio system is very picky, and only a few CDs are good to sing, but most of the CDs are not good, then it must not be a good audio system, because it is biased. Very powerful.

Conversely, if your audio system sings most of the CDs casually and feels pleasant to the ear (it is another matter to strictly select outstanding recordings), it means that the sound of your audio system is very balanced, and it is suitable for various types of music and various types of music. All kinds of recordings are acceptable, and have a considerable level of expressive ability.

The difference between HIFI and home theater

by definition

Hi-Fi is the abbreviation of English Hight-Fidelity, literally translated as high fidelity, it requires the audio equipment to amplify and process the various indicators of the sound signal without distortion during the playback process, so as to restore the original appearance of the sound source, emphasizing Is the original flavor, specially designed for enjoying music.

AV power amplifier, as the name implies, A (audio) means audio and sound, and V (video) means video and image. Therefore, AV power amplifier is an audio-visual amplifier that combines audio and video signal processing. It emphasizes the atmosphere of the sound field and is specially used for home use. cinema.

focus

These two power amplifiers are different in terms of technical indicators, sound field atmosphere, number of channels, and circuit design due to their different emphases.

1. Different technical indicators The technical indicators of high-fidelity Hi-Fi amplifiers mainly include output power, harmonic distortion, signal-to-noise ratio, frequency range, rated impedance and damping coefficient, etc., especially emphasizing harmonic distortion and signal-to-noise ratio; and Although the AV power amplifier also has these technical indicators, it emphasizes the channel isolation, delay time range, various sound field modes (DSP system, home THX system, Dolby AC-3 system) and other index parameters. In addition, there are more AV power amplifiers. Metrics about the video section.

2. The atmosphere of the sound field is different. Hi-Fi power amplifiers are mostly designed for high-fidelity in the way of sound reproduction. They pay attention to authentically amplifying the signal from the signal source. The main design purpose of the AV amplifier is to create a sound field, emphasizing the sense of direction of the sound, and simulating the atmosphere of the listening environment, such as cinemas, halls, churches, stadiums, studios, etc.

3. The number of playback channels is different. Hi-Fi amplifiers generally have two channels when they are playing, that is, amplify the signals of the left and right channels, and drive the left and right two sets of speakers to form a stereo sound field. The AV power amplifier has 4-9 channels to drive multiple speakers to form a surround sound field, for example: Dolby AC-3 needs 5.1 channels (left, center, right, left surround, right surround, subwoofer).

4. Differences in circuit design From the perspective of circuit design or circuit composition, the two power amplifiers are quite different. First of all, the high-fidelity Hi-Fi power amplifier circuit is relatively simple, and the signal processing program is less. It is also responsible for amplifying multiple signals, so it has a high degree of integration, complex circuits, and many signal processing programs. Secondly, the AV power amplifier also has a video circuit in the circuit composition.

HIFI power amplifier

AV power amplifier and Hi-Fi power amplifier

1. The AV amplifier lacks confidence when playing a large signal source. It can be seen from the product manual that the output power of the AV amplifier in the two-channel state is greater than that in the four-channel state. However, some manufacturers’ manuals have the same markings. At this time, you can choose music with a large dynamic range for trial listening, but you obviously feel powerless. This is because the total power consumption of the AV power amplifier is large, and the power reserve is not sufficient, while the Hi-Fi power amplifier appears to be calm.

2. Many AV power amplifier wirings affect the sound quality. AV amplifiers are equipped with multiple video and audio ports, and are connected to multiple sets of audio and video signal sources, resulting in many and complicated signal wirings, which can easily cause mutual interference of signals. In particular, the existence of distributed capacitance has the greatest impact on high-frequency audio and its harmonics, attenuating or interfering with the original rich high-frequency components of high-quality signal sources, so that the listener cannot appreciate the high-fidelity effect.

3. The fluorescent screen of the AV power amplifier will also interfere with the sound quality. The AV power amplifier pays attention to convenient multi-functional operation. There is a large fluorescent display on the panel to make the operation intuitive and vivid, but the fluorescent screen is heated by a low-voltage AC filament, and the characters are displayed under the drive of the pulse signal. It will radiate a lot of electromagnetic interference to the surroundings, which will obviously affect the sound quality. The difference between AV power amplifier and HI-FI power amplifier is mainly as above. Another thing to note is that although there are many differences between AV power amplifiers and HIFI power amplifiers listed here, in fact, the distinction between these two power amplifiers is not so obvious, and most people can't tell the difference between the two. The difference between the power amplifiers. So JS took advantage of this and called the AV power amplifier a HIFI power amplifier to raise the price.

home theater power amplifier

The difference between Hi-Fi and Hi-End

HI-END: Ultra-high-end Hi-Fi products: Usually, people call this type of home audio Hi-End or the best equipment, whether it is a combination of speakers, power amplifiers, CD players, vinyl turntables (turntables, tonearms, cartridges, etc.) : moving coil and moving magnet, etc.) and Hi-Fi wire, all have Hi-End products.

Generally speaking, Hi-Fi and Hi-end have excellent indicators in conventional objective technical parameters. But if you distinguish between Hi-Fi and Hi-end based on the level of these conventional technical parameters, it will inevitably be biased. Conventional technical parameters are the basic means and methods to measure the pros and cons of audio equipment. An excellent technical parameter is essential for both Hi-Fi and Hi-end. However, the sensitivity of people's hearing to technical parameters is limited. For example, a difference of a few thousandths in distortion or a few tenths of a decibel in imbalance is imperceptible to most people.

However, whether it is a designer and manufacturer of audio equipment or a fan of welding machines, they all have such experience in their own practice, that is, some technical parameters or technical characteristics other than conventional technical parameters have certain influence on the timbre and sound quality of the equipment. Impact. For example, the introduction method of negative feedback and the choice of the depth of negative feedback will have a great impact on the timbre and sound quality, but it has little to do with conventional technical parameters. It is true that the audio equipment deals with a signal with multiple frequency components and large signal amplitude changes in a wide frequency band. It is difficult for this signal to be expressed in a simple mathematical model when it passes through a nonlinear system.

As far as the technical parameters of audio equipment are concerned, the usual Hi-Fi equipment pursues and guarantees basically conventional technical parameters, and often strives to achieve the highest possible indicators. In addition to conventional technical parameters, Hi-end equipment often pays attention to deeper technical parameters and technical characteristics. Therefore, Hi-end equipment may not have any obvious advantages in terms of conventional technical parameters, but its subjective hearing has left a deep impression on people.

There are many factors that affect the quality of equipment. In addition to the perfect circuit design, the selection of manufacturing process and materials is also critical, which can be said to be one of the differences between Hi-Fi and Hi-end.

Generally speaking, the demand for Hi-Fi equipment is large, and the design of the manufacturing process in the production process is often as simple as possible to reduce costs. The selection of components should also choose varieties with relatively high performance and price as much as possible. But Hi-end equipment is different, because the Hi-end market is far smaller than Hi-Fi, and if the quality of the equipment is not enough, users will not think it is Hi-end equipment. Therefore, Hi-end equipment attaches great importance to the manufacturing process, and often pays great attention to the position of a wire and a solder joint. The original parts used are selected as high-quality products of some famous brands as possible. As for the appearance of the equipment, it is not a problem. We often strive for a harmonious and exquisite appearance, so that the position of the mechanical center of gravity and the mechanical vibration characteristics of the equipment are not ignored.

In some audio publications, we often see words describing Hi-end equipment, such as "exhausted material" when talking about components, "powerful image" when talking about appearance, and "exquisite" when talking about craftsmanship. Peerless". These words are indeed the objective characteristics of some current Hi-end equipment, but for the user, his pursuit often pays more attention to the musical expression of Hi-end equipment, that is to say, when chasing Hi-end equipment, he pays more attention to Its sound is "quality".

Those high-end equipment with "powerful image", "exquisite exquisiteness" and "exhausted material" are all expensive, and are far away from most music lovers. But the product is determined by the demand of the market. Among the audio equipment, there is also a kind of equipment. These equipment do not pursue the "mighty" image and "exquisite" craftsmanship, but use the limited cost budget to improve the "quality" of the sound. superior. Thus making its equipment with Hi-end equipment quality approached to more music lovers. For this kind of high-quality equipment, we might as well call it "quasi" Hi-end equipment.

It is difficult to say that there is an obvious technical parameter boundary between Hi-Fi equipment and Hi-end equipment, and it is not possible to simply distinguish Hi-Fi and Hi-end by appearance and market price. Can a kind of equipment be called Hi-end? end, often needs to be evaluated by its subjective listening experience, its own technical parameters, manufacturing process and price and many other factors.