Dictionary of Audio Terminology - X
X - The electronic symbol for reactance -- the imaginary part of impedance.
XC - The electronic symbol for capacitive reactance.
XL - The electronic symbol for inductive reactance.
x-axis -The horizontal axis of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, or one of three axes in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.
x-band - A radar-frequency band between 8 GHz and 12 GHz, usually in the ITU assigned band 8.5 GHz to 10.68 GHz.
XBASEY - Nomenclature designation for IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet cabling. The "X" is the data rate and the "Y" is the cabling type or category.
XBT - (expendable bathythermograph) Abbreviation found in underwater acoustics studies.
x-copy - A copy made as closely as possible to a 1:1 match. In analog this applies to "equal flux" copying, wherein a copy is made at the same flux levels as the master.
X curve - (extended curve) In the film sound industry an X curve is also known as the wide-range curve and conforms to ISO Bulletin 2969, which specifies for pink noise, at the listening position in a dubbing situation or two-thirds of the way back in a theater, to be flat to 2 kHz, rolling off 3-dB/oct after that. The small-room X curve is designed to be used in rooms with less than 150 cubic meters, or 5,300 cubic feet. This standard specifies flat response to 2 kHz, and then rolling off at a 1.5 dB/oct rate. Some people use a modified small-room curve, starting the roll-off at 4 kHz, with a 3 dB/oct rate. Compare with Academy curve.
x-cut - A method of cutting a quartz plate for an oscillator, with the x-axis of the crystal perpendicular to the faces of the plate. Contrast with y-cut.
Xe - The symbol for the element xenon.
xenon - The gas found inside vacuum tubes.
x-fader - Shortened form for crossfader.
xfmr - Abbreviation for transformer.
Xi The 14th letter of the Greek alphabet.
Xilinx® - (pronounced zi-links; after xi the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet) Leading manufacturer of field-programmable logic devices.
XMF - (extensible music format) A MIDI Manufacturers Association approved new standard that combines MIDI notes with DLS (downloadable sound) samples.
xmtr - Abbreviation for transmitter.
Xophonic - Signal Processing. "An artificial reverberation device for the home made by Radio Craftsmen in the 1950s. The Xophonic was a box that looked about like a bookshelf loudspeaker. It contained an analog time delay device in the form of a small loudspeaker connected to a coil of tubing about 50 feet long with a microphone in the other end, producing a time delay of about 50 milliseconds. The incoming signal from the amplifier of the sound system was fed to the time delay unit and to a mixer, which combined it with the delayed signal from the tube microphone. A power amplifier and loudspeaker were included to amplify and radiate this combined signal into the listening room.
The Xophonic was probably the first signal processing device intended for home use. It enjoyed a brief popularity, and then quietly fell into oblivion, aided by the advent of the stereophonic record." The concept was resurrected by UREI in the '70s as the Cooper Time Cube.
XOR - Acronym for exclusive OR, a type of logic gate where a logic 1 output is based upon A or B inputs being present - but not both.
xovr - Abbreviation for crossover.
X/R ratio - The ratio of reactance to resistance. It indicative of the rate of decay of any dc offset. A large X/R ratio corresponds to a large time constant and a slow rate of decay.
x-ray - A relatively high-energy photon having a wavelength in the approximate range from 0.01 to 10 nanometers.
xstr - Abbreviation for transistor.
XSV - Abbreviation for expendable sound velocimeter.
XT - Official (FED-STD-1037C) abbreviation for crosstalk.
xtal - Abbreviation for crystal.
x-wave - A type of localized wave that propagates as an axisymmetric pulse, with a wavefront cross-section (in a plane through the beam axis) that resembles the letter X. Because of their ability to remain focused while propagating over distances comparable with the Rayleigh distance, such waves have acoustical applications in nondestructive testing and medical imaging.
X-Y display - A rectangular coordinate plot of two variables.
X-Y microphone technique - A stereo recording technique where two cardioid microphones are placed facing each other, at an angle of 90 degrees, with the center of the source aimed at the center between them. Sometimes this technique is incorporated internally in a single microphone using two capsules. Also called the coincident-microphone technique and intensity stereo Compare with ORTF
X-Y recorder - An output device that sketches the relationship between two variables onto a grid of plane rectangular coordinates.
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