ABSTRACT

Many professional studios have hardware that looks like a mixer, with knobs and multiple sliders. This chapter describes hardware that can make user's projects easier and sound better. A few external I/O devices include remote mixing and editing controls for the user's software: physical volume faders, jog/shuttle knobs, and transport buttons. The chapter discusses these functions in detail. An audio tone generator also was once essential to create pure and steady signals for equipment testing and level calibration. These days, most desktop audio programs generate tones as files and then play them. Even digital pro VTRs convert their timecode data to longitudinal timecode at the jacks. Since it's a squarewave rich in harmonics, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) code loves to leak into unbalanced audio wiring. SMPTE timecode appears on just about any kind of audio connector or video-style BNC, at the whim of the manufacturer.