Glossary

How quickly and sharply a note starts — the initial snap or strike.

The crack of a snare drum or the pluck of a guitar string.

The very first moment of a note — how crisp or soft the beginning is.

A piano hammer hitting the string — some systems make it sharp, others round it off.

How well a system conveys the speed and momentum of music.

Whether a fast jazz track feels lively and driving, or sluggish and dragging.

How strongly the music's timing pulls you along — the sense of forward motion.

A funk bassline that makes you want to move, versus one that just sits there.

How well a system handles sudden dynamic shifts — the bounce and spring in the music.

An orchestra going from quiet to loud and back — elastic systems track these shifts naturally.

How much weight and substance notes carry — thick and full versus thin and light.

A cello that sounds rich and resonant versus one that sounds hollow.

A fuller, rounder quality — more lower-midrange energy, less treble emphasis.

The difference between a cozy vinyl sound and a crisp digital one.

How easily you can hear individual details and separate instruments.

Being able to pick out the second guitar in a dense rock mix.

The fine-grained surface detail of sounds — roughness, breathiness, grain.

Hearing the rosin on a violin bow, or the breath in a singer's voice.

The sense of physical space the music occupies — width, depth, and height.

Whether instruments feel spread across a wide room or bunched in the center.

How precisely you can locate each instrument in the stereo picture.

Being able to point to where the drummer sits relative to the vocalist.

A sense of space and openness around instruments — the opposite of congested.

The room ambience around a live recording — reverb tails, the space between notes.

When a system becomes tiring to listen to over time — often from treble harshness or compression.

Wanting to turn the volume down after 30 minutes, even though it sounded exciting at first.

A harsh, bright edge — especially on vocals, cymbals, or high-pitched instruments.

S-sounds in vocals that hiss or sting, or cymbals that sound splashy and metallic.

How calm and controlled a system stays during complex or loud passages.

A full orchestra at fortissimo that remains clear and organized instead of turning to mush.

How naturally music moves from note to note — a sense of unbroken musical line.

A saxophone solo that feels like one continuous breath rather than a series of separate notes.

How emotionally engaging a system sounds — whether it conveys the feeling of the music.

A sad ballad that actually makes you feel something, versus one that just plays the notes.

Whether the system holds your attention and makes you want to keep listening.

Finding yourself listening to three more albums when you only meant to hear one.

A DAC design using a ladder of precision resistors. Often sounds more organic and tonally dense.

The most common DAC design — uses oversampling and noise shaping. Often sounds precise and detailed.

A DAC that skips digital filtering. Often sounds smoother and more relaxed, trading some precision for flow.

A DAC using a programmable chip for custom digital processing. Allows unique filter designs.

How tightly an amplifier controls the speaker. Higher damping = tighter bass, lower = looser and more relaxed.

A simple tube amplifier design — typically low power but prized for midrange purity and texture.

A circuit technique that trades some naturalness for lower distortion and tighter control.