how does a "hanging wave" compare with a "square wave"
hanging waves are usually output from poor quality amplifier, and to my understanding, the amplifier doesn't accurately produce a square wave.
does this only occur when pushing the amplifier into distortion?
does it occur when playing music which was recorded with distortion effects?
i've noticed a considerable differnece between amps when listening to distorted guitars, could that be related to this!
Full Version: distortion.
square waves are usually assocaited with distortion, where the top of the sine wave gets 'clipped' off and creates a somewhat square looking wave, the tops being DC current which is bad - but most people know this.
but yeah, square waves can be recorded and played on a CD, though i dont think many artists would incorporate it into their work, if you've ever heard a square wave it sounds terrible
the class a vs a/b arguement deals with this, in that class-a is supposed to provide a smoother and more accurate transition from +ive to -ive swing of the sine wave, because the power rails are always on, thus being no lag. this is why class-a amps can sound more fluid and warm. class a/b on the other hand, switches the rails on only once the sine wave swings to them, and there is a tiny lag between this swing and the power rail turning 'on', this can create an edgier sound with sharper attack.
dunno if any of that helps but its how the sine wave thing was explained to me
but yeah, square waves can be recorded and played on a CD, though i dont think many artists would incorporate it into their work, if you've ever heard a square wave it sounds terrible
the class a vs a/b arguement deals with this, in that class-a is supposed to provide a smoother and more accurate transition from +ive to -ive swing of the sine wave, because the power rails are always on, thus being no lag. this is why class-a amps can sound more fluid and warm. class a/b on the other hand, switches the rails on only once the sine wave swings to them, and there is a tiny lag between this swing and the power rail turning 'on', this can create an edgier sound with sharper attack.
dunno if any of that helps but its how the sine wave thing was explained to me
Square waves are simply sine waves with all of the odd order harmonics added - it is not really DC at all. Once you add all of the even order harmonics as well, the wave becomes a saw tooth wave.
Think about it - this means that to accurately produce a square wave, it requires unlimited bandwidth - simply impossible in the real world and realistically, not needed when we cannot hear over 20khz.
Since any wave is made up of sine waves, as long as the amplfier can cover 20hz-20khz without problems, there is no reason why distorted guitars would be a problem. The difference in sound is most likely due to your ears.
Crossover/notch distortion that Class B (traditional Class B anyway) and improperly biased Class A/B amplfiers suffer from because a transistor requires a certain amount of voltage before it turns on - so the would be a notch as the wave crosses over from the +'ve to the -'ve or vice versa.
As far as square waves sounding terrible, remember beauty is in the ear of the beholder.
[ December 23, 2003, 19:23: Message edited by: Bassaholic ]
Think about it - this means that to accurately produce a square wave, it requires unlimited bandwidth - simply impossible in the real world and realistically, not needed when we cannot hear over 20khz.
Since any wave is made up of sine waves, as long as the amplfier can cover 20hz-20khz without problems, there is no reason why distorted guitars would be a problem. The difference in sound is most likely due to your ears.
Crossover/notch distortion that Class B (traditional Class B anyway) and improperly biased Class A/B amplfiers suffer from because a transistor requires a certain amount of voltage before it turns on - so the would be a notch as the wave crosses over from the +'ve to the -'ve or vice versa.
As far as square waves sounding terrible, remember beauty is in the ear of the beholder.
[ December 23, 2003, 19:23: Message edited by: Bassaholic ]
i meant to refer to all forms of recorded distortion really...
it's known that amplifiers definately sound different when pushed into distortion, but i don't know if this extends to playing recorded distortion, not only when recording level is excessive, but when effects are added which use all sorts of strange waves.
it's known that amplifiers definately sound different when pushed into distortion, but i don't know if this extends to playing recorded distortion, not only when recording level is excessive, but when effects are added which use all sorts of strange waves.
Distortion is funny thing, because it implies "An undesired change in the waveform of a signal."
So technically, if you wanted a distorted guitar or whatever, then it isn't really distorted. Consequentally, any sound that you don't like, you could refer to it as distortion.
Anyway. all you need to know, is any complex wave is simply made up of sine waves of different frequencies (and phase etc).
An overdriven transistor amplfier simply (remember its relative, its not a perfect squaring) squares off the top of the wave, thus containing odd order harmonics. A valve/tube causes a more rounded "folded back" wave, that also contains even order harmonics. Once you have both the even and odd order harmonics, the wave becomes a sawtooth wave.
To be accurate to our ear, the amplifier simply has to be able to cover our hearing range without creating any extra (non intended, and audible) distortion.
So technically, if you wanted a distorted guitar or whatever, then it isn't really distorted. Consequentally, any sound that you don't like, you could refer to it as distortion.
Anyway. all you need to know, is any complex wave is simply made up of sine waves of different frequencies (and phase etc).
An overdriven transistor amplfier simply (remember its relative, its not a perfect squaring) squares off the top of the wave, thus containing odd order harmonics. A valve/tube causes a more rounded "folded back" wave, that also contains even order harmonics. Once you have both the even and odd order harmonics, the wave becomes a sawtooth wave.
To be accurate to our ear, the amplifier simply has to be able to cover our hearing range without creating any extra (non intended, and audible) distortion.
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