Sound vs. Audio

[Bob Smoot]

What is the difference between Sound and Audio?

Background: I manage a small audio department for a software company.
As the company grows, it has become more important to properly define
and document company positions and roles. My immediate supervisor
(who is over the audio, video, and art departments) saw two books on
my desk: "Sound for Film and Television" and "Mastering Audio, the
Art and the Science." He asked me why one book had 'sound' in the
title and one had 'audio.'

"Does it have to do with music vs. sound-for-picture?" he asked.

"Well, no..." I replied, and I couldn't really come up with a response
as to what the difference was.

I said I'd ask around. So, what is the difference between 'sound' and
'audio?'

And relatedly, what's the difference between a "Sound Engineer" an
"Audio Engineer" and a "Recording Engineer?"

-steve (no longer an engineer, now a middle manager. sigh.)

[Jerry Gerber]

Sound refers to waves that travel through air and that are received by the
ear, human or otherwise. Audio refers to sound that has been, in some way
or another be it digital or analog, processed electronically.

I can't think of a more simple explanation.



"Bob Smoot" > wrote in message
m...
> What is the difference between Sound and Audio?
>
> Background: I manage a small audio department for a software company.
> As the company grows, it has become more important to properly define
> and document company positions and roles. My immediate supervisor
> (who is over the audio, video, and art departments) saw two books on
> my desk: "Sound for Film and Television" and "Mastering Audio, the
> Art and the Science." He asked me why one book had 'sound' in the
> title and one had 'audio.'
>
> "Does it have to do with music vs. sound-for-picture?" he asked.
>
> "Well, no..." I replied, and I couldn't really come up with a response
> as to what the difference was.
>
> I said I'd ask around. So, what is the difference between 'sound' and
> 'audio?'
>
> And relatedly, what's the difference between a "Sound Engineer" an
> "Audio Engineer" and a "Recording Engineer?"
>
> -steve (no longer an engineer, now a middle manager. sigh.)

[Jay Kadis]

In article >,
(Bob Smoot) wrote:

> What is the difference between Sound and Audio?
>
> Background: I manage a small audio department for a software company.
> As the company grows, it has become more important to properly define
> and document company positions and roles. My immediate supervisor
> (who is over the audio, video, and art departments) saw two books on
> my desk: "Sound for Film and Television" and "Mastering Audio, the
> Art and the Science." He asked me why one book had 'sound' in the
> title and one had 'audio.'
>
> "Does it have to do with music vs. sound-for-picture?" he asked.
>
> "Well, no..." I replied, and I couldn't really come up with a response
> as to what the difference was.
>
> I said I'd ask around. So, what is the difference between 'sound' and
> 'audio?'
>
> And relatedly, what's the difference between a "Sound Engineer" an
> "Audio Engineer" and a "Recording Engineer?"
>
> -steve (no longer an engineer, now a middle manager. sigh.)


Sound implies working with sound: air compression waves. Audio implies working
with representations of sound, as with electronic, magnetic, or optical replicas
of sound. Since it all starts and ends with sound, the definitions get blurred.

I would say a sound engineer works predominantly with sound, as in live sound
reinforcement and recording. An audio engineer works more with representations
in other media, as in a studio mixing environment or for broadcast. A recording
engineer works mainly with getting sound encoded into other representations.

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x

[WillStG]

(Bob Smoot)
>What is the difference between Sound and Audio?>



> My immediate supervisor
>(who is over the audio, video, and art departments) saw two books on
>my desk: "Sound for Film and Television" and "Mastering Audio, the
>Art and the Science." He asked me why one book had 'sound' in the
>title and one had 'audio.'

I had a TV Vice President of Engineering say to me once, "What we do here
is sound, not audio"... So that fact that the book talking about TV is a book
about "sound" and and the book about "audio" is talking about music is a big
hint. <g>


Will Miho
NY Music & TV Audio Guy
Off the Morning Show! & sleepin' In... / Fox News
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits