All, I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for a good reference thread for future interviewees as well. Here are some questions I have come across from previous interviews (I'm a fresh out grad, so these might be easy for all you experienced folks out there): - What is the bit-depth of CD quality audio? And what is its dynamic range? - Explain 'dither' - What is dBSPL? - Differences between FIR and IIR filters - Explain the auditory masking phenomenon. Cheers! -Chris
Audio Engineer Interview Questions
Started by ●March 24, 2009
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
Chris wrote:> All, > I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone > recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for a > good reference thread for future interviewees as well.You should read this: http://www.dsprelated.com/showarticle/24.php
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:54:50 -0500, londonman13 wrote:> All, > I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone > recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for > a good reference thread for future interviewees as well. Here are some > questions I have come across from previous interviews (I'm a fresh out > grad, so these might be easy for all you experienced folks out there): > > - What is the bit-depth of CD quality audio? And what is its dynamic > range? > - Explain 'dither' > - What is dBSPL? > - Differences between FIR and IIR filters - Explain the auditory masking > phenomenon. > > Cheers! > -ChrisYou shouldn't worry too much about specific questions, because there are too many possible to answer them all. Instead, you should think of ways that you can answer questions that you don't know well, and still come out looking ahead. (Hint: you're not talking to the press, so don't ever evade. Start by saying "I don't know". Then say what you _think_ the answer is, then say how you would go about finding out the answer so you could get your work done). -- http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
On Mar 24, 10:54�am, "londonman13" <verbindende_le...@yahoo.com> wrote:> All, > I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone > recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for a > good reference thread for future interviewees as well. Here are some > questions I have come across from previous interviews (I'm a fresh out > grad, so these might be easy for all you experienced folks out there): > > 1 - What is the bit-depth of CD quality audio? And what is its dynamic range?1a - what is the general relationship between bit-depth and dynamic range? 1b - what is the relationship between S/N, headroom, and dynamic range? 1c - when is floating-point superior to fixed and when isn't it?> 2 - Explain "dither"2a - rectangular dither 2b - triangular dither 2c - high-pass dither> 3 - What is dBSPL?3a - what's the physical reference level for dB_SPL?> 4 - Differences between FIR and IIR filters4a - what are some common FIR design techniques (there are 2 that i know)? 4b - what are some common IIR design techniques?> 5 - Explain the auditory masking phenomenon.5a - how is auditory masking useful for audio data compression? 6 - What is white noise and pink noise and how might one generate either? 7 - Level compression 7a - what are compression ratio, attack and release time parameters? 7b - what is soft knee vs. hard knee? 7c - what is "pumping"? 8 - FFT or DFT, what is the relationship between data length, sampling- rate, and frequency resolution? dunno how i would make a question out of it, but you might want to look into the concept and practice of noise shaping quantization error. this is closely related to your 1st, 2nd, and 5th questions. r b-j
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
On Mar 24, 12:59�pm, Greg Berchin <gberc...@comicast.net.invalid> wrote: Greg, you might want to set your computer clock to daylight savings. either that or we got a star-trek time loop phenomenon going here. gimme a call when you feel like it. L8r, r b-j
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
>I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone >recommend any good questions they have come across?Since all digital interfaces transfer data perfectly (otherwise computers wouldn't work), can you offer some explanations as to why interfaces sound different? Does upsampling an existing 44100Hz/16bit signal to 96000Hz/24bit increase "resolution"? Why might a linear phase filter be undesirable in audio? Why might FFT-based filtering be a bad idea in equipment that is used for monitoring live performances? What is the difference between "lossy" compression, like MP3, and lossless compression, like MLP or FLAC? Many modern dynamic range compressor/limiters, when operating upon 44100Hz input signals, always upsample to 88200Hz or 96000Hz before compressing or limiting. Why? Under what circumstances would a digital volume control be a bad idea? Why might two pieces of equipment that use exactly the same analog to digital converters, DSPs, and digital to analog converters, sound very different?
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
On Mar 25, 3:54�am, "londonman13" <verbindende_le...@yahoo.com> wrote:> All, > I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone > recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for a > good reference thread for future interviewees as well. Here are some > questions I have come across from previous interviews (I'm a fresh out > grad, so these might be easy for all you experienced folks out there): > > - What is the bit-depth of CD quality audio? And what is its dynamic > range? > - Explain 'dither' > - What is dBSPL? > - Differences between FIR and IIR filters > - Explain the auditory masking phenomenon. > > Cheers! > -ChrisWhat is an audio engineer? Do you mean a design engineer or some technician who sits mixing records?
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
Tim Wescott wrote:> On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:54:50 -0500, londonman13 wrote: > >> All, >> I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone >> recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for >> a good reference thread for future interviewees as well. Here are some >> questions I have come across from previous interviews (I'm a fresh out >> grad, so these might be easy for all you experienced folks out there): >> >> - What is the bit-depth of CD quality audio? And what is its dynamic >> range? >> - Explain 'dither' >> - What is dBSPL? >> - Differences between FIR and IIR filters - Explain the auditory masking >> phenomenon. >> >> Cheers! >> -Chris > > You shouldn't worry too much about specific questions, because there are > too many possible to answer them all. > > Instead, you should think of ways that you can answer questions that you > don't know well, and still come out looking ahead. (Hint: you're not > talking to the press, so don't ever evade. Start by saying "I don't > know". Then say what you _think_ the answer is, then say how you would > go about finding out the answer so you could get your work done).When I interviewed at RCA Labs, it was known that I had dome background in audio, and one of my interviewers was a Group Leader in Olson's acoustics lab. One of the questions he threw at me involved the calibration of a phono cartridge's frequency response. I said I didn't know, that I had relied on the maker's spec sheet. He pressed me. "Suppose you had to calibrate one. What would you do?" I concocted a scheme that involved a microscope and other instruments that seemed like it might work, and we went on to other areas. After I was hired, he told me that he had tried my scheme, and that while not as convenient as commercial practice, it was probably more accurate. So yes: improvise, but say so. Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
On Mar 24, 10:54�am, "londonman13" <verbindende_le...@yahoo.com> wrote:> All, > I have an audio engineer interview coming up this Friday. Can anyone > recommend any good questions they have come across? Hope this makes for a > good reference thread for future interviewees as well. Here are some > questions I have come across from previous interviews (I'm a fresh out > grad, so these might be easy for all you experienced folks out there): > > - What is the bit-depth of CD quality audio? And what is its dynamic > range? > - Explain 'dither' > - What is dBSPL? > - Differences between FIR and IIR filters > - Explain the auditory masking phenomenon. > > Cheers! > -ChrisWill you be the interviewer or the interviewee?
Reply by ●March 24, 20092009-03-24
On Mar 24, 2:19�pm, HardySpicer <gyansor...@gmail.com> wrote:> > What is an audio engineer? Do you mean a design engineer or some > technician who sits mixing records?it's one and/or the other. at least that's what it appears to be at the AES. (but some of these "technicians" are also hard-core sound artists. sorta like Harry Shearer.) r b-j
