Home Propeller Head Plaza

Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Propeller Head Plaza ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

It is too the noise floor.

"A signal can be heard below the integrated noise over the bandwidth of
interest. Which is NOT the noise floor.

A signal of specific frequency cannot be heard below the specific noise
existing in a small bandwidth around the signal's frequency. Which is (part of) the noise floor"

Nice reduction ad absurdum. In other words if you can detect a signal by any means then it is by definition 'above the noise floor'!

Perhaps definitions have changed with time, but in my day sonny your first sentence is a pretty good definition of the noise floor. And typically a useful one. The only reason that we can 'hear into the noise floor' is that we have specialized sensors and signal processing which reduce the effective noise bandwidth by using parallel channels and auto-correlation.

Naturally the term comes from the traditional practice of looking at signals with meters or scopes which see the full bandwidth. And your point is well taken that modern FFT analyzers work in a similar fashion to the way we do and so correlate better with what we can hear. They too can hear under the noise floor at the cost of response speed.

Rick

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  The Cable Cooker  

Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • It is too the noise floor. - rick_m 06/11/0908:01:38 06/11/09 (0)
FAQ

Post a Message!

 Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]