Understanding sound

1.
How do we define sound?
2.
How is sound transmitted?
3.
The relationship between sound and medium
4.
The relationship between fundamental motion and frequency of sound
5.
Sound is energy
6.
Sound viewed along the time, magnitude, and frequency axes
7.
How to tell the loudness of a sound
8.
Why we use logarithms in decibels
10.
dBFS in the digital age
11.
About dynamic range and headroom
12.
Frequency response
13.
I need to study about phases too
14.
About the equal-luminance curve
15.
What is overtone?
16.
Nonlinear response of the ear
17.
We talk a lot about even and odd overtones.

microphone

18.
Microphone features and selection criteria
19.
dynamic microphone
20.
condenser microphone
21.
ribbon microphone
22.
Other various microphones
23.
What is the proximity effect?
24.
Causes of Overresponse and Considerations in Miking
25.
More about Mike
26.
Differences in sound quality depending on connection method
27.
There are a lot of replica microphones coming out.
28.
Core Concepts of Miking
29.
Acoustic Guitar Recording - Microphone vs. Pickup
30.
Role and effect of accessories such as reflection filters
31.
Used Microphone Buying & Care Guide

Speakers and monitors

32.
I need to learn how speakers work.
33.
What you need to know about enclosures
34.
Active Speakers vs. Passive Speakers
35.
The Differences and Pros and Cons of Two-Way vs. Three-Way Speakers
36.
Ribbon Twitter vs. Dome Tweeter Comparison
37.
Hi-Fi speakers as monitor speakers?
38.
The relationship between woofer speaker inch size and low frequency
39.
If you use more than one monitor
40.
Why You Need a Monitor Controller
41.
Things to consider when mixing solely with headphones
42.
The difference between open-back and closed-back headphones
43.
The relationship between monitor speakers and flat frequency response
44. NS10M, Auratone 5C
45.
Do you need super expensive monitor speakers?
46.
Accessories for Monitor Speakers

Monitoring and Space

47.
To create a good monitoring environment
48.
Room equalization
49.
Room Mode and Simple Solutions
50.
If it's a square space
51.
Dustproofing measures in apartments
52.
A Guide to Building a Floating Floor on a Budget
53.
What is the House Curve?
54.
What is the sweet spot?
55.
Optimal sound pressure according to the equal loudness curve
56.
Negative pressure as specified in international standards
57.
Set the amplifier volume and adjust the sound pressure accordingly.
58.
Let's learn how to properly match amplifiers and speakers.

Computer, DAW

59.
Pros and Cons of Mac and Windows
60. Which CPU is best for DAW: Intel or AMD?
61. DAW Comparison
62.
Comparison of Audio Interface Connection Methods
63.
Comparison of entry-level audio interfaces
64.
Comparison of professional audio interfaces
65.
Comparing the differences between major audio plugin formats
66.
Comparison of vintage plugins by manufacturer
67.
Comparison of the most popular plugins by manufacturer
68. DAW bundled plug-ins
69. Comparison of DAW bundles and third-party plug-ins
70.
Plugins made by hardware manufacturers
71.
Will a GPU help with plugin usage?
72.
The ultimate difference between hardware and plugins

analog, digital

73.
The most fundamental difference between analog and digital
74.
Pros and Cons of Analog Circuits
75.
Advantages and disadvantages of digital circuits
76.
Differences between digital circuits and algorithms
77. PCM sampling
78.
Nyquist theorem
79.
Bit depth and dynamic range
80.
What is quantization noise and dithering noise?
81.
What is jitter noise?
82. Causes and Solutions for Clicking Noise in DAWs
83.
Setting the buffer size of your audio interface
84.
Audio interface loopback function
85. Processing in DAW channel strips
86. Converting sessions between DAWs
87.
How to sum in a digital mixer
88. Differences in summing algorithms by DAW
89.
The difference between analog gain and digital gain
90.
Differences between Native and External DSP Processing
91.
The need for a hardware controller
92.
Hardware Controller Protocol Classification
93.
About the digital console
94.
Comparison of DSPs by Digital Console
95.
What is Dante?
96. Will AVB beat Dante?
97.
What if I use Dante in my personal studio?
98.
Network concepts explained simply
99. TCP/IP Explained Easily

Mixing Technology

100.
The Basics of Level Balance
101.
noise gate
102.
How the fader inside a compressor works
103.
The signal is never compressed
104.
Why Compressors Are Difficult to CatGPT
105.
To properly use a vintage compressor
106.
Adjust dynamics only channel-centric
107.
limiter
108.
Dynamic processing
109.
Multiband Compressor
110.
About parallel compression
111.
Adjusting the distance between the source and the microphone with a compressor
112.
Equalizer
113.
The biggest misconception about equalizers is
114.
About Audio Analyzer
115.
Chorus, phaser, and flanger arrangement
116.
Representative plugins for Ko, Pe, and P are
117.
Stereo image related plugins
118.
Delay theorem
119.
Let's learn about reverb
120.
A serious discussion about reverb
121.
Changing trends in reverb types
122.
The author's personal reverb settings
123.
Other plugins

Sound field, spatial audio

124.
Sound fields before and after Edison's phonograph
125.
About sound fields and phantom images, history and definition
126.
Conditions for creating a phantom image
127.
Three axes used in stereo mixing
128.
Discussion on mixing techniques
129.
About Spatial Sound
130.
Binaural audio
131.
Compatibility of spatial and binaural audio
132.
The History and Meaning of Dolby Atmos
133.
Technical Description of Dolby Atmos
134.
Bed and Object
135.
Discussion of Dolby Atmos implementation
136.
Dolby Atmos Renderer and Spatial Coding
137.
Unity of binaural and speaker systems
138.
Dolby Atmos mixing

Mastering and Beyond

139. LUFS
140.
Loudness War
141.
The History of Mastering
142.
The meaning and purpose of mastering services today
143.
Mastering while mixing
144.
The process after the master comes out
145.
Pros and Cons of Being an Individual Artist
146.
Individual artist's equipment

Author's Note

Introducing the first edition

At 26, I asked myself, "What do I know that I need to write a book?"
Anyway, in the situation in Korea at the time, there were only two books available: a very technically edited book about ten foreign books the size of a phone book, and a translated book like an atlas published annually in Japan. I thought there was no other way, so I did my best to write a book that was easy to read.
As I went through my busy late 20s and 30s, I thought that I should write at least 10 books in my lifetime.

As is very common, I am busy, I do not have the time, and the domestic publishing market is still difficult. I am the author of a book that has been selling steadily for over 30 years, but that is only the first edition of the Acoustic System Handbook, which is a complete introductory book. The other three books still have the first printing in stock.
The Microphone Handbook, which I wrote with the dream of writing a proper professional book, has not yet sold 2,000 copies since 2009.

This book, which I recently wrote, is one that I had high expectations for while writing it.
In the age of artificial intelligence, we used a chatbot called ChatGPT to help us organize deep and important topics with the help of AI.
Knowing that I'm naturally bad at neat presentations, GPT-4o did a great job in 2025.
Of course, it's obvious, but many of the answers were errors that could be difficult to use as is, stories that needed to be corrected, and just general stories that anyone could say, but I focused on refining the questions and answers and focused on the technical aspects of sound, especially music technology.

In the midst of a flood of data, it is often difficult to find the answers you need.
You might wonder why they make a book when the answers are so easy and clear that you can just ask a question on ChatGPT.
However, with the answer, we publish an important book that readers can properly understand in the process of solving it.

This will be especially helpful for musicians who need technical assistance but may not have easy access to it.
So, the numerous theorems used here are not just ChatGPT's answers.
The sentences were written in an informal conversational style, assuming that they would be more accessible to the MZ generation.
Some people may find this uncomfortable, but the world has changed so much, like Threads, where informal speech is the default, and I think we need to adapt to survive.
There will be parts that are repeated over and over again, and I think it would be better if you understood them because they are important.

I would like to express my gratitude to the publisher's CEO, Daehee Kim, and the passionate members of the Jang Hojun Sound Workshop Facebook group.
As I approach 60, I will strive to provide even better articles and resources to help you master difficult sound techniques.
I believe that this is the task I will be working on for the next 20-30 years...

Spring 2025