Audio Editing Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Audio Editing facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which sample rate is most commonly used for professional audio production intended for streaming or CD distribution? → 44,100 Hz
2. What is the 'fletcher-munson curve' relevant to in mixing? → Human hearing sensitivity varies with frequency at different loudness levels
3. In the course of CD production, you would typically: → All of the above
4. Which audio file format was developed by Apple and is commonly used on macOS and iOS for uncompressed audio? → AIFF
5. What is the standard bit depth for CD-quality audio? → 16-bit
6. What does 'wet/dry ratio' control in an effects plugin? → The blend between the processed (wet) and unprocessed (dry) signal
7. What is the purpose of a 'noise gate' in audio processing? → To silence audio below a set threshold
8. What does the acronym 'WAV' stand for in audio file formats? → Waveform Audio File Format
9. What does 'sample rate' (e.g., 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz) determine in digital audio? → The number of times per second the audio signal is sampled
10. Which audio codec is predominantly used for high-quality audio delivery on major streaming platforms such as YouTube and Apple Music? → AAC
11. Which frequency range is typically associated with 'bass' in audio? → 20–250 Hz
12. In audio editing software, what does 'non-destructive editing' mean? → Edits are applied without permanently altering the original audio file on disk
13. In digital audio, what is 'dithering' and when should it be applied? → Adding low-level noise to mask quantization errors when reducing bit depth
14. Which effect simulates the natural reflections of sound in a physical space? → Reverb
15. What is the role of 'bus compression' applied to a drum bus in mixing? → To glue the individual drum tracks together and add punch and cohesion
16. What editing technique involves selecting the best phrases or sections from multiple recorded takes to assemble a single ideal performance? → Comping
17. What is the purpose of 'markers' or 'locators' in a DAW timeline? → To label and quickly navigate to specific points in a project
18. The filter's cut off point must be less than → Half the sampling rate
19. What audio format is completely lossless and commonly used in professional broadcast? → WAV
20. What type of reverb simulates the sound of a physical space using mathematical algorithms? → Algorithmic reverb
21. When editing audio for broadcast in the US, which loudness standard is most commonly required? → ATSC A/85 (-24 LKFS integrated)
22. What does 'frequency masking' mean in the context of mixing? → When two sounds occupy the same frequency range and obscure each other
23. What is 'stem mixing' in audio production? → Grouping related tracks into submixes (stems) that are processed and exported together
24. What is a 'compressor' used for in audio editing? → Reducing the dynamic range of audio
25. What is a 'DDP' (Disc Description Protocol) file used for in mastering? → A lossless digital master format sent to CD replication plants instead of a physical CDR
26. What does 'DAW' stand for in audio production? → Digital Audio Workstation
27. What is a 'send' (or auxiliary send) used for in a DAW mixer? → Routing a copy of a track's signal to an effects bus or return track
28. Which audio measurement standard is commonly used to measure perceived loudness for streaming platforms? → LUFS
29. What is the standard integrated loudness target for music on Spotify? → -14 LUFS
30. What type of audio compression does Dolby Digital (AC-3) use for multichannel surround sound? → Lossy compression