16-bit: A particular resolution of samples within an audio file. This is the resolution used on audio CDs. It is good quality, but is nowadays not considered good enough quality for professional production.
24-bit: A particular resolution of samples within an audio file. This is a step up from 16-bit CD quality, and is in widespread use in the audio industry.
32-bit: A particular resolution of samples within an audio file. This is the best quality in mainstream use in the audio industry.
44.1KHz: The industry standard frequency of samples in a digitally-encoded sound. Other common frequencies are 48KHz, 96KHz, and 192KHz.
AAX: Avid Audio eXtension. One of a few audio plugin software interfaces through which audio plugin software plugins can communicate with their host DAW.
ABN: Australian Business Number.
ACN: Australian Company Number.
AIFF: This stands for Audio Interchange File Format, created by Apple, that allows a sound to be represented digitally with no loss of quality (other than the loss caused by the digitisation itself). A competing format is WAV.
AU$: Indicates an amount in Australian Dollars.
Australian Business Number: Every business in Australia (whether sole trader, partnership, or company) has a unique business number called its Australian Business Number that enables the business to be unambiguously identified and which enables regulators and customers of the business to identify the legal entity that is conducting the business.
DAW: Digital Audio Workstation: Software that allows its user to create music. DAWs can load audio plugins and use them.
dB: Decibels. This is formally a metric for measuring the difference in the loudness of two different sounds. It is also used in an absolute mode where 0dB is very quiet and 100dB is very loud.
EQ: This stands for "equalization". It refers to the process of changing the balance of different frequency components in an audio signal.
Hyperbits: An online music production school.
In The Box: This phrase is used to indicate that audio processing is performed entirely inside a computer. The alternative "outboard" indicates that audio processing is performed by dedicated audio hardware.
Song: A completed song (sometimes confusingly called a track) that is released to the public.
Track: This is an ambiguous term that can refer either to a "Song" or to one of the "tracks" that are mixed together to form a song.
US$: Indicates an amount in United States Dollars.
VST: A standard software interface by which audio plugin software plugins can communicate with their host DAW.
VST3: An updated standard software interface through which audio plugin software plugins can communicate with their host DAW.
WAV: This is an audio file format created by IBM and Microsoft that allows a sound to be represented digitally with no loss of quality (other than the loss caused by the digitisation itself). A competing format is AIFF.
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