Noise Floor
The residual noise a system produces with no signal
Related
The noise floor is the residual noise a system produces with no signal: microphone self-noise, preamps, room and converters all contribute. It sets how quiet the quietest sound can be.
It differs from signal-to-noise ratio: the noise floor is an absolute level, the ratio is the difference between signal and noise. The usual mistake is to blame only the gear — room noise, cables and gain structure matter too; set gain badly and the noise floor is amplified with everything else.
Read deeper → signal-to-noise
Sources
- 噪声底与信噪比，参通行录音教材；本文为原创表述
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