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While not directly applicable to loudspeaker design, SINAD is a term in common use and is a valuable tool when comparing electronic equipment to match with your speakers. It can also be used when deciding what equipment you'd like to use for your measurement setup. SINAD stands for "Signal-to-Noise and Distortion ratio." It is a metric used to quantify the audio quality of electronic devices, particularly audio equipment like amplifiers and DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters), and other signal processors. SINAD provides a comprehensive assessment of the device's ability to reproduce a clean and faithful audio signal by taking into account both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the level of harmonic and non-harmonic distortion.
The SINAD ratio is usually expressed in decibels (dB) and is calculated as follows:
SINAD (dB) = 10⋅log10(PowerSignal/(Total Distortion + PowerNoise))
where:
PowerSignal refers to the power of the clean audio signal being output by the device.
Total Distortion + PowerNoise is the sum of all unwanted signal components, including harmonic distortion, intermodulation distortion, and background noise generated by the device.
A higher SINAD value indicates a better audio quality, as it means the desired signal is more dominant relative to the unwanted distortion and noise components. Essentially, SINAD measures how well the clean audio signal stands out from any noise and distortion produced by the device. SINAD is widely used in audio equipment testing and specifications to provide an overall assessment of the device's audio performance. It offers a more comprehensive evaluation than just considering SNR or distortion separately since it considers the combined impact of both noise and distortion on the audio signal.
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