The Audio Expert: Everything You Need to Know About Audio 1st Edition

I haven’t finished reading this book, so I may update upon further completion, but so far I am disappointed with the content and approach to the subject. I bought this book from a list of recommended books for self-taught audio engineers. I have a background in engineering but not “audio engineering” specifically (Besides producing music as a composer and pianist), although I studied acoustics and signals academically. I did a lot of research into room and recording studio acoustics for a final project in my graduate acoustics class, and recently I’ve been upgrading my home recording studio, so I was excited to jump right to that section. Personally I found it disorganized and hard to follow.After feeling unsatisfied, I checked reviews and found one from the newer edition of this book that summed up close to how I feel. It reads like it’s neither for beginners or professionals, being both shallow and hard to understand at the same time. It reads in a confusing manner, throwing a lot of random jargon without good explanations. There’s a lot of wordiness for what would be much more easily explained by formulas and good visuals. YouTube videos will explain much better the concepts presented so far in this book, which tends to read as one long stream of conscious thought from someone who thinks they know everything but is also unsure whether to present at an beginner or intermediate/advanced level.I definitely would NOT recommend this book to a beginner. I also wouldn’t really recommend it to someone with an audio and/or engineering background as I think there are much better references. I bought this because it was on a list of books and I got it used for $13, so I thought I’d try it. However, although I only have kindle samples of these other books so about 4 chapters to go off, I have found the Sound Reinforcement Handbook, Principles of Digital Audio, and The Recording Engineers Handbook to be a lot more promising for my needs!I think this photo sums up part of my problem with this book. “This book aims to avoid math as much as possible.” It’s like when people try to convince you that you can make an amazing video game without knowing how to code, or some other X thing without knowing (normally important) Y skill. To some extent, I believe you should understand the underlying physics and math in this field or how it works. Not like it has to be to a phD level, but there are people out there that can break it down in a clear manner.I know this field is full of lots of strong and contentious opinions, so take mine with a grain of salt. I highly recommend downloading a kindle sample of this book to read first and then figure out if you want to get it from that sample before spending potentially $70.

I can honestly say that this is the most valuable book I have ever read pertaining to audio in all its forms, from mixing and recording to home theater setup. The breadth of information in this book is nothing short of stunning, as is Ethan's ability to tie all of the different facets of audio together so you can see how everything interrelates. I am probably fairly unique in that my background includes work in both the consumer and professional audio fields, so Ethan's clear-headed explanations of how the exact same concepts apply whether or not you are setting up a home studio or home theater are invaluable to me. In my work straddling both fields, it has always amazed me how consumer and pro don't even seem to speak the same language. Ethan's book goes a long way toward correcting that problem. A speaker is a speaker, and a room is a room, and how they interact affects your home theater setup just as much as they do my home studio.Kudos also for the clarity of explanations and the "included" web examples and demonstrations. It is one thing to assert something in a book; quite another to actually demonstrate the concepts in action. Unlike the one reviewer here, I find the "myth-busting" sections of Ethan's book some of the most interesting. And valuable, for that matter. With all of the conflicting information one gets on the internet and from well-meaning (but misinformed) friends and "experts," it is absolutely wonderful to have someone cut through all of the b.s. AND back it up with facts and examples. When I first started putting together my home studio for film scoring and surround mixing applications, I was so overwhelmed that I almost froze. Ethan's book could not have come along at a better time for me.This book is worth every penny, not only for all of the information contained within its many pages, but for all of the supplemental material I outlined above. It says something when one of the things I most look forward to every evening is curling up with a big, fat book on audio :)

The introduction says "This book is for everyone who wants to truly understand audio but prefers practical rather than theoretical explanations" and also that it's for people who've been around audio for awhile and want to know how it really works. That's me, and it met my needs perfectly. However it would not be appropriate for those who don't already have a sense of what decibels are and how electronic gear works or who are not technically inclined because the whole books is about the science, engineering and art of audio equipment and its use. It's friendly and approachable, simplified without being dumbed down, but it's still a technical book.This book is written in a very straightforward, plain language manner. Moving logically from one topic to another and treating each in detail without being either dry nor falsely humorous. I got the impression that Ethan is a friendly, straightforward, knowledgeable and no-nonsense guy. He's honest in his mention of areas where there is controversy in the industry (e.g. are oxygen-free copper cables better?), unapologetic about his opinions (no!) and rational in supporting them (because you can't measure any difference). He's also really good at explaining what really matters (e.g. without proper treatment the acoustics of your listening room make even the best speakers sound bad, and even the best speakers have far more distortion than any competent, inexpensive amp) -- and again he explains why in ways that make sense.I bought the book primarily for the material in three of its 23 chapters and ended up reading eight because I enjoyed it so much. There are other chapters I'm holding in reserve until I get to those points in my audio journey.Thank you Ethan for sharing your knowledge so generously and writing such an approachable book.

This man has opinions, most of them undoubtedly correct but he seems to talk from experience rather than deep technical knowledge. There are several technical errors even on cursory examination. In room acoustics he's more interested in comb filter effects than reverberation time and standing waves - the classic approach to room acoustics. However the practical content is excellent - at least, I presume, when he talks about all the stuff I don't know. Ethan runs a company making audio traps - a mechanism for managing room acoustics and this is one of his hot topics. It's definitely a book worth having, but you won't end up knowing everything - but, there again, much of the rest of Audio knowledge is, in the opinion of Ethan, psychobabble. This book does not recommend expensive speaker cables or jitter correcting DACs. According to Ethan, what you save on cables should be spent on correcting room acoustics.

This is a thorough book that covers more than most people need to know about audio. I'm more interested in understanding how audio works from a listening point of view: what variables affect stereo sound. This book covers those things very well. Fortunately, the author is concrete, and doesn't get taken in by audiophile myths; in fact, he debunks many of them.There are some highly technical sections that don't interest me, notably about the recording process. But if you want a good general book to understand how audio recording and reproduction works, this is for you.

Ethan is great. He cuts through the nonsense. If you don't know whether you want this book then first watch him on youtube, the "Audio Myths Workshop" video. If that leaves you wanting to know more objective facts about audio, buy it immediately.If on the other hand you'd rather not have a scientific look at what's important you can always go and get a copy of What Hi-FI.

This is an excellent introduction to technical aspects of recording and playing music. It debunks every audio hi-fi myth with its common sense approach. You will never need to read all the tosh spoken about in hi-fi magazines and most hi-fi blogs and forums ever again.

I wanted some background on room acoustics and found that this covered the topic enough to get me started. The remainder of the book is equally informative. From an audiophile viewpoint Nathan's views are either a breath of fresh air or heretical - either way there's a consistency at work here that appeals to me.