Zenith

The apex, acme, pinnacle, or peak; analogous to being named Editor of inSync.
The angle the face of a tape recorder head makes with the machine's top plate, or the forward/backward tilt of the head when viewed from the front of the tape machine. If the zenith is not set correctly, the head will not wear evenly, and there will be inconsistent tape to head contact.

Zero Crossing

An analog waveform consists of two alternating voltage polarities (positive to negative to positive...etc.). The point where the polarity changes from positive to negative, or vice versa, is called the zero crossing. When looping a wave or editing two waveforms together, this is the ideal location for the splice as the levels of the two waves are both at zero. This eliminates the possibility of clicks or pops created by mis-matched levels, and makes for a smooth sonic transition.

Zero Reference

In audio, a standard signal level that is defined as the nominal operating level for the audio devices involved. It does not mean zero, or no signal, literally. For example, the zero reference of a device with a balanced +4 dBu input is set so that when a +4 dBu input signal is applied, the meters will show 0 VU, or just be on the edge of going into the red. Often times tape machines are aligned with a Reference Tape that includes tones recorded at the Zero Reference for that machine. Again, the machine would be calibrated so that its meters show zero VU when the Reference Tone is playing. Zero Reference is a concept that has been bent in many different ways over the years. Engineers have adopted all manner of subtle variations on the theme depending upon their personal preferences. And now with the advent of digital recording, a whole new twist has been thrown into things because headroom and nominal recording levels in digital equipment do not look the same as they do in analog equipment. The equivalent of 0 VU on a DAT machine may be -12 (or -14, or -16, or -18) on its dB scale. That means that a +4 dBu input into a DAT will cause a meter deflection of one of these values. When your DAT clips or reaches its "full code" output, the signal coming out of the +4 dBu jacks on the back is probably up somewhere between +24 to +28 dBu. Again, the Zero Reference is down around -12 dB or so on its meters. Calibrating an entire studio or audio chain to agree to a common zero reference is critical to obtaining consistent results and maximizing the signal to noise ratio of the entire system.

Zif Socket

ZIF is an acronym for Zero Insertion Force. ZIF sockets are locking mounts for electronic circuits or chips that allow them to be changed easily with little chance of damaging the fragile pins. The socket has a lever or some mechanism that can tighten the socket's connection on the pins, which makes insertion and removal far easier than standard chip sockets. ZIF sockets are sometimes found in equipment that has a component the user is supposed to be able to change. They are not common, however, because they are quite expensive.

Zip

Zip Ü Nothing, nil, nada, zero, zilch. Zip is one of those words that actually has about a hundred different meanings and uses between being an acronym for a dozen different things and being an abbreviation for a dozen more. For our purposes two definitions are most relevant. 1. An open standard for computer file compression and decompression used widely for PC download archives. The file extension given to ZIP files is .zip. 2. A popular storage media type developed by Iomega that began as a 100-MB hard disk data cartridge about the size of a 3.5-inch floppy disk. Originally conceived as a sort of "super floppy" Zip drives and media are now available in 100 and 250 MB sizes with ATAPI, parallel, USB, and SCSI configurations. There will probably be further enhancements in the future. While Zips look a lot like floppy disks their speed performance is much closer to that of a hard drive.

Zoom Microphone

A type of microphone system consisting of three cardioid microphone elements and a special phase correction equalization circuit. By varying the position of a control knob, the microphone outputs are combined in such a way that the directivity of the array changes from omnidirectional through cardioid to super-cardioid. These are sometimes used in film (or video) making because the control can be synchronized with the control of a zoom lens on a camera so that the auditory perspective changes with the visual perspective.