I know that I like this sort of product and I wish I'd had more of this sort of thing available when I first started out in this field. For certain types of learners, hearing someone discuss the topic allows it to sink in better than reading alone. I'm definitely that type of learner.
One problem I've seen with some audio-based training is the pricing. IMO, they are often priced too high. While audio training is quite nice to have, it's not necessarily as portable as books, for instance, although that is changing quickly. Pretty soon everyone will have a portable MP3 player and/or CD burners and they'd easily be able to go mobile instead of sitting glued in front of their PCs. Regards, John >>> "Priscilla Oppenheimer" 3/1/02 1:15:08 PM >>> Speaking of sample rates, I am playing with the idea of offering audio training using MP3 files. I have prepared such a training on WAN Troubleshooting. I'd love to get some feedback. This audio training will help people studying for the Support test especially. It's 40 minutes. This means the file is huge, so don't try this at home on a modem line. The file is available for download here: http://www.troubleshootingnetworks.com/audio.html Please send me some feedback. Would you find such a product line helpful? Would you pay for MP3 audio training files? Thanks. Priscilla Oppenheimer At 03:32 PM 2/27/02, John Neiberger wrote: >Yes, this was very distracting! :-) I didn't get any studying done at >all last night! Between checking and answering email, looking for >Clannad MP3s, reading about the Gaelic language just for fun, and >looking up telecom stuff it's a wonder I even powered up a router. I >was able to boot up six routers, erase their configs, and recable them >in preparation for a lab scenario tonight. Not bad for three hours >work. heh heh... > >Thanks, >John > > >>> "Priscilla Oppenheimer" 2/27/02 3:04:13 PM > >>> >Female opera singers probably hate it when people ask them to sing over >the >phone!? > >OK, have we distracted you enough, John? ;-) Seriously, I think this >was a >great discussion. Thanks to everyone who contributed. > >Priscilla > >At 10:58 AM 2/27/02, David L. Blair wrote: > > > John Neiberger wrote: > > > What I'm trying to find out is why the original 4KHz limit on > > > voice calls was put into place. It sounds like it was simply > > > an arbitrary decision. 4KHz is sufficient for a telephone call > > > and to provide clear calls that included higher frequencies > > > might have added some technical complexities, perhaps. > > > > > > They also added a high-pass filter around 400Hz since most > > > telephones can't reproduce low frequencies well and it also > > > filters out some harmonics of 50-60Hz hum that might show up > > > from time to time. That is concrete reason for including a > > > high-pass filter and I wondered if there was a concrete > > > technical reason for including the 4KHz low-pass filter. From > > > the sounds of it there really isn't a technical issue, 4K is > > > just a nice round number. :-) > > > >I used three sources to answer John's query: "Voice over IP >Fundamentals", > >"Cisco Voice over Frame Relay, ATM, and IP", and Integrating Voice and >Data > >Networks". These are great books for anyone wanting to know more >about > >voice technologies. > > > >Interesting Facts and Ideas I came across: > > > >1) Human hearing is in the range of 200 Hz to 20,000 Hz > > > >2) Human speech is in the range of 250 Hz to 10,000 Hz. Most of the > >information comes from the middle frequencies. According to Nyquist, >"Human > >voice contains sounds that are more often Middle-pitched frequencies >than > >either High or Low pitched frequencies. > > > >3) Frequencies greater than 4,000 Hz are filter out to limit >crosstalk. > > > >4) During the Analog to Digital conversion voice samples are put >though a > >process called Quantization. Quantization is the process of rounding > >sampled values to the nearest predefined discreet value. Pulse Code > >Modulation (PCM) is a Quantization process. PCM is also used to >achieve 12 > >to 13 bits of voice information in 8 bit words. Two commonly used >PCM's are: > >mu-law (North America), and a-law (Europe). What you hear is not >someone's > >voice, but a representation of their voice. > > > >5) Noise is a major issue when talking about voice quality. Noise is > >constant problem for Analog signals. What is signal and what is >Noise? > >When a Analog signal is amplified so is the Noise, which in turn makes >the > >quality of Analog calls worst as the distance increases. Digital >Calls are > >less suitable to Noise than Analog calls. > > > >6) Delay is a major issue when talking about conversation flow for >two > >reasons: 1) For a conversation to flow normally, the delay is >receiving the > >voice information must be less than 250ms. When the delay is more >than > >250ms, the human receiving the voice message will start to talk >thinking the > >human sending the voice message is at a breaking point in the >conversation, > >i.e.. both people are talking at the same time similar to a collision >in > >Ethernet. Delay is also important in how the voice packets are >filled > >during the Analog to Digital conversion. That is why ATM (ATM cell is >53 > >octets, 5 octets are header and 48 octets are payload) is a good >method for > >transporting voice packets because the delay to fill the payload >section is > >smaller than with other cell/packet types. > > > > > >Answer: It does indeed seem that the 4,000 Hz mark was arbitrary in >nature; > >3,500 Hz or 5,000 Hz would work also. It is a "nice round" number to >work > >with. Simplies any math work. Middle frequencies carry the bulk of >the > >information and Human speech upper limit is 10,000 Hz amd 4,000 is >near the > >middle. The low filter is also to reduce the frequencies that carry >less > >information. > > > >Hope this helps. > > > > > >"Through Complexity there is Simplicity, > > Through Simplicity there is >Complexity" > > > >David L. Blair - CCNP, CCNA, MCSE, CBE, A+, 3Wizard >________________________ > >Priscilla Oppenheimer >http://www.priscilla.com ________________________ Priscilla Oppenheimer http://www.priscilla.com Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=37016&t=36566 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
