Editing Distortion (section)

==Audio distortion==<!-- This section is linked from [[My Bloody Valentine]], [[Loudness war]] and [[Audio distortion]] (redirect) -->
[[File:Distortion waveform.svg|thumb|left|A graph of a waveform and the distorted version of the same waveform]]
{{Listen
| filename     = Distortion_effect.ogg
| title        = Distorted waveforms
| description  = An audio example of a short sample followed by different distorted versions of it.
| format       = [[Ogg]]
}}

With respect to audio, distortion refers to any kind of deformation of an output waveform compared to its input, usually [[Clipping (music)|clipping]], [[harmonic distortion]], or [[intermodulation distortion]] ([[Mixing (physics)|mixing]] phenomena) caused by [[non-linear]] behavior of electronic components and power supply limitations.<ref>Audio Electronics by John Linsley Hood; page 162</ref> Terms for specific types of nonlinear audio distortion include: [[crossover distortion]] and [[slew-induced distortion]] (SID).

Other forms of audio distortion are non-flat [[frequency response]], [[audio level compression|compression]], [[modulation]], [[aliasing]], [[quantization noise]], [[wow (recording)|wow]] and [[flutter (electronics and communication)|flutter]] from analog  media such as [[vinyl records]] and [[magnetic tape]]. The human ear cannot hear [[phase distortion]], except that it may affect the [[stereo imaging]].

In most fields, distortion is characterized as unwanted change to a signal. [[Distortion (music)|Distortion in music]] is often [[Tube sound#Intentional distortion|intentionally used as an effect]] when applied to an [[electric guitar]] signal in styles of [[rock music]] such as [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] and [[punk rock]].

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