Reddit reviews Handbook for Sound Engineers, 4th Edition

When you say Sound do you mean what we hear? Or do you mean Audio, which can mean almost any aspect of the technology that captures, reproduces, and reinforces sound.

Sound is an infinitely complex part of our world and because of that it can be infinitely fascinating. A really good reference is some Audio Engineers books. The one I have found to be a of great help is The Handbook for Sound Engineer.

This book is about 1200 pages of everything you could ever want to know about Audio. It doesn't delve into HiFi, but it covers room acoustics, psycho-acoustics, and almost every aspect of Audio Engineering from Microphones to speakers, and mixers to amps. However it is quite a read, but it makes a great reference text.

Another good book is the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Manual. As much as I can't stand Yamaha equipment(The LS9 console is a horrible piece of junk and sounds awful) the book they wrote is quite good. It explains the basics without getting too complicated and covers a wide variety of topics.

If you want to get more advanced such as what is a line array, I would for sure look up some of the literature from some of the manufacturers like D&B, L'Acoustics, Meyer, Martin, (Not JBL) Etc. These have to be taken with a grain of salt, because half the time its a semi-sales pitch. The Audio Engineering Society also has tons of scholarly articles, but I think you have to pay for those.

And finally I would recommend the book From Tinfoil to Stereo. It is a detailed and in depth history of the Audio Industry in the professional and consumer world. A great read for understanding how the industry was thought to never take off and then exploded almost overnight.

My acoustical engineering bible. Buy it used. It has a topic on every acoustical engineering topic you can imagine written the leading professors in each field.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-4th-Edition/dp/0240809696

EDIT: The book is 1600+ pages and very detailed.

[Glen Ballou's book] (http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-4th-Edition/dp/0240809696/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=17XRBA75YDQ47T230Q36) has a lot of really good information in it. Also , this [one] (http://www.amazon.com/Timer-Amp-Optoelectronic-Circuits-Projects/dp/0945053290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406325087&sr=1-1&keywords=timers+and+op+amps) from Forrest Mims is cheap effective. Learning some BEE (basic electronics and electricity) is a great place to start. The one /u/tvdf mentioned has a ton of useful information as well. Good luck, it's a lot of fun once you get started!

this is the best i know of that covers many subjects in the world of audio. its directed toward sound engineers but a lot of would be of interest to you. breakdowns on things like acoustics, sound treatment, electronics, ad/da and a ton more. take a look at the table of contents. http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-Glen-Ballou/dp/0240809696

Also, this book is the bible for sound engineers. It explains everything from psychoacoustics to mic polar patterns and how to do Z transforms. It reads like an encyclopedia, but it's a great reliable starting point for almost any sound related question.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-4th-Edition/dp/0240809696