What is bias?
Bias means someone is only putting forward one side of an argument. An advert, for example, will only tell you the good things about a product, and may exaggerate those! Remember, a writer may only be telling you one side of a story and always think about what a writer may not be telling you. And don’t always believe what you read!
“Bias” in this context refers to the amount of voltage held on the grids of the output power tubes. This controls the amount of current the output tube(s) conduct exclusive of the signal current, or, looking at it another way, the amount of overlap where both tubes are conducting simultaneously. I will talk about the output tube current since the terms “underbiased” and “overbiased” are confusing with tube amps. A technician who works with only tube amps will usually refer to the voltage which sets the operating current in the tubes. In these amps, the bias is a negative voltage, so “overbiased” to such a technician would mean that the tubes are held in a condition of too little current, just backwards from the solid state terms most of us are familiar with. “Underbiased” would mean that the tubes have too little negative voltage on their grids and are conducting too much current simultaneously. The idle current in the output tube and the degree to which the output tubes overlap in con
With just the audio signal applied to a tape, the frequency response is very poor. High frequency response is much better than low frequency, and the low frequency distortion is very high. In 1906, the Poulson Telegraphone managed to record an intelligible voice on a magnetic medium, but it was not until the 1930s when this problem was solved by German engineers. To compensate for the tape characteristic, a very high frequency signal is applied to the tape in addition to the audio. This is typically in the 100 KHz range, far above the audio range. With the bias adjusted properly, the frequency response should be flat across the audible range. With too low bias, bass distortion will be the first audible sign, but with too much bias, the high frequency response will drop off. Incidentally, digital recording equipment takes advantage of the very nonlinearity that is a problem with analogue methods. It records a square wave on the tape, driving the tape into saturation at all times, and ex
Bias is hard to define, but the following is a framework for what bias is may help someone decide if they are a target or witness of bias. Bias is any physical, spoken or written act of abuse, harassment, intimidation, use of vulgarity, cursing, making remarks of a personally destructive nature toward any other person, and any restriction or prevention of free movement of an individual. Bias occurs whether that act is, intentional or unintentional or is directed toward an individual or group regarding race, color, creed, national origin; Sex, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, political, religious ideology, or any other distinguishing characteristic. All actions must not be defined as illegal. The above list may make someone think of “Hate Crime.” However, these two terms are not the same. What distinguishes the two is the legality of the action. For example, degrading someone because they are a person of color is bias. If a person of color is physically assaulted becau
