Simple Explanation

A measure of how similar two signals or patterns are.

Concise Technical Definition

A mathematical operation that determines the degree to which two signals are alike in amplitude and shape, often over time.

Layman-Friendly Analogy

Like comparing two songs to see if they're playing in sync—if every beat and note matches up, they’re highly correlated.

Industry Usage Summary

Used in audio analysis, phase alignment, and signal processing. Correlation meters are common in mixing and mastering to check stereo phase relationships and avoid phase cancellation issues. Also used in DSP algorithms and system diagnostics.

Engineering Shortcut

Correlation = Similarity of signals (1 = identical, 0 = unrelated, −1 = inverse).

Full Technical Explanation

Correlation is a statistical and signal-processing technique used to evaluate the similarity between two waveforms or data sets. In audio, it is especially useful for identifying phase coherence or misalignment between stereo channels. A correlation coefficient of +1 means the signals are perfectly in phase; −1 means they are exactly out of phase, and 0 means no correlation.