Simple Explanation

A tiny unit of time—there are 1,000 milliseconds in one second.

Concise Technical Definition

A unit of time equal to one thousandth of a second, or 10⁻³ seconds.

Layman-Friendly Analogy

Like blinking your eye super fast—just a fraction of a second.

Industry Usage Summary

Used in audio to measure things like delay, latency, reverb decay, and attack times in dynamics processing. Timing differences of just a few milliseconds can affect clarity, imaging, and sync in multichannel setups.

Engineering Shortcut

1 ms = 0.001 seconds; key unit for audio timing.

Full Technical Explanation

A millisecond (ms) is a unit of time equal to one-thousandth of a second (0.001 s). In audio engineering, milliseconds are critical for measuring and adjusting delays, echoes, reverberation times, attack/release settings in compressors, and latency in digital systems. Even small timing offsets—on the order of 1–10 ms—can significantly affect phase coherence, spatial perception, and intelligibility, particularly in multichannel or live sound environments. Precise millisecond-based timing ensures proper alignment of audio signals and system synchronization.