Editing Potentiometer (section)

=== Audio control ===
[[File:Faders.jpg|thumb|right|Slide potentiometers ([[Fade (audio engineering)#Fader|faders]])]]

Low-power potentiometers, both slide and rotary, are used to control audio equipment, changing loudness, frequency attenuation, and other characteristics of audio signals.

The 'log pot', which is a potentiometer that has a resistance, taper, or, "curve" (or law) of a logarithmic (log) form, is used as the volume control in [[audio power amplifier]]s, where it is also called an "audio taper pot" because the [[amplitude]] response of the human [[ear]] is approximately logarithmic. It ensures that on a volume control marked 0 to 10, for example, a setting of 5 sounds subjectively half as loud as a setting of 10. There is also an ''anti-log pot'' or ''reverse audio taper'' which is simply the reverse of a logarithmic potentiometer. It is almost always used in a ganged configuration with a logarithmic potentiometer, for instance, in an audio balance control.

Potentiometers used in combination with filter networks act as [[Tone control circuit|tone controls]] or [[Equalization (audio)|equalizers]].

In audio systems, the word linear is sometimes applied in a confusing way to describe slide potentiometers because of the straight line nature of the physical sliding motion. The word linear, when applied to a potentiometer regardless of being a slide or rotary type, describes a linear relationship of the pot's position versus the measured value of the pot's tap (wiper or electrical output) pin.