High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC

Posted by dave789 (A) on May 16, 2015 at 12:01:34

An over $400 DAC, I see high level of high frequency jitter (+ / - 3 kHz).

Would you return it because of the jitter?

Measurement set up.
Sound source:
Pierre Verany Digital Test CD 10kHz 0dBFS sinusoidal tone track
played on iTunes (volume max) on Mac mini.

Analyzer:
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 line input, Arta software on Toshiba laptop with Windows 8.1.

When this over $400 DAC (Styleaudio Sapphire LE) receives digital signal from Mac mini via optical cable, there is plenty of high frequency jitter. When the anlalyzer is fed from Mac mini's analogue output, the jitter is significantly reduced. To check whether the optical cable is defective, I connected MuxLab 500081 (a $90 dac for those who have TVs on which choosing 2ch pcm output is impossible, and want to connect TV to 2ch stereo system.) via optical cable. The jitter level is much lower than the over $400 DAC.

I will post 3 pictures.

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Topic - High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - dave789 12:01:34 05/16/15 (21)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - Thorsten 05:20:51 05/18/15 (0)

Sapphire LE higher noise floor only at 44.1kHz - dave789 15:59:03 05/17/15 (0)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - Dave_K 07:55:10 05/17/15 (6)

at different FFT, the sidebands are fluctuating - dave789 15:05:09 05/17/15 (0)

steady 34kHz tone - dave789 14:35:52 05/17/15 (3)

RE: steady 34kHz tone - Todd Krieger 20:41:42 05/17/15 (2)

RE: steady 34kHz tone - dave789 21:38:40 05/17/15 (1)

RE: steady 34kHz tone - Todd Krieger 01:06:16 05/20/15 (0)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - dave789 10:05:42 05/17/15 (0)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - Todd Krieger 01:21:54 05/17/15 (1)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - dave789 01:53:51 05/17/15 (0)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - Awe-d-o-file 21:30:33 05/16/15 (1)

RE: High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC - dave789 00:15:03 05/17/15 (0)

MuxLab 500081 LE via optical from mac mini 4k - 16k - dave789 18:21:04 05/16/15 (0)

Styleaudio Sapphire LE via optical from mac mini 4k - 16k - dave789 18:18:01 05/16/15 (0)

MuxLab 500081 LE via optical from mac mini RTA - dave789 14:25:49 05/16/15 (0)

Styleaudio Sapphire LE via optical from mac mini RTA - dave789 14:23:41 05/16/15 (0)

Audioengine D1 via optical from mac mini - dave789 13:26:13 05/16/15 (0)

MuxLab 500081 LE via optical from mac mini - dave789 12:06:16 05/16/15 (0)

From mac mini's analogue output - dave789 12:04:46 05/16/15 (0)

Styleaudio Sapphire LE via optical from mac mini - dave789 12:03:16 05/16/15 (0)

High frequency jitter in an over $400 DAC

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