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Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

The data does cause clock jitter

Any time data is moved from one point to another in an audio digital component, that data can modulate the clock because of real impedances in the circuit traces, and in the D/A convertor chip itself. This is especially problematic at very low audio signal levels in a PCM-based system because the two's complement data words go from all zeros to all ones at or near the zero crossing point, and so the music signal, which is repetitive by nature, can easily couple to the clock as data correlated jitter.

As an example, consider a digital filter outputting a 1Khz low level sine wave encoded data signal, along with the bit clock and word clock to the D/A convertor IC. Each of these signals must 'travel' from the digital filter IC to the DAC IC and back. All share the same reference at the DAC IC, but the average level of the data line will alternate between a high and low state, causing the power and the ground to change during the time as well because of the impedance of the power and return paths. This changes the clock threshold level in the DAC IC (as well as modulating the clock amplitude at that same 1KHz rate) resulting in data correlated jitter. Even if the jitter was zero at the output of the digital filter, it is present at the DAC (and easily measurable I might add).

This is the same type of situation you have with asynchronous clocks running a FIFO or any other buffer device. The input clock modulates the time and frequency parameters of the output clock (and vice versa) because they are connected to the same device and hence share the same power and ground system. In addition, the data will modulate the clocks as previously detailed. Every edge transition or level change in the system creates a background of noise on the power and ground lines that will ultimately modulate the clock at the DAC IC. In order to effectively remove the jitter and not reintroduce it requires isolation techniques that are not commonly used and are somewhat expensive to implement.


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