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Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

RE: Sorry for not being clear enough, yes, "kludge" was re: S/PDIF+cables

And sorry from me for not realizing you were only referring to SPDIF, I should have recalled you'd marketed one. I don't know the history of that interface, whether it was part of redbook or an add-on to allow external DACs. It is elegant in that it is a single co-ax with clock and data combined. The best place for the clock is close to the DAC so you really only need it send the clock to synchronize the receiver chip in the DAC box to extract the data correctly. Phase-locked loop(s) can do it but they got a bad rap as a source of added jitter. The ESS chips sample that data stream at a fast enough rate that it doesn't mater about being in exact synchronism, they can extract the data directly and synch it to the DAC clock.

Your substrates are genuinely interesting as the CD system was designed to tolerate stuff like that but, maybe, there are still sensitivities. People have postulated that even though the laser focus and steering mechanism can cope with variations if the compensating servo mechanisms are always working it could modulate the power supply and couple over to the audio side. I remember seeing at a show in the UK back in the early days of CD a three-box prototype/experimental player from Cambridge (I think, maybe built by Stan Curtis) and one box had several displays. IIRC one showed the number of interpolated errors, one the number of blanking errors and the other the checksum errors from the de-interleaving process. That last one ticked-up at a pretty fast rate but, as I understand it, you can lose up to 2mm of data and still recover the audio from the de-interleaving. There was an early marketing claim for CD that you could drill a 2mm hole in the disc and it would still play. Not true as the laser guidance would lose the spiral. But I do have to hand it to the CD marketeers for the 'Perfect Sound Forever' slogan (a bit like watching a team you hate score a great touchdown - you still hate the team but have to admire that play).



Edits: 03/22/21

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  • RE: Sorry for not being clear enough, yes, "kludge" was re: S/PDIF+cables - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 16:52:01 03/22/21 (0)

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