In Reply to: How can USB performance impact audio quality? posted by mr.bear on June 12, 2011 at 13:13:55:
The noise rides along with the bits on the USB cable and the circuitry in the DAC doesn't do an adequate job of cleaning this off. The noise can ride on the signal wires in the form of amplitude and phase variations or it can travel as common mode noise. In addition, even if logic circuitry receiving the USB signal completely cleans the signal this receiver circuitry creates its own digital noise which may couple through proximity, power or ground into downstream analog circuitry (which includes the clock running the DAC). As if that's not enough, the noise can couple out power wiring into downstream amplifiers.
None of this is logically necessary in the sense that some amount of noise is logically necessary with an analog tape machine, but it's still there. More effort has been spent on marketing hype than on the necessary hard core mixed signal engineering.
Of course, I've only listed the "known unknowns". It may be that there are "unknown unknowns" as well. The problem is tough because people can hear things that aren't easily measured, but they don't hear them consistently and so listening isn't by itself sufficient to solve the problem once and for all.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
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Follow Ups
- RE: How can USB performance impact audio quality? - Tony Lauck 13:26:02 06/12/11 (38)
- RE: How can USB performance impact audio quality? - Ryelands 13:40:03 06/12/11 (37)
- Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Charles Hansen 19:09:13 06/12/11 (35)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Ryelands 05:24:50 06/13/11 (33)
- RE: No, this thread has been tremendously revealing! - mr.bear 00:38:04 06/14/11 (3)
- RE: No, this thread has been tremendously revealing! - audioengr 13:10:40 06/15/11 (0)
- By George! I think you've got it! - rick_m 07:12:49 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: No, this thread has been tremendously revealing! - Mercman 02:44:23 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - audioengr 11:22:52 06/13/11 (28)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Ryelands 11:57:14 06/13/11 (27)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - rick_m 16:42:17 06/13/11 (26)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - fmak 00:29:04 06/14/11 (7)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - rick_m 06:53:30 06/14/11 (6)
- You have... - fmak 08:16:18 06/14/11 (5)
- RE: You have... - rick_m 09:10:21 06/14/11 (4)
- RE: You have... - fmak 22:01:01 06/14/11 (3)
- RE: You have... - Ryelands 01:44:05 06/15/11 (2)
- You do not comprehend nor have an understanding - fmak 04:02:24 06/15/11 (1)
- RE: You do not comprehend nor have an understanding - Ryelands 04:08:51 06/15/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Ryelands 17:34:11 06/13/11 (17)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - fmak 00:31:28 06/14/11 (15)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Tony Lauck 09:17:03 06/16/11 (2)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - fmak 10:56:30 06/16/11 (1)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Tony Lauck 13:35:15 06/16/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Dawnrazor 01:57:19 06/14/11 (11)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Ryelands 04:23:27 06/14/11 (3)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Dawnrazor 08:05:56 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Mercman 08:02:32 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - theob 05:01:18 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - fmak 03:47:34 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - fmak 02:50:56 06/14/11 (5)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - Dawnrazor 03:06:01 06/14/11 (4)
- RE: You are posting w/o rationale... - fmak 03:41:34 06/14/11 (3)
- RE: You are posting w/o rationale... - Ryelands 07:32:15 06/14/11 (1)
- You are providing a guarantee? - fmak 08:18:06 06/14/11 (0)
- Yep. Score one for the prophet. - Dawnrazor 03:59:38 06/14/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - rick_m 20:35:14 06/13/11 (0)
- RE: Those clowns are responsible for a lot of horrible sound - fmak 23:50:40 06/12/11 (0)
- RE: How can USB performance impact audio quality? - Tony Lauck 18:08:26 06/12/11 (0)