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In Reply to: Maybe posted by Sordidman on November 11, 2006 at 08:54:21:
I keep being astounded by these humongous, ultra-expensive external clocks being made. Trying to improve the clock accuracy in ppm ranges, while the digital interface/cables going back and forth from the master clock will add their own flavor, not to mention the footer/shelf/power cord on the master clock.I would personally opt for a nice clock with its own stable PS as close to the DAC chips as possible...
Follow Ups:
I think the problem with adding or enhancing clocks is the added noise and RFI associated with such undertaking. Often causing more problems than it solves. (I think the chips should *not* be close to each other- For improved precision is offset by mutual RF interference.)I've never heard a digital rig that utilized complicated clocking and/or D/A schemes that I thought performed any better than simpler designs.
I think the biggest problem with digital designers is that they look at the potential improvements in a new design or method but totally disregard the potential consequences. Hence the overall sonic quality of digital audio products over the past 15 years has gone mostly sideways, if not even backwards.
I'm encountering more and more stories about people being surprised over how good older digital products sound. But if one investigates how digital audio design has evolved, such findings should not be so surprising.
And to add the the confusion, most of these clocks are "word-clocks", not bit-clocks or master-clocks. Recently I discovered (while designing mods and a new DAC), that in most modern DAC chips, the bit-clock or even sometimes the master-clock is actually used for the final A/D clocking, not the word-clock. This is why it is defined more like a control-signal, not a clock in the timing of the datasheets.After discovering this, I understand why I2S interfaces sound so good and what clock to optimize for each type of DAC chip. Makes a tremendous difference. It would not surprise me at all to see an external word-clock on a DAC that actually uses the bit-clock for the D/A conversion. I've seen crazier stuff in this business....
Big J.
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