2. digital
  3. 183094-96

i2S clock question

So, I’ve recently added a Denafrips Iris DDC to be able to feed my Musician Pegasus R2R DAC via its i2S input via its HDMI i2S input, and compared to feeding it directly from an SPDIF or USB input the positive results are significant and very apparent.  While I’m aware of the separate internal paths of the i2S connection versus other connections and despite many searches, I can’t find a definitive answer as to how the clocking works in the end.  I know the Iris re-clocks the data and sends it via a separate line within the HDMI connection to my DAC, but I can’t find a clear answer as to how the re-clocking of the DDC works in conjunction with my DAC. Does the re-clocking of the DDC override the re-clocking of my DAC with an i2S connection, or does it just feed my DAC a cleaner signal that allows my DAC to work better and more efficiently given its own re-clocking abilities?  Am I subject to the re-clocking of my DDC alone or is it a combo of my DAC and the DDC working together with an i2S connection?  Thanks for any thoughts and experience!

soix
mastering92
870 posts
 

in my honest opinion, i2s is a superior protocol

hmm.. i think this is a question for the company. However, I believe the "clock" becomes more stable, therefore the signal; much like having a separate master clock on a CD player - that’s BNC, but CD player outputs also use i2s. Hardware almost always outperforms software. What you’ve added here is almost like me selecting CD input on jriver, jitter correction and 4x. This results in improved PRAT -pace rhythm and timing. --> is this the improvement?

In theory, they would be seperate units. In practice, they would be just one unit, optimized for better performance.The Femto TCXO and FPGA would be doing the heavy lifting...

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

@soix The Iris re-clocks the signal it receives from your source, reducing jitter and converting the source signal to I2s, AES, Coax etc. It does not slave your DAC.

The Iris can also be connected to a Terra or Aether clock to further reduce jitter.

However connecting a clock IME to your source would bring the greater benefit.

I forget your source component.

soix OP
9,665 posts
 

@lordmelton My source is an iFi Zen Stream that I quite like for the price.  So, from what you’re saying, my Musician Pegasus DAC clock is still working with the i2S connection?  That’s really what I’m trying to nail down here, and after doing a pretty thorough search I couldn’t find a straight answer to this fairly simple question.  Argh. 

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