Things I don‘t know
Digital is very much an emerging transmission form and there are a few questions where I simply don‘t know.
1. In the digital domain it is very easy to shift polarity of recordings and the effects are very audible. Yet few devices offer the capability even in very high end systems. Conversely it seems a standard feature on software for computer based systems. This matters greatly since probably half of all recordings are made out of polarity.
2. In digital accurate clocking is of paramount importance to achieve good leading and trailing edge definition as well as spatial rendition. Yet few Dacs even in high end devices and even fewer streamers or switches offer 10m clock interfaces.
3. Even small RFI/EMI or ground level intrusions are very detrimental to accurate D/A conversion. Yet most Dacs still don‘t provide galvanic isolation on their inputs and often claim to address the issue with error correction in the digital domain. Do designers simply not know better?
4. Recent advances in Class D amplification seem to point the way; yet there seems to be no consensus on optimal sample frequency nor power supply design for these devices.
Finally, while rare exceptions like @atmasphere see their task as clarifying and educating on the issues, the vast majority of designers either don‘t make the effort or just go about shilling their widgets.
While I am sure that this is only the beginning of a list of digital issues worth discussing,the usefulness of Audiogon Fora rests precisely on elaboborating and clarifying on all issues immanent in this new approach to things and in most instances the issues don‘t at all relate to issues discussed purely in the analogue domain.
@erik-squires that is one line of arguments, indeed. However Innuos spends enormous efforts on reclocking both USB and Ethernet connections and best I know DCM offers full external clock support for all its units. There is also a vibrant market for master clocks from Esoteric, Afterdark, Mutec, Cybershaft, Antelope et al. I‘d argue the jury on clocking is still out. In my case reclocking my dac and Etherregen yielded major benefits. |
I used a Mutec reclocker for a while. It helped an older piece of gear appreciably, at least to my ears, but the reclocking degraded the sound of a newer, better (but less expensive) piece. Why, I don't know. The main use of external clocking (other than profit) seems to be in sound studios with numerous pieces of gear that need synchronization. That's why consumer gear rarely has clock inputs. |
I had an MC-3+ Smart Clock USB. The REF10 is more than I was willing to pay for something that I might or might not consider an improvement. My conclusion was that differences caused by reclocking will be system-specific (a pretty bland and safe conclusion).Those interested in the subject might look at this 2010 comparison of clocks in the pro sound journal Sound On Sound. It said, among other things:
As always, the questions are: Is there a difference? Is the difference an improvement? Is the improvement worth the price? |
