Then one is left with figuring out if the reclocking on board the given device ...is substandard or not. And whether that given reclocking is messing up cable qualities analysis, or not. Or by what degree, is the usual reality.
This is why one has to be careful in what one thinks they hear with a given cable/dac/source combination which is in play.
An unfortunate state of affairs IMO. If the DAC S/PDIF input would only go to a good S/PDIF receiver like the AK4114, many DAC’s would at least have the capacity to sound a lot better with a low-jitter input source and a good S/PDIF cable. Instead, you mostly hear the Master Clock of the reclocker inside the DAC, which is usually of dubious quality.
A reclocker or a good S/PDIF cable before the DAC can still be beneficial because the PLL of the reclocker in the DAC is usually still sensitive to incoming jitter (the filter of the PLL).
BTW, many modern DAC’s do not have reclockers on the S/PDIF inputs, but some do use older receiver technology, so their ability to reduce or maintain low jitter is compromised.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio