Is computer audio a bust?

I asked this question in another thread and didn't get an answer, so am trying here, since the conversation has touched on cable use.

"... Let me make sure I am tracking with you. You are saying that jitter is important. That jitter can also result from cable induced errors. That re-clocking at the DAC does not necessarily correct for all/any errors related to jitter that could occur during delivery of the raw digital signal through a cable. Does it follow that some digital cables are better at delivering digital signals free of or with less added jitter?

On a related note, in theory or in measurement, can a digital signal be corrupted in a cable, say due to exposure to strong EMF, to the point where 1s and 0s are actually deleted or unreadable at the DAC. I.E. outright data loss?"

Your thoughts appreciated, even if you think this is a non-issue.

kn

"You are saying that jitter is important. That jitter can also result from cable induced errors. That re-clocking at the DAC does not necessarily correct for all/any errors related to jitter that could occur during delivery of the raw digital signal through a cable."

All correct.

"Does it follow that some digital cables are better at delivering digital signals free of or with less added jitter?"

Absolutely.

"in theory or in measurement, can a digital signal be corrupted in a cable, say due to exposure to strong EMF, to the point where 1s and 0s are actually deleted or unreadable at the DAC. I.E. outright data loss?""

Very unlikely. The EMI would have to be kilowatts of power, like a radar antenna.

Corruption of data on a USB or S/PDIF cable is not usual and quite difficult. The cable must be extremely long and have poor impedance match to have significant error rate.

Signal integrity ala "eye-pattern" however can easily be affected by connectors, cable construction, impedance etc.. Also, ground loop noise can impact both USB and S/PDIF causing jitter and even errors if it is bad enough. These are currents running in the ground of the cable that should not be there. IF high enough, they will appear on the signal(s) and cause problems at the receiver. This is why I developed the "Short-Block" USB cable filter, which reduces common-mode ground-loop noise on the cable.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve, what kind of problems are you talking about could happen at the reciever?, does that mean amplifier or pre-amp?

Thanks, helpful description.

kn

10-28-14: Tbg
I find no worthy points being made on this thread. I see the computer as the wave of the future with data coming from internet downloads.

No need to torture yourself by returning to it then...:)

"Computers" are not the future. They are an evolutionary stepping stone until audiophile manufacturers catch up. Steve is ahead of the game due to his background. Many others have a mere rudimentary knowledge like may of us endusers who learn as they go.