"I didn't think there was any such thing as 100% jitter free? I thought all timing sources had jitter?"
There is no such thing. Marketing BS and an outright lie.
"At what point does that become audible? Can our ears really detect say 400 pico seconds of jitter?"
Depends on the system. Resolving systems can easily demonstrate difference between 20psec and 100psec of jitter, and it's not subtle. Resolving means ultra-low noise floor and distortion. Usually no active preamp to achieve this.
"I also have quibbles with this article. It seems to concentrate on DAC clock, that is usually not that bad, placing less attention to delivery of the signal."
That is interesting, given that many DACs don't have an internal clock, except maybe for the Async USB interface master clocks. These are usually the important ones. This is where the jitter starts in a USB system. It will even have an effect on additional reclocking.
"I have DAC with reclocking built in and it is very clean sounding but Steve found that external reclocking works better."
That is primarily due to the separation of power systems, putting the master clock on its own power system, separate from the DAC circuits. If you can do this effectively inside the DAC, that is fine too. Pretty awkward to have two power cords though...
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
There is no such thing. Marketing BS and an outright lie.
"At what point does that become audible? Can our ears really detect say 400 pico seconds of jitter?"
Depends on the system. Resolving systems can easily demonstrate difference between 20psec and 100psec of jitter, and it's not subtle. Resolving means ultra-low noise floor and distortion. Usually no active preamp to achieve this.
"I also have quibbles with this article. It seems to concentrate on DAC clock, that is usually not that bad, placing less attention to delivery of the signal."
That is interesting, given that many DACs don't have an internal clock, except maybe for the Async USB interface master clocks. These are usually the important ones. This is where the jitter starts in a USB system. It will even have an effect on additional reclocking.
"I have DAC with reclocking built in and it is very clean sounding but Steve found that external reclocking works better."
That is primarily due to the separation of power systems, putting the master clock on its own power system, separate from the DAC circuits. If you can do this effectively inside the DAC, that is fine too. Pretty awkward to have two power cords though...
Steve N.
Empirical Audio