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Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

Clocking in Dante (and compatible networks)

From a causal reading of the Dante web site it appears that one node on the network becomes master clock. This can happen automatically, or it can be manually configured. This node then sends out timing information to the other nodes which use VXCOs to adjust their clock rate. This should work well if the DAC node runs the master clock. If the source or some other node runs the master clock then the sound quality will depend on details of the time synchronization protocol and details of implementation of the protocol at the clock node and the DAC node. For audiophile use (normal case with one DAC) there wouldn't be any reason to have any node other than the DAC run the master clock, so this system can have a clock architecture that isolates jitter from the network. However, it may be necessary to use a VxCO to source the clock if a product is ever going to be used as a slave, and depending on how the VxCO hardware is built this may add local jitter. (A high end DAC could presumably be built that would only work as a master clock, or alternatively it could have multiple oscillators, one variable.)

I haven't read the AES67-2013 standard for audio applications of network or the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol that these networks are based on. (Both of these specifications are behind a pay wall.) So I am presuming that these protocols were correctly designed and specified. Even if this presumption is correct it is still possible for any particular product implementation to be a poor quality implementation, in terms of easy of configuration and use, freedom from glitches, or subjective sound quality.

Whether this stuff is any good or not will be determined by listening tests. In general, most studios are not built with high end sound quality in mind and follow production processes that are inimical to high sound quality. Hence, I would discount any equipment reports from studios that do not have an established reputation of putting out releases that are to audiophile standards.




Tony Lauck

"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar



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