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RE: Or get the clock out of the PC

Posted by Jim F. (A) on January 12, 2009 at 08:15:11

In Reply to: RE: Or get the clock out of the PC posted by Jim F. on January 12, 2009 at 08:05:04:

> I assume, BTW, that part of the [reason for the] popularity
> [and sound quality] of USB DACs is that they also allow the
> word clock to be local to the DAC, while leaving the USB interface
> to buffer the data from the computer asynchronously.

And so, of course, do network media players like the Slim Devices
Transporter, whether hard-wired with Ethernet cable or
operating over WiFi (but still only going up to 24/96, in the
case of that particular device).

You are still, of course, at the mercy of the goodness
(or otherwise) of the clock in any of these units. A pro A/D
unit **has** to have a decent clock, because the sound quality
of an A/D converter (and the reputation of the whole
company, as judged by picky studio engineers) is **directly**
dependent on the quality of the clock.

However, in all of these cases (where the clock is not at
the mercy of the computer's electrical environment) I would
expect the sound quality (barring any gross anomalies,
dropouts, etc.) to be independent of the player software
running on the PC.

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