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RE: Textbook

Posted by Jim F. (A) on January 13, 2009 at 15:36:46

In Reply to: RE: Textbook posted by Dawnrazor on January 13, 2009 at 14:34:31:

> Yeah, I saw that ALan uses the black lion. I am thinking
> about using that with my Lynx if I get the dough. Looks easy
> enough to do. I suppose we should ask him if he can detect
> difference with the BL clock.

To get the full benefit of an external clock like the
Black Lion (assuming you're using an external DAC
and not just the analog output of the Lynx) don't forget that you'd
also need to send the Black Lion's word-clock signal to the DAC. In other
words, **both** the DAC and the Lynx (the latter being the
"transport" in this case) need to be sync'ed to the same clock, and
so your DAC in this case would also need a word-clock input.

If you just send the clock to the Lynx, while that's a
start (it does get the clock out of the computer), the external
DAC would then have to be **recovering** a clock from
the S/PDIF signal generated by the Lynx (and again, coming
out of the computer), with all the downside **that**
entails. You might be better off in that case just getting
a "clock cleaner" (e.g., something like an Apogee Big Ben)
to stick in front of the external DAC.

The use of a clock external to the DAC actually opens up another
can of worms, though. Some people insist that the best
solution is to have the master clock **inside** the DAC (i.e., be
as close to the DAC as possible) for best results
(assuming the clock in the DAC is a good enough one).
So again, we'd be talking about a good DAC with a word-clock
output (which means we're most likely talking about a pro DAC,
unless you're considering springing for a dCS or an Esoteric). OTOH,
Kafton does say that the Black Lion external clock was
an improvement over the master clock inside his RME Fireface 800
(which does, notice, also have a word-clock **input** that
can accept the Black Lion's sync signal. Generally,
any DAC with a word-clock output also has a word-clock
input. ;-> ).

BTW, keep in mind that even if you retain your Lynx as
the sound card (which I think is a good idea -- I think
an internal PCI sound card is just more hassle-free than
an external "sound card" using Firewire or USB. But
then I was burned by a bad experience with an M-Audio
Firewire device a few years ago. The real pro stuff may work
just fine.), you can **still** use some models of Firewire devices like
an RME Fireface 400 or 800 as a stand-alone DAC. Some such
models (the RMEs among them) can be configured by a software
"front panel" while the Firewire port is connected to the
computer, and then the chosen configuration can be saved
and the Firewire **disconnected**. Then the DAC would be
getting its audio via S/PDIF (or ADAT), just like an
"ordinary" DAC. Think of it has having a box with
the front-panel buttons on the computer. It would be a **bit**
of a nuisance, but if you don't change the settings a
lot (and provided they don't "decide" to change on
their own!). . .

> I don't see why we can't discuss this without getting
> into [a flame war], but if you think that is inevitable. . .

I didn't mean that it's **inevitable**, I just meant that I'm
not going to be insistent about a position if it's going
to step on anybody's toes. Particularly Alan Kafton's,
who is after all a dealer, and who apparently hangs around with
Vincent R. Sanders (of VRS Audio Solutions).

People can be touchy around here, after all! ;->

> I really wish you would give it a try. If you are going
> to talk theories, shouldn't you do a BIT of listening if
> only to confirm what you ALREADY know??

I guess I'm just too lazy to knock myself out over this
one. On the other hand, if somebody around here (or on
Hydrogen Audio, or wherever) ever posts an article that
says something like "Ah HA! So it turns out after all that every
version of Foobar prior to 1.1.0 [or whatever] has been
subtly altering the data by introducing a rounding error
when converting its input to the 32-bit internal DSP data
bus and then back again for the sound card! No **wonder**
they don't sound the same!", then you can believe I'll
upgrade my player software in a flash! ;-> Somebody else
just needs to do the work (and provide a plausible
explanation), that's all. :-0

> Who wants Wavelab to sound better. . .?

No, I'm certainly not going to use Wavelab as my day-to-day
player, even if it does sound better.

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