When syncing two or more devices, there needs to be one unit that is providing the clock signal to all the rest of the units. If one is spinning faster than the other, the teeth will not interlock and the system won’t work. They have to be spinning at the same rate for the cogs to mesh together.
A simple analogy explaining the need for syncing two devices with a clock signal is by imagining two spinning cogs. Multiple devices need to be synced so the digital audio being transferred between them is read correctly. When you are only looking to use one unit, such as an audio interface, you don’t really have to worry too much about clocking, however when using multiple units it becomes a little more complex. If the clock frequency changes, it is known as “Drift”. When the clock is not consistent in its timing, the resulting distortion is known as “Jitter”. If this does not happen, the amplitude of the signal will not be recorded or played back at the correct time and so distortion will be introduced into the signal. Samples are taken many times a second, and need to occur at regular intervals (44.1 kHz is the sample rate used in commercial CD audio). Digital audio is made up of amplitude values of a signal at different points in time (known as samples). (There are two main places where slaving to an external clock can induce more jitter: those connections and the downstream unit's phase-locked loop circuits that attempt to keep the unit's internal crystal clock synced to the external master.In A to D and D to A conversion, the digital signal needs to be clocked accurately to prevent distortion. Wordclock frequencies are very high and that means that cables have very specific length and material specs in order to minimize reflection and resulting jitter. It's just 1s and 0s right? The cable either works or it doesn't! A digital video cable can suffer if the 1s and 0s get dropped due to bandwidth issues - but a word clock cable? Seriously guys! Pull your heads inActually, while I agree that a good, reliable word clock cable need not be at all expensive, setting up proper wordclock connections is critical in minimizing the introduction of extra jitter in slaved units. But It seems pretty obvious to me that no audio passes through the word clock cable, so you don't have to worry about signal loss. No, I'm actually fairly new to these forums etc. Keep your eyes wyde as they say and Caveat emptor. Check out these Ebay item numbers for reasonable and significantly cheaper alternatives that offer the same quality level as the so-called 'premium' or 'wyde-eye' stuff. The advertising that accompanies these products also diminishes the engineering credentials of such companies. Brands such as these selling specific 'high-quality' word-clock cables are verging very close to 'Audiophile/audiofool' territory. Don't over-think these very simple cables, and avoid the overpriced Apogee and BLA stuff. I use these to send word-clock out of the multiple outputs of my Mytek converter to a number of digital pieces (RME Digital soundcard, digital backup recorder etc.), as well as for carrying Madi digital audio data. There are also very high quality RGB 75 ohm cables made by both Belden and Canare for use in the TV/video fields, that can operate as very high quality word clock or even Madi cables. You can purchase Neutrik/Canare or other quality connectors and DIY. I use Van damme cables.on high kickĪs mentioned above, speak to Redco who will do good quality custom lengths, or simply purchase some good quality Canare or Belden 75 ohm coaxial cable and make up your own word-clock cables to your desired lengths. Last thing I wish to do is degrade the quality of my expensive converters due to a cheap cable. I know there's been debate as to whether or not the cable quality matters much in terms of passing perfect clock signal, but as I understand it, digital clock info needs to be picosecond-perfect with no interference or ground loops, must be proper impedance, etc. Looking for something pre-made and ready to use as I do not have a BNC connector crimper etc.
#Best word clock professional#
I'd like a heavy-duty, reliable cable for professional use. In the meantime, what type of word clock cables are people using these days? I greatly fear any of the ultra el-cheapo molded plastic crap type cables (like Hosa or whatever), don't want any part of that. I need a new batch of word clock cables now and after searching around it appears that Apogee either no longer sells word clock cables or they only offer in one size. In the past I've used only the Apogee "Wyde Eye" word clock (BNC) cables for my word clock connections, these were said to be the best around.
0 kommentar(er)
