Is it possible to eliminate all of the effects of jitter in an entire digital audio system?
Interface jitter will accumulate throughout even the most carefully designed digital audio system. Fortunately, interface jitter can only degrade digital audio if it affects the sampling circuit in an analog-to-digital or analog-to- digital converter. Any attempt to cure jitter outside of an ADC or DAC will prove expensive and, at best, will only partially reduce jitter-induced artifacts. Dedicated clock signals (word clock, and super clock, etc.) are often distributed to A/D converters and D/A converters in an attempt to reduce jitter. Again, these are only partial solutions because jitter even accumulates in these clock distribution systems. Furthermore, a poor quality master clock generator can degrade the performance of the entire system (if converter performance is dependent upon reference clock quality. Jitter free ADCs and DACs are the only true insurance against the ill effects of jitter. UltraLock converters are jitter immune under all operating conditions (they will never add audible jitter induced artifacts to an audio signal).
What UltraLock converters cannot do
UltraLock converters cannot undo damage that has already been done. If an ADC with a jitter problem was used to create a digital audio signal, then there is nothing that can be done to remove the damage. Jitter-induced sidebands are extremely complex and cannot be removed with any existing audio device. It is therefore important to attack jitter at both ends of the audio chain. The ADC1 is a great start, as it will allow accurate assessment of various A/D converters. It is impossible to evaluate ADC performance without a good DAC. The consistent performance delivered by the ADC1 eliminates one major variable: jitter.
ADC1 Instruction Manual | Page 19 |
