Sony NS3100 manual Separate Audio Clock NS9100ES, Coaxial and optical digital output circuits

at the output. Sony's careful design not only maintains the sonic purity of multi- channel Super Audio CD signals, but also preserves the crucial left/right and front/rear symmetry of 5.1 DVD-Video surround signals.

A separate printed circuit board for analog audio employs six separate, identical circuits to handle the 5.1 channels of output.

Separate Audio Clock (NS9100ES)

While most DVD players have a single master clock, the DVP-NS9100ES has two. The main clock—used for video and system circuitry—is located on the main circuit board. However, a second crystal oscillator clock just for the audio D/A converter (DAC) is located directly on the audio circuit board. This separate master clock, located near the audio DAC, improves the reproduction of music from CD and Super Audio CD.

The audio master clock only functions during CD and Super Audio CD playback, when the audio does not need to be synchronized with video. When the HDMI™ cable is connected or when you play DVDs, audio/video sync becomes essential. Under these circumstances, the audio master clock is switched off and the audio DAC gets its timing from the main clock.

Coaxial and optical digital output circuits

To deliver a high quality digital signal, these ES Series DVD players employ a wide-bandwidth optical module. It can achieve transmission speeds over 13 Megabits per second. This offers plenty of headroom for the 4.6 Megabits per second required by 96 kHz/24-bit outputs. The coaxial output delivers comparable quality thanks to a high-performance pulse transformer. Both digital outputs assure superb dynamics while holding noise and distortion to the bare minimum.

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