Originally Posted by RHurley
Quote
......incontrovertible scientific proof of servers and airport xpress and such

I would like to see this alleged "proof" beyond someone simply saying that "all the bits arrived at the processor" (Almost akin to an Airline claiming that "All our Passengers arrived safely" without ANY mention of Critical Factors like Did they arrive on Time or were they Late)

Most importantly, I would like to see ANY Test work which tests the TIMING (Real Time Clocking) of the Bits arriving at the downstream Digital Processor from a Server / Airport Express / Squeezbox / Sonos / or equivalent device

Seeing as the quality of the actual digital output connection plays an important (jitter related) role, any Test Work done on 1 Device does not mean that all "similar" devices perform in a similar manner

This is all very interesting to me and I am learning a lot from this thread.
At one point in this thread I wrote that I learned from this thread that at the reading stage, as long as all the data is being read, nothing gets deteriorated but after reading more of the comments I understand that even that is a bit tricky:
The M CDPs and DVDPs incorporate multiple readings from the disc to correct errors.
After which there is FIFO buffering and than Up-sampling, re-clocking and Digital to Analogue Conversion.
If the DVD-Rom drive is in charge of the multiple readings it may as well be that this stage is still improtant.
However, since M is using a $20 DVD-Rom drive (I know since I bought one on e-bay once) I cannot think of it as high-end by any stretch.
So I am assuming that it is the controller behind the drive/loader which gives it the command to re-read.
So what if the source was a Hard-Drive instead and the data was already stored/ripped from a collection of CDs?
Would that change matters audio quality wise?
At which point does the sound deteriorate?
Would the pace at which the bits are transferred from a Hard Drive to the FIFO buffering be any different than from the DVD-Rom drive?
Would the Hard Drive be noisier (jitter wise) than a DVD-Rom drive?
Would it require special isolation/treatment?

I ask all of these since I am trying to get to the bottom of the question:
Why does an outside source using the 568 or G68 DAC sounds different than say a G08 or G98?
If there was no compromise in sound quality, I think, given the fact that CDPs and DVDPs sales are rising, that there would be a market for ones which incorporate hard drives and connectivity to allow for convenience without sacrificing audio quality but perhaps I am wrong.

Regards,

Doron



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