The word on clocks

[Dean G]

I've been doing some research on the clock issue after recording some songs and wanting to poke my ears out because of the harsh, jittery high end of my mixes.
Make no mistake, this subject cannot be talked about enough so some poor schmoo dosen't but digi 001 and thing they are good to go to make a CD at the professional level. We all know the stock sound is lacking.
But now the solution!!
Everyone says buy an external clock, it will "fix" PTLE and let you turn out pro sound. But how do it do that???
THE MYTH-- Using an external word clock improves the sound quality of PTLE. THE RESEARCH--Ptle DOES NOT ACCEPT WORD CLOCK INPUT!!!!!
What you need to get "pro" quality sound out of PTLE is up front quality A/D conversion, inputed into the light pipe or the spdif (whatever) input, bypassing the "blue box" A/D conversion step.
THAT"S IT!!!!
Unless you're mastering to analogue, the Rosetta cannot help you any more. It has no effect on the internal processing that goes on inside your computer. PTLE is just crunching numbers, and you have a simulated mixer but what you hear in the monitors is a cheap D/A converter playing back the DATA STREAM and that stage is buffered so it is disconnected in time from PTLE.
Oh the monitors SOUND better because the D/A converter is getting clocked better (by the Rosetta) but the data stream is the same with or without the Rosetta.
PTLE can SYNC with an external clock at the sample level. But an external clock cannot change anything about playback EXCEPT its SPEED.
Mastering to an external digital recorder is unaffected by an external clock or the internal jittery clock. Oh the device may have some trouble SYNCING to PTLE resulting in audible clicks, pops and glitches but the resulting CD or DAT will have the SAME WAV file if glitches are absent.
Same goes for those WAV files you burn in toast.

SO all you need is a good A/D converter (like an old DAT machine or stand alone CD burner) and you are as good as the Rosettas!!!!

Word,

Old Timer [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[PlugInJunky]

YOU ARE THE F... MAN....WOW...IM PUMPED.....LOL I NEVER MONITOR FROM THE LIL BLUE BOX....03D ADAT CARD ALL THE WAY....SOUNDS NICE... TO ME THE 001 SOUNDS LIKE THE HARMON/KARDON COMPUTER SPEAKERS....(EXAGERRATING OF COURSE)

[fire2k2]

I don't monitor throught the 001 either. Everything I hear is coming out of my AD8000, into the 8 buss. In fact, I don't use any analog ins or outs on the 001.

L-Fire
EMO

[gargoyle]

How is the 828 or the 1010. Do they suffer from the jitters as well or are their converters better?

Sean

[jeronimo]

I think you lost me somewhere around your post...
Let's see if I understood it right.
What you're telling us is: If you record something thru the 001s inputs w/ the 001 clocked from a Rosetta, it'll be the same as if you don't have the Rosetta?

We all know that almost any converter will be a step up from the 001.
What I don't know is how the 001 will sound if you clock it from a better source.

I don't get what you mean when you say:
"Unless you're mastering to analogue, the Rosetta cannot help you any more. It has no effect on the internal processing that goes on inside your computer."

What kind of combinations have you tried while recording w/ your PTLE setup?

Thanks

[AverageJoe]

Can you elaborate on the "research" that PTLE does not accept word clock input when every bit of literature says it does?

[Ultraslide]

Ok ... I'm gonna bump this in hopes of getting some clarity. I am considering purchasing an Apogee Rosetta as an a/d and clock upgrade to my Digi001. But Dean would have us believe that the Rosetta will not improve the sound of internal bounces, only masters generated from the Analogue outs. (????)
Can this be true? Does the use of an external sync source improve the quality of internally bounced masters or just the sound of the analogue outs?
I realize that the Rosetta would be a great front end and improve the quality of anything recorded thru it, but will it improve the sound of PT by providing a better clock source?
Needless to say I find the original post and his results rather confusing.

the 'slide
[img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[dkrausz]

THE RESEARCH--Ptle DOES NOT ACCEPT WORD CLOCK INPUT!!!!!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Incorrect.

001 accepts word clock either via S/PDIF input or optical input.

PTLE can SYNC with an external clock at the sample level.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Umm, yes. This is called "word clock" sync.

But an external clock cannot change anything about playback EXCEPT its SPEED..

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Not totally true.

How accurately the external or internal clock plays back samples has a DIRECT impact on over all sound quality. It is the clock and ONLY the clock that determines "play back" accuracy i.e., the sound you are hearing.

More accurate the clock = less jitter-better sound. Period.

…what you hear in the monitors is a cheap D/A converter playing back the DATA STREAM and that stage is buffered so it is disconnected in time from PTLE.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You may be a bit confused here. Or at least you have me confused… [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

An external D/A, A/D converter IS the clock playing back the data stream. That is to say that once you choose an external device (such as a digital pre), it is this device by which the 001 will be clocked. Which must mean the software must reference that pre's clock in order to play back the samples.

Someone help me out here… [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

dk

[jay dust]

>Does the use of an external sync source improve the quality of internally bounced masters or just the sound of the analogue outs?

______________

as far as i know,the rosetta is only an AD converter.so if you sync your device from it,you'll have a better clock source ,and your recordings might be better,but the analog outs will still be the same(although you'll hear a difference).
buy a psx100 if you want a good AD DA from apogee?

[Pete Weaver]

Hey Gang,

I use an Apogee Trak 2 for everything, including master clock. I have set PTLE set to sync mode = optical (spdif works fine too).

The internal Apogee A to D convertors and ultra-low jitter clock make a HUGE IMMEDIATELY NOTICEABLE difference in audio quality . . . anyone who wants to hear a sample of the sound quality just point your browser to www.halftheworld.cc and click the music link and listen to the first two songs.