PasTim;630264 Wrote: > I don't want to open old arguments, but I am interested in FLAC versus > PCM. > > As I understand it, PCM is a string of bits which must be sent, > received and processed according to strict clocks. Anything that gets > in the way might cause a problem, although I'm not sure what effect > buffering in the Touch has. > > In contrast, FLAC is more like a series of records, with error > correction logic, a checksum and so forth, isn't it?. Because the data > is encoded, and sent as data to be processed rather than as a series of > bits whose timing must be maintained accurately, minor glitches in > transmission should be easily recoverable and nothing in that > transmission should be able to affect the sound quality. Of course, > once FLAC has been received and is being decoded all sorts of problems > can occur which will affect the analogue quality or the precision of > onward digital transmission. > > Have I gone up a garden path here?
Yes you have gone up the wrong garden path. There are no clocks or glitches in the transmission path either case. The only conceivable mechanism by which FLAC files streamed as PCM might result in a different sound from the Touch compared to the same files streamed as FLAC is electrical noise within the Touch which increases (VERY SLIGHTLY) when decoding FLAC and which might have an impact on the DAC clock - i.e. it might increase jitter slightly. Attempts to prove this theory by measurement have so far failed to be conclusive. There is equivocal anecdotal evidence. -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal... Touch(wired/XP) - Audiolense 3.3/2.0+INGUZ DRC - MF M1 DAC - Linn 5103 - full Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Pekin Tuner, Townsend Supertweeters, Blue Jeans Belden Digital,Kimber 8TC Speaker & Chord Signature Plus Interconnect cables Stax4070+SRM7/II phones Kitchen Boom, Outdoors: SB Radio, Harmony One remote for everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84742 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
