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The negative positive
#13
IMO it's not really the general purpose computer itself that is the problem. It's a 'number cruncher' that does what it is designed to do: receive and send, display and manipulate data in the digital domain. Of course due to their nature of using high speed IC's, many high frequency clocks and low quality power computers are noisy. They emit levels of RF/EMI which pose little problems to it's own circuits but could potentially influence devices that are connected to it and/or the integrity of signals between those devices. They're also multitaskers, switching continously between hundreds of threads at once and connect many internal hardware components for different purposes over different busses that all add noise.

The problems with high-end computer audio using general purpose hard-/software lay primarily in the interface and conversion to the analog domain. It's the interfaces we've chosen to connect our DAC's and the, thus far, generally poor immunity to noise and degraded signal integrity of these DAC's. The 'optimizations' we're making in our PC's are actually mere band-aids, not addressing the real problems, but of course it's the only only thing we can do ourselves.

A CD player or CD transport is a device using nowadays very mature technology specifically designed for HQ audio including the interface(s) to the DAC. It itself contains only parts designed and tailor made for one function, reading the pits of a CD, error correction, conversion to a bitstream for output or conversion to an analog signal which the digital bitstream represented, all in real time. Power supplies inside are tailor made and possibly multiple separate ones and isolated ground planes are used e.g. for the digital and analog sections. Communication between digital parts inside are handled by I2S over short links. In case of a CD player only local clocks are used, clock signals in I2S are separate from the data, transported over short distances only.

Now compare this to a computer for example using USB, horror! I don't think I'd need to explain the differences. So many has already been written on this subject on the Internet. Again a recent discussion surfaced about the issues of USB. It's here and contains good posts from YashN and a quoted post by John Swenson. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-gen...ion-28500/

The old skool high-end world is clearly trying to catch up (look at a Bryston or PS Audio for example) so things are getting better, but we're/they're not there yet, in general that is. I think pro-audio is and always has been multiple steps ahead. Also it's taking the old skool companies too much time to adapt and keep adapting to the currently high pace so relatively new companies jumped in and fill the hole.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

The Netherlands
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Messages In This Thread
The negative positive - by baconbrain - 02-May-2016, 14:20
RE: The negative positive - by Silvertouran - 02-May-2016, 14:44
RE: The negative positive - by hk6230 - 02-May-2016, 14:52
RE: The negative positive - by Antoine - 02-May-2016, 15:03
RE: The negative positive - by mdconnelly - 02-May-2016, 15:17
RE: The negative positive - by baconbrain - 03-May-2016, 09:44
RE: The negative positive - by Confused - 03-May-2016, 12:46
RE: The negative positive - by Pim - 06-May-2016, 09:18
RE: The negative positive - by Hifi_swlon - 06-May-2016, 10:59
RE: The negative positive - by deviousalet - 03-May-2016, 13:29
RE: The negative positive - by hk6230 - 06-May-2016, 03:26
RE: The negative positive - by Confused - 06-May-2016, 11:36
RE: The negative positive - by Antoine - 06-May-2016, 12:58

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