sebackman

Hi, Thank you for quick reply’s. I thought that all DAC's operate on one basic clock rate in the actual DACchips which means that there will have to be SRC somewhere if the nativesample rate deviates from the actual DAC chip clock. -And it inevitable will atsome time as some native material is 44,1 some 48 and some 96kHz. Just did some quickreading on HQPlayer and that sounds promising. -Especially the fact that thereis a way to play Tidal through it. It seems to have its own algorithms forfiltering and SRC where most other SW players seem to rely on the SW incorporatedin Windows. As from what I have read that also seems much better than a fewyears ago. From your postabove I get the impression that SW SRC today is "close enough" or mayeven be better than stand-alone HW like par example MC-6? -So with adecent computer the sheer CPU power and a good SW out weights purpose build HWwith far less “fire power”? How is this done in a studio environment? If the SRC inthe computer is acceptable, then the MC-3+USB would be the only “box” neededand I can set the needed sample rate (for me 24/96kHz) in HQPlayer Or other)and be done? I would needword clock to have the USB interface run in pace with my DSP but MC-3+ alreadyhas that. Is that howmost people go about it? Except for theword clock and USB, what is the difference between MC-1.2 and MC-3+USB? Kind regards //RoB

Hi again, Thank you for the reply’s a few posts above. Ok, so MC-3+ gets me “half the way”. Many seem to post good feedback on the MC-3+ USB alone, but I’m a bit lost here again. Is not the major contributor to digital artifacts the sample rate conversion “SRC” from 44,1kHz to whatever multiple of 8 that is desired? Most music is 44,1kHz (Tidal, CD, Spotify and so on) and most DAC gear seems to run “computer style clock rates” internally, ie 48, 96, 192kHz (or higher), so SRC is inevitable at some instance in the chain. It seems that most people use a MC-3+ USB direct from the computer to feed a DAC and set the computer to output a sample rate higher than 44,1kHz. As far as I understand that means that the OS in the computer does the resampling which from what I can understand is a far more critical process than pure up-sampling/re-clocking. No doubt having a word clock out from the MC-3+ helps a subsequent DAC if connected but the “damage” is already done in the computer? Or is the SW sample rate converters in Windows >8 and/or Mac iOS so good that this has limited impact on the SQ? Would not an external dedicated HW SRC do a better job? If so is not the SRC (44,1 to 48 or multiples thereof) more critical than the asynchronous USB to SPDIF/AES/i2S conversion? All input much appreciated. Kind regards //RoB

Hi Julian, Thank you for the quick reply. I'm a bit confused here. When reading the MC-3 manual I get the impression the MC-3 allows different clock rates in and out. Would that not in general be regarded as a SRC? -Or is the limitation that it can only output multiples of the incoming pulse rates. I can't seem to find in the manual that outgoing clock necessarily have to be a multiple of incoming clock if using the internal clock for output and asynchronous USB for input (ie MC-3 steers the tempo of the pulse train from the computer)? Or is this a USB only limitation? I thought that the MC-3 could receive virtually any sample rate and re-clock and send out virtually any clock rate? Or is the fact that 44,1 and “computer based” clock rates are not pure multipliers and I can go from 48Khz to 96Khz (or any other multiple of 48) out, but not from 44,1kHz (Reb Book) to 48/96Khz (computer based clock rate)? What happens if I feed MC-3 24bit/44,1Hz in and set it to “internal clock“ and a rate of 96Khz for output. Or is that not possible? If possible, what will then be sent out over the AES and word clock connectors? Or a 44,1kHz fed in via BNC/RCA from a CD player for that matter. If I do set the computer to feed 24/96Khz via USB to MC-3 and accept SRC in the computer, then MC-3 can output 24/96Khz. Right? MC-3 would then re-clock (strip original clock and provide new low jitter clock) to the signal and also provide 96Khz word clock out. If such SRC (native 44,1 to 96kHz) is done in Windows10, would that be very noticeable sonic inferior to an external SRC, MC-6 for instance? The reason for asking is that I run a DSP/DAC that can run only 48/96Khz internal clock (any bit rate). It can take any other sample rate also but then an internal SRC in the DSP will re-sample/re-clock to either of the above. I would like to have my DSP/DAC and “USB sound card” run on the same clock and turn off the SRC in either unit to reduce digital artifacts/jitter. The DSP/DAC is pro grade equipment and can receive both AES and SPDIF and can both receive and provide word clock (48 or 96kHz). Kind regards and thank you //RoB

Hi all, Is it possible to use the MC3+ USB with adaptable input and fixed output settings? I would like to feed source native sample rate from a computer (24bit) via USB, ie 44,1, 48 or 96Khz as it comes from the original file to keep "bit perfect" when possible. Output must to be 24bit and 96kHz always with word clock to switch off sample rate converters downstream. Is that possible without changing setting on the Mutec everytime the input sample rate changes. Kind regards //RoB