I've read on this site a few times that the S/PDIF connection delivers a more "pristine" signal to the audio interface. My question is has anyone tried both and could you hear a NOTICEABLE difference? Or, is the difference only on paper?
S/PDIF vs. Main Out?
- amiller
- Closed
- Thread is marked as Resolved.
-
I have tried both on many occasions...
There's no difference audible... (although, I bet Eric Johnson would probably have a different opinion)
-
I have tried both on many occasions...
There's no difference audible... (although, I bet Eric Johnson would probably have a different opinion)
-
I don't think there's much of an audible difference. I would say the SPDIF sounds slightly more present with more defined high-end in my setup, but I could be making that up.
Using SPDIF will reduce your latency slightly because you don't have to go through a D/A and an A/D again. I haven't measured the latency but articles seem to say its around 1ms for two conversions, or roughly the equivalent of moving your speaker 1 foot further away.
For me, the downside of SPDIF is that I have to slave the interface to the Kemper's clock, which just leaves only one sample rate option. And with some audio interfaces it can be kind of annoying to have to switch those settings around every time you want to use the KPA.
-
I don't think there's much of an audible difference. I would say the SPDIF sounds slightly more present with more defined high-end in my setup, but I could be making that up.
Using SPDIF will reduce your latency slightly because you don't have to go through a D/A and an A/D again. I haven't measured the latency but articles seem to say its around 1ms for two conversions, or roughly the equivalent of moving your speaker 1 foot further away.
For me, the downside of SPDIF is that I have to slave the interface to the Kemper's clock, which just leaves only one sample rate option. And with some audio interfaces it can be kind of annoying to have to switch those settings around every time you want to use the KPA.
+1
-
For me, the downside of SPDIF is that I have to slave the interface to the Kemper's clock, which just leaves only one sample rate option. And with some audio interfaces it can be kind of annoying to have to switch those settings around every time you want to use the KPA.
+1
