On 2/10/2013 7:14 PM, Konrad Strauss wrote: > On 2/10/13 1:00 PM, "Gray, Mike" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> bits are not bits - they are data coded by the zero crossing point of the >> ongoing digital wave form, which can be significantly distorted by, among >> other things, timing jitter. > > I'm calling BS on this statement. Bits are bits a word is a > representation of an analog voltage value. If you think analog sounds > better than digital just say it, don't try to dazzle us with gobbledegook. That's not gobbledygook, it's a simplified description of jitter, a known, measurable problem in digital transmission. Proper D/A conversion depends on two things: getting the right bits, and getting them at the right time. If they arrive at the wrong time due to jitter, the reproduced waveform will be inaccurate. (The same constraint applies to A/D conversion: it has to be done accurately -- the right bits -- and it has to be done at the right time -- which comes down to jitter. Early digital systems were prone to jitter, because no one had figured out that it was a problem in audio systems (though data people knew about it). A couple of decades later the situation was much improved; A/D and D/A converters are much better these days, and one reason is that they have a lot less jitter. Peace, Paul