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Does slaving a DAC unit to an Audio Interface make the quality worse?

knkkskknk

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I read one person somewhere that said, slaving their RME ADI-2 PRO FS to their Audio Interface made it sound worse. I can only assume if it does indeed sound worse, that the RME's FS Steady Clock does not get slaved along with the DA converter? He said he preferred using it straight with USB instead.


Anybody tried this with their ADC's before? or with RME ADI-2 PRO FS specifically?

I was thinking of getting an audio interface with optical input so I can have an easy setup of *great converters and an interface to record microphones/guitars easily...
 

Blumlein 88

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If you feed the Rme to the interface then the Rme is the master clock. If you feed the interface to the Rme then the interface is the master clock. While the interface likely has a lesser clock it probably isn't audible.

Of course Steady clock FS is made to greatly clean up jitter from external sources. Which should prevent any problems.

 
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knkkskknk

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If you feed the Rme to the interface then the Rme is the master clock. If you feed the interface to the Rme then the interface is the master clock. While the interface likely has a lesser clock it probably isn't audible.

Of course Steady clock FS is made to greatly clean up jitter from external sources. Which should prevent any problems.

What would the benefit of feeding it into an interface be? I never thought of this option or how it would work.

Thanks for the page, had no idea it was designed to clean up external sources. I'm going to buy an interface with optical out to feed into it (A used babyface or Audient ID22) But I heard RME's drivers are so good so I my as well go babyface. Wish lower end interfaces had optical out, alot of the newer lower interface have better DI inputs and preamps like Audient Sono / IK Multimedia AXE / UA Volt...

I assume the guy I read before was either having a placebo effect, or it may have been a none FS version of the RME.
 

Blumlein 88

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What would the benefit of feeding it into an interface be? I never thought of this option or how it would work.

Thanks for the page, had no idea it was designed to clean up external sources. I'm going to buy an interface with optical out to feed into it (A used babyface or Audient ID22) But I heard RME's drivers are so good so I my as well go babyface. Wish lower end interfaces had optical out, alot of the newer lower interface have better DI inputs and preamps like Audient Sono / IK Multimedia AXE / UA Volt...

I assume the guy I read before was either having a placebo effect, or it may have been a none FS version of the RME.
It is a matter of what you need more so than benefits. Suppose I have an interface with 4 microphone inputs and I need a couple more. I could use the Babyface and feed the extra microphones to the interface via ADAT optical. Or the positions could be reversed.

So how many inputs and what kinds do you need? The Babyface has a DI input, so if you are only using that and a microphone you have what you need without anything else. Basically what uses do you have for these units will answer what gear you need to accomplish your goals.
 
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