Empirical Audio Pace-Car: O Eλβετικός σουγιάς των reclocker.

[Κώστας Φ.]

Empirical Audio Pace-Car ($1100 on up depending on configuration) is a very flexible architecture reclocker that can be used with USB, Wireless audio servers, some PCI cards and even Transports.

Nicknamed the "Swiss Army Knife" of reclockers, the Pace-Car reduces the jitter from various streaming audio devices. The Pace-Car is available in two configurations, called "Types". Type One is for Wireless Music Servers, PCI cards or Transports that can accept a "Master Clock", "Word Clock" or "Bit-Clock" input. Type Two is for two input systems or USB-type systems where the source clock is fixed or based on frequency synthesis or software generation. The current version 2 Pace-Car PC board only interfaces to I2S DACs, including the Benchmark DAC-1 with Empirical I2S interface, Northstar 192, Northstar Extremo, Perpetual Technologies P-3A, Audio Logic. and DEQX with Empirical I2S interface. Version 3 Pace-Car PC board also has S/PDIF or AES output, allowing it to interface to any DAC. The S/PDIF or AES interface will add a small amount of jitter, which may be audible, depending on your components and cables. Sample rates include 16-bit/44.1 kHz, 24-bit/96 kHz, and 24-bit/192 kHz.

The Pace-Car uses a FIFO-memory (First-in, First-out) to temporarily store the audio streaming data. The clock writing the data into the FIFO is independent from the clock reading the data out of the FIFO. The output clock, which is the critical one can be selected from Superclock4 (one or two), low-jitter monolithic oscillator (one or two), Ultraclock, or an external clock of your choice. Connections to the Pace-Car consist of Empirical I2S bus, S/PDIF coax and AES/EBU XLR

enjoythemusic.com

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Empirical Audio's Pace-Car Reclocker ($1100—2300, depending on number of clocks installed) is designed to reduce the jitter of any source to "inaudible levels." Empirical's Steve Nugent said the device is primarily intended for USB, WiFi, and network devices such as the Sonos and Squeezebox. "The pace-Car is inserted between source and DAC, it can either provide a master clock to the source or accept the source's data stream and 'bracket' the rate of the stream. No modifications to the source are required."

The Pace-Car uses a FIFO-buffer to store the streaming data. The clock that reads into the buffer is completely independent of the clock that reads the the data out of the buffer. The data is not modified in any way (as is common in reclockers). The Pace-Car's output can be driven by a low-jitter monolithic clock, an Audiocom Superclock4, or an Audiocom Ultraclock.

The Pace-Car is modular, so it can have inputs for S/PDIF coax, AES/EBU, Toslink, or Empirical I2S. Outputs can be S/PDIF, AES/EBU, or I2S. I2S has the lowest jitter because it has separate clock and data streams.

We noticed that the Pace Car only listed 44.1kHz, 96kHz, and 192kHz. No 88.2kHz? Nugent said, "Who even uses that?"

"Now that you can download 24-bit 88,2kHz files from Linn and a few other online sources, maybe a lot of people," we said.

"It's modular. I can add 88.2kHz and silkscreen anew faceplate. That's the beauty of bespoke audio."

blog.stereophile.com



Aυτός ο κερατάς ο Steve είναι πολύ καλός σε αυτό που κάνει αλλά την τεχνογνωσία του τη χρεώνει χρυσάφι! :smoking:

 

[costas EAR]

Καλά κάνει! Τουλάχιστον αυτός κάτι πουλάει, άλλοι πουλάνε φύκια!

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Καλά, ναι.
Προσφέρει και αρκετά στο community.
Συμμετέχει σε 2-3 forums και πάντα δίνει χρήσιμες πληροφορίες στο θέμα του computer audio (και στα ψηφιακά γενικότερα).