Datastream over Network (TCP)

[Ermos (Erno)]

No, a Master Clock would have the same impact on USB and Ethernet, according to this background information:

dCS Ring DAC - A Technical Explanation

Part 5 – Asynchronous Sources – USB & Network Audio Audio sent over an asynchronous format (such as streaming to a smartphone via Spotify, playing content from a NAS via Roon, or playing music from a computer via USB) is, to an extent, the exception to the rules stated in the previous posts, in so much as jitter is not a factor for the audio data, at least until it reaches the endpoint and is converted back to the relevant format (such as PCM or DSD). With network audio, the interface which is…

dCS Ring DAC - A Technical Explanation

In this case, as Anup has explained below, there is no timing link between the source material and the DAC. The DAC does not have any other clock domains to worry about here, so it simply converts the audio samples from it’s buffer at it’s own rate. If there is a Master Clock in the system, this means that the DAC then has a cleaner external reference clock signal to lock to, ensuring the timing of when these samples are converted is good and reliable. Using a Master Clock in this case does no…