Without a master clock, the sprinklers turn in random directions with water splashing everywhere. Imagine each piece of your equipment is a sprinkler on a grassy lawn. When you have separate digital components working together in your set up, a master clock makes every 1 and 0 fire at exactly the same time each different device. If you're using any other equipment in your studio that can sync to an external clock (outboard digital effects, a digital preamp like the Focusrite OctoPre MKII, ADAT expanders like the Behringer ADA8000, etc), you can improve your overall sound by making the SyncGen the master clock of your studio. Say, for example, you're using a Presonus Firebox, a computer audio interface that lacks a dedicated word clock output, but has the ability to sync to an external clock. Like all word clock generators, the SyncGen provides a stable, centralized signal to keep all of your linked devices working together, preventing the odd pops and other anomalies that occur when audio devices are out-of-sync. Its small size makes it ideal for installation in even the smallest studio, while the unassuming interface allows even novice users to operate it with confidence. It's an unassuming and fairly affordable unit.
#BIG BEN WORD CLOCK GENERATOR#
The SyncGen is a compact word clock generator made by ART. Using a dedicated word clock generator ensures a stable, reliable signal relying on the generator that's built into a multipurpose device can sometimes produce less-than-stellar results. In this article, we'll focus on a couple of devices where the sole purpose is clock signal generation. Many modern audio devices, such as analog-to-digital converters, have built-in word clock generators. This allows it to do one job, and do it well. The word clock signal doesn't contain any other data. A word clock isn't necessarily a device, but rather a data stream that is sent between audio devices so that they stay in sync with a constant, precisely-timed bitrate. Many of today's most widely-used digital audio formats, such as S/PDIF, AES/EBU, ADAT, and TDIF use word clock.
A word clock is a nifty bit of technology that has the sole purpose of keeping perfect time and preventing data errors with digital audio. So what can be done in order to keep audio in perfect sync? In a word, a word clock. When your studio hardware isn't synced to a good clock, it creates an odd echoey scenario that can be so subtle you may not realize your overall sound is being degraded. When audio doesn't match up with video, it feels like we're watching a poorly dubbed movie. We've all experienced audio that's out of sync.