Why does this DAC have 2 crystals?

wwenze · 17th April 2010, 12:47 AM

This has been bugging me for a while now...

What is the mysterious chip beside the two crystals and how does it make use of both crystals?

amc184 · 17th April 2010, 02:50 AM

If I were to guess, I would say it is for clock recovery. One crystal oscillator is probably a multiple of 44.1 kHz, for CD sample rates, and the other is probably a multiple of 48 kHz, for PC sample rates.

I could make a more educated guess if you could state the name of the chip and the frequency of the crystal oscillators.

This looks like an interesting DAC, do you own one or are you thinking about buying one?

wwenze · 17th April 2010, 12:20 PM

I do own it. The manufacturor had sanded the square chips to conceal their identities.

I was wondering how the two clocks are used; how does the system auto-detect and switch between them.

Then today, out of pure coincidence, I stumbled across AK4115 which is a SPDIF receiver with support for two crystals as well as both asynchronous and synchronous modes.

amc184 · 17th April 2010, 08:35 PM

Quote:

AK4115 which is a SPDIF receiver with support for two crystals as well as both asynchronous and synchronous modes

I agree, the surrounding components, the package, they all match. Looks like you've got your answer.

17th April 2010, 12:47 AM	#1
wwenze diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008	Why does this DAC have 2 crystals? This has been bugging me for a while now... What is the mysterious chip beside the two crystals and how does it make use of both crystals?

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17th April 2010, 02:50 AM	#2
amc184 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Christchurch	If I were to guess, I would say it is for clock recovery. One crystal oscillator is probably a multiple of 44.1 kHz, for CD sample rates, and the other is probably a multiple of 48 kHz, for PC sample rates. I could make a more educated guess if you could state the name of the chip and the frequency of the crystal oscillators. This looks like an interesting DAC, do you own one or are you thinking about buying one?

17th April 2010, 12:20 PM	#3
wwenze diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008	I do own it. The manufacturor had sanded the square chips to conceal their identities. I was wondering how the two clocks are used; how does the system auto-detect and switch between them. Then today, out of pure coincidence, I stumbled across AK4115 which is a SPDIF receiver with support for two crystals as well as both asynchronous and synchronous modes.

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