>Randall Thomas wrote: > >> So, for some time, I have been doing my final mixes to DAT, transferring >> the DAT back to the computer with Wavelab or SoundForge, then burning to >> CD. The result is audibly superior than if I had kept everything in the >> computer. >To which "Markus Kaarlonen" intelligently replied: >I didn't exactly get your point, but anyway to make it clear: Jitter has >_nothing_ to do with audio quality as long as you keep everything in the >digital domain. Theoretically it can affect the sound coming from a >D/A-converter, but the point is it does not change the actual data, the bits >are still the same. So if you mean that the DAT machine somehow magically >fixes your jittered audio and makes it sound better (if I understood you >right?), that isn't so. Jitter exists only in digital realtime transfers and >is corrected as soon as the audio is recorded on digital tape, hard disc, >computer memory etc, where jitter cannot exist. Markus, The engineer side of my brain, (not sure which side that is) totally agrees with you. The musician/producer side of my brain is trying to convince the engineer that there is a difference. Now, I can see where playing back a stereo mix from my DAT would sound different than playing back the mix from hard disk even though I'm using the same D-A converters for monitoring, which BTW are the converters in the DAT; Sony PCM 7010 which is always clocked, as is everything else, from the master clock in my Kurzweil DMTI. Bob Katz' article supports this too. But I can't rationalize why transferring back to the hard drive would have any effect on the outcome of the CD. I proof monitor the CD via the same converters, however since I can't externally clock the CD player, I have to slave the D-As in the DAT to the incoming IEC958 from the CD player. Now I thought this might be the answer, but after blind A-B'ing on other peoples systems, the most common comment I recieve is that the transferred version sounds "tighter". So go figure. In any case, it remains a mystery. Randall