wordclock sample rates and overall quality

I own a 4000 I sometimes use it at 24/96 my interface is also set to this sample rate as well as my daw cubase in this instance. Now my question is Do I need the wordclock smpte outs for the mpc ? Im recording at the same sample rate I made the track at but I guess what I am asking is do my sample rates need to be synced via smpte? I know this affects the qualit or does it in my case?, anybody got some tips?

Humbboy wrote:I own a 4000 I sometimes use it at 24/96 my interface is also set to this sample rate as well as my daw cubase in this instance. Now my question is Do I need the wordclock smpte outs for the mpc ? Im recording at the same sample rate I made the track at but I guess what I am asking is do my sample rates need to be synced via smpte? I know this affects the qualit or does it in my case?, anybody got some tips?

You only need to sync the wordclock/sample rate of two connected devices if they are connected and transferring audio digitally, with an analogue connection you do not have to sync the wordclock/sample rate.

So, if you are recording digitally from the 4000 into your DAW interface, then yes, the wordclock needs to be synced, but if you are recording analogue, then no, the wordclock does not need to be synced.


The wordclock connection is used to synchronise the digital sample rates of different digital audio devices, to make analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters, and interconnected digital equipment, all operate at the same synchronised sample rate, this is not smpte.

The smpte linear timecode connections are used to synchronise the timebase of different sequences/tape machines/etc., to make one sequencer run at the same time as another sequencer, or tape machine, for example.

Wordclock and SMPTE linear timecode are two different things.


Though, it can be useful to sync both the wordclock and timebase of two interconnected devices, even if not transferring audio between them over a digital connection, so that they are both playing back at exactly the same speed, and so that samples are triggered, and audio played back, exactly where they are supposed to be on both/all synced devices.

So if I am going.digital out to digital in on my interface and both are set to 24/96 is that good enough for transfering or will I hear a difference if I sync the wordclock with my daw as well because my mpc has the wordclock output right next to digital output but my interfacce only has digital in and out no wordclock one.

If you are connecting digital out on the MPC to digital in on the computer interface, then you do not necessarily have to use the wordclock connection.

As long as the computer software is set to sync it's sample rate to the incoming digital audio, probably from either the ADAT or SPDIF connection in this case, then it should be fine.

It will only really help if you are having problems with your digital audio connections that are causing sync problems, which is usually audible as clicks and pops in the sound that is being transferred.

It will not really make a sound quality difference otherwise.

And, in your case, since your computer interface does not have a wordclock input, you can't use it anyway.


Sometimes, for example, on longer/bendier ADAT lightpipe cable runs, the digital audio stream can be a little flakey, and the wordclock connection can be more stable, so you might use both connections at once, if you have wordclock out on one device, and wordclock in on the other, to sync the sample rate over the wordclock connection, while still transferring audio through the ADAT connection.

Another example might be a larger setup, with more than two digitally connected devices, you might have wordclock distributed to multiple devices from a single wordclock source, so that everything is operating at the same sample rate, and then digital transfers between the multiple devices will not have sample rate sync issues.

And sometimes, the internal wordclock within a device might have design issues, such as too much jitter or not running exactly at the correct sample rate, and it can improve audio quality to use a higher quality external wordclock, either from a dedicated wordclock generator, or another audio device that has a better wordclock.

Thanks for the reply. You answered my question perfectly.