SAM Monitors for Mastering but built in DSP cannot receive ext. Clock Sync
ensoniq, modified 2 Years ago.
Padawan Posts: 47 Join Date: 5/30/15
Recent Posts
I am a happy Genelec customer since years (currently using 8260, 8351, 8331). Therefore I had plans to equip a Mastering room with full range 3ways SAM monitors but a collegue made me wonder if it makes sense to invest in Genelec for the purpose of Mastering as long as the whole range of SAM monitors cannot work in slave mode , receiving and syncronizing (to) an external masterclock. The collegue is saying that both, the analog and the digital input signals of the SAM monitors will be re-clocked and re-converted internally .by the internal DSP of the Gen Monitor. True ?
Doesn't this mean that a high-quality signal from a top converter like the HEDD Quantum cannot be exactly reproduced with the technical principle of SAM monitors ? Maybe I'm making a misconception, so I'd be happy to get a clarification ;-) thanks.
ensoniq, modified 2 Years ago.
Padawan Posts: 47 Join Date: 5/30/15
Recent Posts
It's a shame no one from Genelec has taken the floor. I also interpret that as an answer, that a digital high-quality signal from a top converter like the Crane Song HEDD Quantum cannot be reproduced with the technical principle of SAM monitors .
markus-kahelin, modified 2 Years ago.
Jedi Knight Posts: 109 Join Date: 3/16/10
Recent Posts
Hello!
You have received correct information but some clarification here anyway.
Analog input of the Genelec SAM product is AD converted. We design all our converters in-house to ensure that the signal quality (dynamic range, noise level, linear frequencyband, distrotion levels etc.) are all within or beyond the product acoustic output specification, so that the input signal can be played as it is, with no quality loss. This is always in relation to the speaker model, smaller models have less dynamic range and limited low frequency output as a result of the smaller cabinet size.
All mentioned above applies also for the digital input. AES/EBU input is sample-rate converted for the internal signal processing inside each monitor. Input supports all standard AES/EBU samplerates, up to 192kHz.
Your statement that Genelec SAM monitors could not reproduce a high quality input signal is not 100% valid. The goal of a studio monitor is to do exactly this, convert the input signal to acoustic sound in the room, to the listening position, with best possible accuracy.
For some reason digital signal processing is often seen as a bad thing, where in reality and when designed for the purpose, signal quality is better than in many legacy analog systems. One major benefit of the digital processing is the ability to maintain a controlled input to output delay over a very wide frequency range, in Genelec SAM systems down to 100Hz. This translates to better phase accuracy of the playback.
Best Regards, Markus
Genelec Support
ensoniq, modified 2 Years ago.
Padawan Posts: 47 Join Date: 5/30/15
Recent Posts
Thank you Markus.