Why is Word Clock Termination Important?
Word Clock is used to determine the timing of when an audio sample is taken. On a standard CD, there are
44,100 audio samples in each second so it’s vital that each sample be taken at the appropriate time or the audio
will become warped and inaccurate resulting in poor audio clarity.
When the Word Clock signal travels over a BNC coaxial cable and arrives at the receiving device, the signal
reacts in certain ways:
If the receiving device is not terminated, the Word Clock signal reacts like a wave of
water hitting a hard wall. The signal bounces off the wall and creates a “backwash” or
“reflection” that perturbs the incoming signal with extra peaks and troughs and can
result in increased jitter and other clock errors.
When proper termination is attained, instead of hitting a hard wall, it’s like the Word
Clock signal hits a pliable gate that absorbs some of the signal and prevents any
“backwash” or “reflection” from happening, keeping things clean and accurate.
For more in-depth information on this topic, see the “Big Ben Termination: How and
Why” pdf document located on the Apogee website at http://www.apogeedigital.com/pdf/
bigben_termination.pdf
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