Word Clock Explained

Understand word clock, get it right in your studio, and you’re guaranteed to hear the difference.

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o enable playback of any digital bit stream, a timing reference As you add more digital devices to your studio, you’re also
clock is needed. Thus every digital audio device has within it an adding more digital clocks, which is where most of the problems
internal clock, which is an electronic component made from a begin. You record your audio using one device that’s using its
piece of quartz crystal. (Because it is a stable and accurate frequency crystal as a master clock, and then you try to send that signal
generator, the crystal is used in many electronic devices – such as a into another device that’s using its own crystal as the master. If
wrist watches – to generate a timing reference.) When we connect you’ve ever heard a click or a pop in your audio, this is most
two digital devices together, it gets a little more complicated. All digital likely the culprit. Even if both devices are running 44.1k, you’re
devices need to be referenced to the same clock, otherwise one of still going to get clicks because two crystals, no matter how
two things will happen, depending on the devices in question: accurate, will never be exactly the same. The clicks are audio
1. The receiving device will see incoming audio data, that is not samples being lost or skipped because there are two different
referenced to its own clock cycles, so the data is reflected. Result? clocks in the system. (See Fig. 1)
Audio does not pass. Most professional digital audio devices have a word clock input
2. The receiving device sees incoming audio data and attempts so they can work in sync with other devices in the studio. Some
to pass audio, but due to differing tolerances in DATs and other gear lack work
the clock timing, pops and clicks are heard in clock inputs, though, which makes it
the audio. a whole lot harder to rid your studio
To ensure functionality, every digital audio of clocking problems. For now, let’s
device on the market with a digital input is assume that all of your digital audio
required to have the ability to accept a clock devices that require synchronisation
reference signal. Depending on the digital have word clock inputs.
audio interfaces the device has, it will accept Next, you need to invest in a
an external clock in one of two ways: quality master clock generator to be
1. By using dedicated word clock connec- the master clock for all your digital
tions (Word Clock I/O). Fig. 1 devices. The ideal way to sync a
2. By extracting clock signal from an audio digital studio is with a low jitter
stream (Clock Interleaved with Audio Data). Master Clock Generator master clock generator that
We’ll be mainly concentrating on how to get connects a discrete clock output to
dedicated word clock I/O working in the each digital audio device. This
studio, but have a look at the ‘An Overview’ box helps tremendously in reducing the
for more on interleaved clock. jitter in your studio, as well. If each
device is getting its own clock from
What’s the Word? the same low jitter source, then
The word clock is a square wave signal that is only audio data is being transferred
transmitted via a 75Ω BNC connector. A between the two devices, and
square wave, of course, alternates between Fig. 2 reclocking jitter does not occur.
high and low states, which makes it ideal as a (See Fig. 2) This completely elimi-
timing references. Because many devices can use word clock nates any chance of sync problems and also does away with any
signals as their master timing reference, it has become a standard jitter that might be picked up along the audio cable.
type of digital audio system clock. To set up the sync system, simply connect a separate word clock
output to the word clock input on each of your devices so all
A word to smaller studios devices are referencing the same clock. Make sure to set each
device to slave off of the external word clock – if they’re smart, the
I have seen some small studios that struggle to get away with not having devices will lock to it automatically.
a master word clock. They use a DAT machine or the PC to clock every- Video facilities use a house sync generator that generates video
thing else in a daisy chain. So when they reboot the PC or put a tape in black burst sync signals and connects to every room and every
the DAT, everything else goes into a spasm of reclocking – great splats video device in the facility. If you already have a video house-sync
and noise pulses threaten to tear the speakers apart – which does little
to impress the client. The other issue with daisy chaining, is timecode generator, then you need to get a digital audio master clock
syncing. If the DAT is the clock source but the PC is providing the generator that will reference video black burst. This guarantees that
timecode, you can easily end up with the clock from one machine, all your digital audio and video will be locked to one common clock
chasing the timecode from the other. This either means that the – the most ideal solution.
machines hunt to synchronise or they just suddenly reclock with a big
splat. Michael Gissing. There are a few rules regarding using word clock that most

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engineers do not know. The most important is to watch the cable length of the An Overview
clock signal. The word clock signal was originally designed to be transferred
through a circuit board, not over a long coaxial cable. You shouldn’t have a Word Clock – Word clock is a timing reference that is
problem as long as you keep your word clock cable length under 15 feet, but specified as a 5Vpp square wave signal, with its
anything longer will lead to reflections in the cable, which may cause loss of frequency matching the sampling frequency of the
sync, dropouts, and increased jitter in the digital audio. This jitter can result in device. It typically utilises BNC connectors and 75
coaxial cable. Word clock requires the ‘end of the line’ to
cloudiness, a loss of stereo imaging, and lost detail and clarity in the high audio be terminated using a 75 terminating resistor. The ter-
frequencies. You must also use a good quality, 75Ω coax cable; usually a thick minating resistor ‘soaks up’ the square wave pulses and
video cable works the best. stops them being reflected back up the bus.
Superclock – was introduced by Digidesign and
Spreading the Word designed to be a more accurate version of word clock,
by using a 256x sampling rate resolution. This type of
Another important consideration with word clock is the way it’s distributed around clock is more susceptible to interference (due to its
the studio. It’s not good to daisy chain word clock from one device to the next, higher operating frequency) and therefore Digidesign
because of voltage considerations at the input of the word clock. Each word clock recommends you use cable runs of less than two feet
input contains a 75Ω resistor that is needed to properly terminate the cable from the generator to the digital audio workstation. This
usually mandates that the master clock generator be
impedance. If one word clock source is connected to several inputs, the word clock placed in the same rack as the ProTools I/O boxes.
signal will be loaded down too much and will not have enough juice to go around. Clock Interleaved with Audio Data – Another common
A good word clock distribution amp (DA) solves that problem. But be aware that way of transmitting clock – as used in S/PDIF, AES/EBU
you cannot use a video distribution amp to distribute word clock. Many people and ADAT optical digital audio interfaces. The receiving
think that because the video signal and the word clock signal have the same BNC device splits the incoming data, sending the clock data
to the clocking circuit, while sending the digital audio
connector and cable type, work clock can be distributed by a video distribution data to its destination.
amp – it can’t. Video DAs are made to work with video signal levels, which are
So why not just use it as a way to get clocks around the
typically 1Vpp, whereas a typical word clock signal runs into the 3 – 5Vpp range. studio? The most obvious reason is that many devices
Because of word clock’s higher voltage and current requirements, a video DA do not have more than one AES/EBU input. More
cannot properly distribute word clock. In addition, the DC restoration circuits used importantly, when the clock is carried along with actual
in a video DA can change the word clock polarity from positive to negative. The audio data, the clock is a bit more jittery than when all
the audio bits are 0 (which is called ‘digital silence’ or
word clock input circuits are not designed to work with negative voltage levels, and ‘AES/EBU black’). The one big advantage of AES/EBU
the DC restoration can actually damage your digital audio equipment. digital audio buses is that they’re terminated at both the
transmitting and the receiving end. This double termina-
Bring it Together tion allows the signal to be transmitted over several
hundred feet with minimal jitter problems.
Let’s take a typical setup with ProTools and an 888 I/O, two ADATs with a BRC,
In some broadcast applications, you can see AES-11
Apogee PSX-1000 digital to analogue converters, a Yamaha 02R digital mixer inputs, which are simply AES3 inputs with no audio data
and a unit like Aardvark’s Aardsync II low jitter master clock generator. Connect (just clock data). Further to this, a variant called AES3-
a word clock output from the AardSync to the 02R, another to the Apogee PSX- ID also exists which uses BNC connectors and 75 line
1000, and one to the BRC (which will sync the ADATs). Make sure your cable impedance, and this is commonly used in applications
with existing video cable infrastructure (like broadcast).
lengths are under 15 feet, and set each device to lock to external word clock.
Clock Master – Regardless of which clocking method is
You’ll have to place the master clock generator right next to the 888 because used, one digital audio device in your studio needs to
you can only take the Superclock a few feet [see An Overview box for more on act as the clock master (conductor of the orchestra)
Superclock]. So connect the Superclock out to the Slave In port on the 888 I/O. while the rest slave to the clock signal (the musicians in
Pick a sample rate (commonly 44.1k or 48k) on the master generator, and you the orchestra). Ideally you should have a dedicated
clock master/distribution device which can not only dis-
should be up and running with a very low jitter, problem-free studio. If you need tribute the word clock to all devices, but also resolve
to use SMPTE timecode, just make sure that the SMPTE source is locked either incoming sources such as SMPTE timecode into word
to video or to word clock. If you’re using a MOTU Midi Timepiece, then just clock. This is especially important for audio-follow-video
take the video black out of the AardSync II and connect it to the video in of the applications, where the master timing reference is the
timecode track on the video tape. With this setup, if the
Midi Timepiece. Everything will be in sample-accurate sync. tape slows down, the word clock stream follows,
What if you need to get the same word clock into the next room, where you ensuring audio-video lock. The Aardvark Aardsync II and
have to go further than 15 feet? An AES/EBU signal is an excellent source of clock the MOTU Digital Timepiece are two examples of such
if there’s no audio data in it (‘digital silence’), and it can go several hundred feet. In a device.
fact, the AES-11 standard is just that – transmission of clock data using AES3 I/O No Word Clock I/O or Digital Input? – Some digital audio
devices do not have word clock I/O or a digital input (like
AES/EBU sync (up to 300ft.)
many CD players for example). In this case you will need
Master Sync
AES/EBU
sync
to clock your receiving device to the incoming source
Video
Generator (typically S/PDIF for CD players), making the CD player
house the clock master. (NB: many CD players do not output a
sync clock signal unless a CD is actually playing. In this
situation, another device will need to be nominated as the
Akai S6000 clock master. This is why a lot of people forget about
digitally connecting their CD player into the system –
Apogee PCM90 sometimes the advantages can be overlooked because
PSX1000
of the hassle factor.)

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[see An Overview box for more on interleaved clock and AES-11]. You out. Digital audio can be complicated issue if you don’t know what
can run the AES/EBU signal into the next room and connect it to a to look out for. But once you really understand digital audio and
distribution amplifier which will reference the signal’s clock and then know a few common rules about the different kinds of clocks and
distribute its to word clock/Superclock outputs. their idiosyncrasies, many of the common digital audio problems
There are many other problems with keeping the audio and the are easily avoided. AT
video locked together, but those are usually much easier to figure Thanks to Erik Lovell and Nick Orsatti for bringing this article together.

Word Clock – Michael Gissing provides a post pro perspective

Word Clock! It’s a spectre that strikes fear in properly extends beyond the jitter/quality signal that you use for clocking may also be a
the hearts and minds of the modern digital issue. signal that you wish to monitor. A separate
studio owner. Well, only if you let it. In reality it’s At my facility, Digital City Studios, we have signal (used purely for clocking) on a BNC is an
devilishly simple and yet for some people the three studios and a digital video on-line which advantage. Some purists want to see a
concept of getting word clocking right in their also has a Yamaha digital mixer, plus digital separate word clock connector on all
studio seems daunting. video machines. So by having a master word equipment. The argument for this is that
I first faced the issue back in the early ‘90s. I clock, locked to video, we can safely route driving everything from a low jitter clock gives
was already aware of video syncronising and digital audio from room to room without the greatest signal purity in the digital domain.
timecode. But with the purchase of a digital concerns about getting those horrible clicks From a practical point of view, I would say the
mixing desk, the issue became paramount. when signals are unclocked. At the heart of the need for a separate word clock BNC
Like many, I wondered why I was ending up clocking configuration is the mixing desk. The connector is most important on a digital mixer,
with a terrible daisy chain of clock syncronis- O2Rs are word clocked, as are the CD players, an A/D converter and all digital tape machines.
ing, none of it in sync with the video machines DAT machines and sample rate converters Some A/D converters like the Prism AD02,
that I was controlling. I had a Yamaha DMR-8 (more about these later). The dSP hard disk allow you to reclock a digital signal to a low
digital mixer, with two Yamaha digital eight- recorders take the word clock from the desk jitter master word clock. This can improve
track machines providing 16 tracks. I also had directly down the 25-pin multi cables. So three recorded jitter coming from a DAT tape or poor
a Roland S770 sampler with a digital output studios are timed to the master clock. Because CD-R, for example.
and a Sony PCM 3402 digital two-track master we mostly work at 48kHz, (although some If you have a word clock generator, or are
recorder. I was trying to synchronise them all to signal sources are 44.1kHz, like CD and often curious about jitter specs, then it is handy to
timecode at the same time as wordclocking DAT) these signals are converted to 48kHz by be three doors down from Rick Dowel at
and video syncronising. It just wasn’t real-time sample rate converters. We use Z- Control Devices (as I happen to be!). Rick is
happening, so I went back to basics. Sys converters and can convert eight channels the agent for Prism, which make a wonderful
For starters, everything needs to reference to simultaneously – very handy when dubbing hand held, battery powered digital analyser.
one source. In my case, the base line was from a Tascam DA88. This device is invaluable for tracking down
video sync. Visualeyes Productions, a video One practice that is also made possible by digital problems like jitter. Word clock, like
facility that my studio shares premises with, master clocking is to run two or three studios video sync, is a fairly simple signal to deal
had a sync pulse generator with a nice clean together. A typical example for our studio is with. Voltages and termination are actually
colour video output that was going begging. when we have a stereo mix of a documentary very flexible – most equipment will deal with
Next task was to find someone that made a with narration plus a version for foreign sales these variables. What matters is a clean
word clock generator that could lock to a video with the narration stripped out. Both versions square wave, low jitter, and, if you are syncing
source. Audio & Design had a box, but they need to be restriped onto a Digital Betacam to video, it must be referenced to a video sync
generated video sync from word clock, not the master. So we open the full mix project in generator. Don’t make the mistake of using a
other way around. So I put the hard word on Studio A while the music and effects mix VHS machine or a PC card video black
my father to make a box. The brief was for the (M&E) project is taken care of in Studio B. generator as a reference signal. Remember
box to include video in, phase lock and for it to Both rooms lock to timecode from the Digital that the more the video jitters, the more your
generate a word clock output with eight word Betacam and the digital signals, timed by the master clock will jitter. And video jitter tends to
clock outputs and eight video outputs. The master word clock go straight to the Digital be amplified, unless clever design of phase
multiple outs were simple distribution amps, Betacam machine. Everything is locked, lock loops can minimise this effect.
but the word clocking turned into an interesting video, timecode and word clock, so nothing For the distribution of word clock signals, we
exercise. PAL video is based on 50Hz sync drifts out of sync and no clicks rear their ugly use standard 75 video cable. There is not
pulsing. To strip out the 50Hz and multiply it up heads. much variation in cable lengths between the
to 44,100Hz or 48,000Hz would amplify the Staying in the digital domain at all times is word clock generator and our three studios. Like
jitter inherent in the original video sync. For standard practice at Digital City Studios. video, cable length can affect timing. Our studio
happy digital audio, the aim is to have a low Having to resort to the analogue domain to get hasn’t encountered any problems with the small
jitter figure for a master word clock. Below 10 around a sample rate or word clock problem is variations we have. If you are planning a big
nanoseconds is considered good. not necessary in an environment where word install, try and make sure the word clock
My father decided a phase lock loop with a clocking is properly addressed. The advantage generator is centrally located, to avoid large vari-
slow slew would ‘ignore’ a lot of the jitter, but of this also goes beyond technical considera- ations in cable timing. If you are sending AES
still be able to stay perfectly locked. He multi- tions. Being able to take a Digital Betacam signals from room to room, the buffering in the
plied the 50Hz to 4.41GHz to do the phase tape from a job a year ago, load up the project AES signal will give you timing flexibility. The
lock and then divided back to 44.1kHz for the on the dSP DAW and insert a new line of same applies to TDIF which is of course a
actual clock. This meant the jitter was also narration in a mix is effortless. Levels, sync variation on S/PDIF.
divided and, with some experimenting with timing and identical reproduction means that So word clock need not raise the spectre of
power supply isolation, we arrived at eight the changes are insert edited seamlessly. doom. Just remember to keep the daisy chains
nanoseconds jitter. I was happy and so was all When I purchase equipment, I always check to for daisies, not word clock.
the digital equipment. see if a separate BNC word clock connector is Michael Gissing
The importance of getting a low jitter master on the back. Unless the equipment is designed
clock cannot be overstressed. When digital as an insert device, like a reverb unit or signal
audio is recorded and re-recorded, as is typical processor like CEDAR, I expect a word clock
in a sound post facility, the problem of re- connector. In some circles, AES is used to
recording and adding jitter leads to degrada- word clock. The disadvantage of this is that
tion of the sound. But the joy of word clocking AES has some buffering and also the AES

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