SyncGen - Time Code Generator

The ART SyncGen is a simple to use and inexpensive way to improve the sound of your digital recording gear and eliminate seemingly random pops and clicks resulting from synchronization timing errors between different pieces of equipment.

Using a word-clock generator will centralize all of the timing, reducing accumulated timing errors between the individual units that make up a digital recording chain.

You can drive either BNC word-clock inputs or coaxial S/PDIF inputs. This allows the SyncGen to work together with a wide variety of digital audio equipment.

The ART SyncGen can also double as a system tester by telling you about the status of your BNC word-clock cables and terminations. You can see which pieces of gear are internally terminated, and if a cable is connected properly. A green indicator shows correct 75 Ohm termination. Red indicates an output that is shorted or over-terminated (too low of an impedance). When a termination LED is not illuminated at all, the output is either unconnected or not terminated properly, (open circuit or too high of an impedance).

What Is Jitter?
Jitter is the variation in the timing of the sample rate. Imagine calling out each second as it ticks off using the second hand of a watch. Now imagine that the watch is shaking so much that you can hardly see the precise position of the second hand. This inability to correctly read the second hand is a source of signal error.

Digital systems need to do this millions of times a second since audio samples are broken up into 64 (bit) intervals per sample (44,100 samples/sec. x 64 = 2.822 million bits/sec.) Both recording and playback jitter will create audible errors, however jitter in the recording process is a permanent part of the recording and cannot easily be corrected with standard playback gear. Therefore the Sync Gen should become an indispensable part of the recording and archiving process when professional results are required.


Digital systems need to do this millions of times a second since audio samples are broken up into 64 (bit) intervals per sample (44,100 samples/sec. x 64 = 2.822 million bits/sec.) Both recording and playback jitter will create audible errors, however jitter in the recording process is a permanent part of the recording and cannot easily be corrected with standard playback gear. Therefore the Sync Gen should become an indispensable part of the recording and archiving process when professional results are required.

Digital recording relies on very accurate clocks to make sure samples are recorded at the proper
time and rate. When multiple digital units (DAW's, converters, processors) are used, all those
clocks must be locked/synced together. If things aren't synced correctly then there will be a rise in
the noise floor, stereo imaging will be off and strange noise modulation effects will occur. To
prevent this it is best to use a "Master" clock - such as the new SyncGen! - to make sure all of the "slave" units stay in sync!

44.1 – 192KHz Sample Rates
o Four High-Current 5 Volt BNC Wordclock Outputs
o Two “Zero Bit Digital Black” S/PDIF Outputs on Coaxial RCA connectors
o LED Indicators Monitor Termination and Operating Status of BNC Connectors
o Large, Easy to Read Digital Sample Rate Readout
o Easy Sample Rate Selection With Memory Recall After Power Down-Cycle
o Set of 75Ohm BNC Terminators and BNC “T” Adaptors Included