"Why, then would one want to put a reclocker in the chain before a component which does the same function?"
Simple. It does not do a good enough job of jitter reduction. No DAC does. Dont believe all of the marketing hype.
"Have you used the reclocker with 32 bit DACs, and if so what was the outcome?"
I have used low-jitter digital sources with HDMI I2S and S/PDIF into both PWD and W4S DAC2. Big difference. Here is a web feedback from a PWD beta-tester:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1320430393&openflup&74&4#74
"The sound is more dynamic, voices are better delineated, everything is more vibrant. And the bass is better. That's what surprised me most. Bass seems to be tighter, crisper. I also have a bridge and felt that the Off-Ramp 5 via I2S bested the bridge in sheer dynamics and transient attack. With the Off Ramp 5 via I2S and the upgraded PW DAC, this is the best I've ever heard from my system."
Feedback from a W4S beta tester:
"With just the addition of your OffRamp 5 / I2S (even the S/PDIF) was a noticeable improvement to the present W4S system."
Its not just reclockers, any low-jitter digital source will make an obvious improvement IME. I have yet to find a DAC that does not improve with a low jitter source.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Simple. It does not do a good enough job of jitter reduction. No DAC does. Dont believe all of the marketing hype.
"Have you used the reclocker with 32 bit DACs, and if so what was the outcome?"
I have used low-jitter digital sources with HDMI I2S and S/PDIF into both PWD and W4S DAC2. Big difference. Here is a web feedback from a PWD beta-tester:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1320430393&openflup&74&4#74
"The sound is more dynamic, voices are better delineated, everything is more vibrant. And the bass is better. That's what surprised me most. Bass seems to be tighter, crisper. I also have a bridge and felt that the Off-Ramp 5 via I2S bested the bridge in sheer dynamics and transient attack. With the Off Ramp 5 via I2S and the upgraded PW DAC, this is the best I've ever heard from my system."
Feedback from a W4S beta tester:
"With just the addition of your OffRamp 5 / I2S (even the S/PDIF) was a noticeable improvement to the present W4S system."
Its not just reclockers, any low-jitter digital source will make an obvious improvement IME. I have yet to find a DAC that does not improve with a low jitter source.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio