Which term describes the primary timing source in a digital audio system?

• A. Telecine
• B. Wordclock
• C. Main Clock
• D. Tri-Level Sync

Answer: (C)

In a digital audio system, all devices must share a single timing reference so they sample at the same rate and stay synchronized. The primary timing source is the master clock, often called the main clock, which provides the reference sample clock for the entire chain. When devices lock to this clock, you avoid timing mismatches that cause glitches, jitter, or pitch issues. A word clock, by contrast, is the timing signal distributed from the master clock to slave devices; it serves to align them but is not the source of the timing itself. Telecine relates to converting film to video, and Tri-Level Sync is a video synchronization signal, not the audio system’s sampling-rate reference. Therefore, the term describing the primary timing source is the main clock.