1. Digital signals are physically analogue processes

Even bits and bytes do not exist in reality as abstract states, but as voltage or current levels that are carried through traces and cables.

Every 1 and 0 is therefore a transition – a steep, highfrequency voltage change (e.g. at 100 MHz up into the GHz range). These transitions are sensitive to line impedance, crosstalk, reflections, noise and timing jitter effects.

2. Micro-microphony and metallurgical stability

The same material principles apply in conductors as in analogue signal paths:

• Mechanical vibrations and microscopic lattice stresses change electrical resistance (ΔR), inductance (ΔL) and capacitance (ΔC) slightly over time.
• These changes lead to timing errors in the transition behaviour of the signal edges – in other words, to jitter that directly affects the precision of the digital clock.
• Highpurity alloys with a stable microstructure (such as Angelique Copper or silver/gold) reduce these microscopic fluctuations and thus the noise in the timing behaviour of the signal.

3. Electrical parameters at high frequencies

Digital signals follow the same laws as highfrequency (RF) signals:

• Characteristic impedance: Every discontinuity (e.g. connector, trace transition) creates reflections.
• Attenuation (skin and proximity effects): As frequency rises, current flows increasingly at the conductor surface; material purity and surface smoothness determine signal loss.
• Dielectric properties of the insulation: They influence signal velocity and phase (propagationtime differences).
• Micro-microphony in the dielectric: Pressure and temperature changes modulate polarizability – small C(t) fluctuations generate timing noise.

4. More processing effort = more unrest

The higher the error rate or jitter, the more the receiver (DAC, interface, processor) has to correct.

• This corrective processing load generates more internal current spikes, RF noise and stray electrical fields, which in turn feed back into the analogue output stages.
• In this way, a feedback loop arises between digital error correction and analogue playback quality – technically measurable as higher noise or poorer channel separation, subjectively audible as a flatter, more “strained” sound image.

5. Mundorf focus: calm through material quality

The highpurity alloys and mechanically stable geometries of Mundorf conductors (e.g. Angelique Copper, silver/gold alloys) are effective in both domains:

• Lower Micro-microphony = more stable time base.
• Uniform impedance = clean signal edges.
• Mechanical calm = fewer reflections and less crosstalk.

The result: fewer digital artefacts, less correction effort, more stable conversion – and thus a more “analogue” sense of calm, depth and dynamics.

In short:

Digital signals are also oscillations – they breathe, reflect, interfere.

The quiter the materials, the more precise the time structure, the lower the computational stress – and the more natural the sound.

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