The AardSync II is supplied as a compact black box measuring 7 by 9 by 11&2; it uses an external 12V power supply. With the rotary switch on the front panel, you can set the sampler rate to just about anything you're likely to come across between 32 and 50kHz, including the pull-up and pull-down frequencies needed for film and video transfer -- and an option is available to provide double these rates if you need to work at the new 88.2 and 96kHz sampling rates. Indicator LEDs are provided to show video input, video frame rates and system lock; there's a front-panel On/Off switch, and an associated LED to show when the power's on.
To achieve the highest sound quality with digital audio, the master clock in your system -- to which all the devices are locked -- should, ideally, have a jitter rating down in the picoseconds range. Most of the equipment you use is unlikely to achieve such low-jitter performance, though: its jitter will normally be measured in nanoseconds or even microseconds. So for rock-solid sync you need to use a high-quality external sync unit such as the AardSync II.
