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Adventures with Clock Cables

My Aurender N20 has a Word Clock BNC input and my MSB Discrete DAC has a Word Clock BNC output. Vince at MSB recommended that I connect these devices with a 75 ohm clock cable. This allows the MSB Clock to be the master and the Aurender Clock the slave. There is a selection within the Aurender Conductor app that allows you to select this synchrony.

Last year I tried this connection using a $35 75 ohm BNC cable from Blue Jeans and the result was easily heard. Smoother presentation and better soundstage. Two months ago I thought I would see what additional improvements I could get by upgrading the clock cable. I called The Cable Company, where I borrow all my cables, and spoke to Ethan who is quite knowledgeable. I was going to demo the Shunyata Theta cable but it was on loan. Ethen suggested I try the Alpha which was a lot more than the Theta but I figured at least let me see what this does. I was skeptical that any significant improvement would be worth the cost.

A day or two later the cable arrived and after swapping out the Blue Jeans I was shocked to hear a significant improvement specifically in soundstage transparency and overall refinement. Now I was curious at least to see what the Sigma and Omega versions would do.. These were a lot more than I wanted to spend but I decided to try them. After evaluating all three over a week I can say I preferred the Alpha. The Sigma and Omega I felt at least for my system had too much noise reduction that slightly damped the highs. So I ordered the Alpha. Once hearing it I could not go back to the Blue Jeans.

About two weeks later I received the new cable from Shunyata. The cable that I borrowed and still in my system was the previous version before the new X Series was introduced. So the new cable I got was a Alpha-X. To my delight this cable sounded even better than the one I borrowed. All of the characteristics of the original Alpha were subtly but noticeably enhanced. In other words it was even better.

Amazing to me this improved my system to this degree as the clock cable does not transmit any sound or audio information. Just timing. But apparently there is noise that rides along and adds jitter to the clock signal causing artifacts that are audible.

Anyway if you have an external clock call The Cable Company and borrow a few Shunyata clock cables and see for yourself what improvement you can net.

jfrmusic
foggyus91's avatar
foggyus91
306 posts
 

$1800 clock cable better sound better than a $35.00 BJC.

Had the a similar result with the PAD Aqueous Diamond Digital Cable vs the Afte AfterDark PROJECT CLAYX GIESEMANN - Black River Series.

jfrmusic OP
366 posts
 

@audphile1 

 

I just was just very skeptical that the quality of the Clock cable would have such an impact. Others had told me it would have minimal impact. Going in if I knew a very expensive clock cable would make a substantial difference then Shunyata would have been my first choice. 
 

I plan another post about my experiences with Shunyata ground cables

justubes2
208 posts
 

Was it the cables tested the Sigma v1 and Omega v1 as those are discontinued.

I am also looking to upgrade my Sigma v1 clock cable,. I did try the Sigma v2 and did not like it, surely more clarity, definition and tighter bass, but found it more distant and not as full and rich sounding.

 

Was your new Alpha x less resolute but easier and fuller sounding over the Sigma and omega clock cables you tested?

 

I too felt on the Sigma v2 clock cable that the noise reduction filters were too string and was stripping away harmonics in my system. 

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,270 posts
 

I ordered some Mil Spec 75 Ohm and 50 ohm BNC cables from Pasternack.com. 

Not all 75 Ohm cables use 75 Ohm connectors.   Some "75 Ohm" cables are constructed with 50 Ohm connectors and vice versa. 

Their site let's you choose cable type,  and connectors to ensure you are getting the true impedance you are looking for.  

https://www.pasternack.com/cable-assemblies-category.aspx?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Pasternack%20-%20Branded&keyword=pasternak%20cable&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=148564121&gbraid=0AAAAAD9oPYPRx5CUJy23WdyCnvHd6nKbJ&gclid=CjwKCAjwt-_FBhBzEiwA7QEqyOLAk55TAYRtie7TjLeVQ67tYcGFDaSCXH1qL7UqwdJZnr56te7VzRoC8_4QAvD_BwE

052rc
49 posts
 

The reason you hear such a big difference is because digital cables aren't really digital. The signal going through the cable is analog. You can't send a bunch of 1's and 0's through a piece of wire. The signal is actually an analog representation of the digital signal. That means it can be affected by the same things as any analog cable.  

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