Can Digital beat our Analog installations?

Jfrech,
clocking cables are running from the clock to transport, dac and upsampler. from the external extension of the clock the bnc cable runs to the rubidium clock (perfection10). In this way the dCS clock is the master but getting more precision by the atomic power :-).

on wordclock cables i refer to the rules:

1. Use good quality 75ohm impedence cable.

2. All cables should be of equal length.

3. All cables should be a short as possible.

which cables are you using on the AES 2 connection using the Vivaldi mode and which Firewire cables do you prefer?

Thanks Lewm. I have submitted the congrats to my purchasement department. btw. they are also contracted on selling some of my units in the next time on Audiogon.
When the last of the four boxes of the Scarlatti system has arrived at me - the Scarlatti Upsampler then exchanges the Purcell - I will answer your question comparing the full system to the R 80.

Jfrech,
I am in the process of rebuilding my dCS system to the same configuration you already have. I will also test the AES 2 connection between STT and SDAC and SUP, I may need two more weeks, also with my different cables I am testing. A friend of mine is absolutely excited about running DSD via this connection to the SUP. You should get the dCS update 1.33 for the STT so enabling the Vivaldi mode.

I have tested dCS Firewire, Oyade and Audioquest Diamond (with long endings). The Audioquest is really superior but the Oyade is for the price given not bad too.

Purist Proteus Provectus Praesto bnc to bnc I have not heard. Thanks for the hint.
The SSR Perfection10 Rubidium clock from California is one of possible add ons to your system.
It is an amazing experience in combination with the dCS clock, gives more accuracy on top of the stability you already have with your SCLOCK.

Are you using the SUP (Scarlatti Upsampler)? I was always excited about my upsampling adventures I reached by my Purcell. I would never use a dCS system without upsampler and unpatiently I am awaiting the arrival of the SUP.

Jfrech,
I regard it as an enourmous improvement going via Dual AES. curently in my small solution (SUP and SCL will arrive maybe in a week about) I am able to enjoy DSD and upsampled DSD from the STT (Scarlatti Transport) This is much better than by the Firewire connections. Wordclocking is going Perf10 => Verona => everywhere. What is your experience?

Atmasphere,
you are favouring the Stahltek vs. dCS. May I ask you with which dCS stack did you compare? Did you listen to both systems in one chain or in different fair rooms?
What do you like most of the Stahltek?

Thanks for your input Atmasphere. I don't know the Stahltek. Is it possible to transfer a DSD signal via a similar encrypted high quality connection like the Dual AES DSD feature of dCS does it. Or do have to go via Firewire connection?

Lewm,
having built up the whole Scarlatti stack and having tested the dCS system intensively I am now able to comment on your question. As you know I should be able drawing conclusions from my analogue setups (EMT R 80, Micro Seiki SX 8000 II, Continuum Criterion with Cobra arm) comparing the sound to my full Scarlatti Digital system.

You know that I am basically an analogue driven guy, also having established a line of my two R2R machines (Studer A820, Studer C37).

First of all you cannot beat 1st copies of master tapes like Miles Davis -Kind of Blue. The sound coming from the masters is such "quiet", unjittery and overwhelming that it keeps the most desirable source playing in my room. But the question was a different one.

I compared many CDs and SACDs to vinyl records. I did not come to the result that vinyl is outmatching digital formats in any case. It really depends on the recording meticolousness and the production quality of the software. For example Pink Floyd the wall SHM CD and the MFSL CD will never reach the power and musicality of my EMI UK pressing of 1979 but when listening to the Kei Akagi Trio - Palette SACD i am listening to a warm, driving and powerful high resolution sound which is amazing. Also some modern Jazz CDs like the ones from ECM or ACT do sound in an upsampled version to DSD or 176,4 KHz really stunning.
you may listening to these digital formats hours and hours...

On the other hand when I am comparing some of my old Rock music CDs to the old vinyl pressings it is no question that you better go to the shredder machine with these CDs.

Anyway I made the expierence that a digital reproduction chain is not at all inferior to a good analogue chain. With the Dual AES digital connection (rather than Firewire) and excellent wordclocking cables (which have an impact as all digital cables as well!) using (a) master clocks you can produce a sound in your home system which is nearly unrivaled, a least to from modern recordings not issued on vinyl.

Czarivey,
I am using Oyade DB-510, all 1 m.

Czarivey,

To lock the DAC to a word clock signal, it is necessary to synchronise the DAC's internal clock with a Phase-Locked Loop. You cannot do that directly from (for example) an SPDIF cable carrying digital audio. Therefore you are using separate wordclocking cables going from the sources (CD, DAT, Upsampler, Laptop etc.) to the Dac or to a Master Clock (here including the Dac as source - in slaving mode).

Wordclock is "something digital" -SPDIF see under Wikipedia

Czarivey,

maybe this is also helpful:

Word clock is used inside electronic equipment as part of an I2S interface, which conveys PCM digital data in serial format between chips (e.g. FPGA chip to DSP chip). I2S consists of 3 connections:
- serial data (both channels multiplexed together)
- bit clock (used to clock each bit into the receiver)
- word clock

A word clock signal is a square wave with very fast edges and the same frequency as the (PCM) sample rate. Word clock carries no digital data, it used to set the timing of the digital words and select L/R channels.

Word clock has also been used for decades to synchronise different pieces of electronic equipment (e.g. a digital multi-track recording system). The source data MUST be locked to the master clock generating the word clock data. You can use any good-quality 75 ohm BNC coax SPDIF cable for word clock, provided it is DC coupled. Some SPDIF cables have a coupling capacitor in series with the signal wire - these cannot be used for word clock as the capacitor blocks the DC offset.

Jfrech,
I am pretty sure using a Vivaldi Dac in your chain is an improvement. maybe this will be my next step too. You then have two Dual AES inputs - this is absolutely perfect!