Any improvement you make to a Word Clock or Master Clock will pay off big time, like a dedicated LPS or cable upgrades. How can bits be just be bits when you put a $3.5k clock cable on a Master/ Word Clock? It's just crazy amazing!
Clocking: again!
There are all manner of folk claiming that clocking is irrelevant to Ethernet and USB connections. While this is obviously ignorant of the RMI/EMI and ground level effects on DA conversion and the analogue stages of a DAC, the level to which digital clocking matters was again brought into stark relief when I changed the clock cable between the Antelope 10m clock and the Etherregen from the cable supplied by Antelope to a Shunyata Clock75 Sigma cable. Shazam! Everything jumping into focus and significantly more snap and reverb. In our hobby everything matters and we are only at the very beginning of optimizing streaming.
Showing 6 responses by lordmelton
NO NO NO! A 10Mhz Master Clock acts as a metronome to any internal clock wherever it is. It doesn't take over just provides perfect as possible timing to every component that accepts a 10 Mhz 75 or 50 Ohm input. It is the Conductor that provides the timing only. There is no mystery or Voodoo involved it's science. Word Clocks work differently Master Clocks are superior that's why they cost more than Word Clocks. |
@discopants You're only going to get the max effect if you clocked your streamer and the Etherregen simultaneously and your DAC too, if possible. It's probably not the cheapness of your clock it's the crappy switching wall wart PS that came with it. If you can upgrade to a LPS you'll hear a difference. |
There are 3 factors involved here; I. Master Clocks 10 Mhz 75 or 50 Ohm 2.Word Clocks which have to be manually switched to the frequency of the source recording e.g. 44.1, 48, 192 kHz etc. 3.Re-Clockers which reprocess and de-jitter a signal between the source and DAC. A re-clocker usually benefits from a stable signal from a Master Clock. A clock without a linear and preferably regulated DC power supply is like a ship on the high seas, whereas a good power supply brings it onto dry land. Imagine your family all used different clocks no one would get to school/work/whatever on time. All your digital equipment connected to the same Master Clock keeps everything in synch. |
@dougthebiker Hi Doug, This is what the manufacturer says and to be honest clocking the Etherregen alone, I doubt is going to produce such a big change as clocking your streamer and/or DAC together with the Etherregen.
Extreme usage with an External Reference Clock: The Crystek CCHD-575 oscillator used in the EtherREGEN is one of the lowest phase-noise production crystal oscillators (XO) available. [Sorry, but the $50~$100 OCXOs we see tossed into stock switches do not outperform the Crystek at low-offsets where it counts; Manufacturers have to spend $500 and up to obtain OCXO clocks with significantly lower phase-noise than the Crystek we use.] Yet some audiophiles have discovered benefits using expensive ultra-low-jitter/low-phase-noise 10MHz reference clocks with their DACs or USB streamers and conditioners. A clock synthesizer (to generate the various frequencies) is always required for a device to accept an external reference clock. Since we already utilize a very advanced one to produce the 4 clock lines in the EtherREGEN, it was easy for us to include provision for connection of an external 10MHz clock. The BNC jack and termination resistor of the EtherREGEN are for a 75ohm clock line. (We can provide units with 50ohm, but only upon special request.) |