Digital cables need to be identical


I just had a little digital epiphany: I had set up my system by having the clock fed to the Etherregen by a Shunyata clock Sigma cable (on the assumption that the best cable should go upstream) and clocking the dac via a Sommercable BNC cable. Sommer doesn’t sell to the audiophile market but much rather caters for studios and live music. When I swapped the Shunyata cable out for a second, same length Sommer BNC the sound improvement was staggering: tighter bass, much deeper soundstage, stronger and more punchy bass and incredible clarity in cymbals. Lesson learned: no use of different digital cables in the same system.

antigrunge2

@antigrunge2 Great Result!

As more and more people are now using clocks we are discovering how very sensitive they are.

I've found keeping the clock cable at 1m or less is best, unlike other digital cables which I've found 1.5m to be the sweet spot.

Interested in hearing other opinions.

I think you may be jumping to an unfounded conclusion just because that is what you found in a single case.

No doubt some peoples mind’s will rest easier if they don’t have to fret about things like which wire sounds best where. Reducing stress can work wonders.

I don't think this is necessarily the case it could be that the Sommer cable is simply better or just a better match to your system. Also if the Shunyata cable was RCA and not BNC the superior connection could be the source of improvement.