Rubidium Clock


Can anyone advise whether an Esoteric Rubidium clock would improve the sound on my Esoteric X-01/D2 player? I have been told "not much since it is a one box." But the reviews have seemed to indicate that the upgrade in sound quality is quite apparent. I am aware that some upgrades are very small in their ability to be heard, others are like a whole new piece of gear.
Any advice is appreciated.
huntermusic
Fascinating find. I may have to consider this to work with Mutec 3+usb converter.  Can you please let me know the part # of what you purchased? 
Good Day tboooe!!! Great to hear from you,...hope all is well!

The model number is RBOCXO-01,...send me an in-mail with your current email address and I'll be happy to share the calibration data and manual from the specific unit I now have.
Thank you zephyr!  Things are good thank you!  I hope all is well with you too!  I am really happy to have found this thread as I have been thinking about adding a clock to my system.  Actually I was thinking about this waaay back when I still had my Esoteric P3-D5 combo.

I am a little embarrassed to ask this question but what is the difference between the 10M clock like this one from Cybershaft and a work clock like the Esoteric G-01?  Also, the Cybershaft websites states that it is ok to plug their 50ohm output into a 75ohm input of the downstream device.  Is this correct?  

Again thank you zephyr!
Zephyr,

The newer X version over the non-X or your D-02 uses the same clock input connecting, however, it is menu selectable to accept 10M input as well as a masterclock input of 22M (the new D-02x has this function.

The Rakon OCXO used in the cybershaft has impressive specs (possibly delivering better short term phase noise) as opposed to any Rubidium module. Not sure if sonics, beats say the G-01.

Maybe Hasegawa-san has tested or compared.

The benefit is the capability of running the master 22M from the G-01 directly to the newer Esoteric players/Dacs. Essentially bypassing all clock circuits of the player/Dac.

I believe that a separate clock, whether a 10M or G-01 unit has over the internal clock of the Esoterics is much more attention and contribution is made by the beefier power supply lacking in the players/dac.


tboooe: Thanks for dropping me an in-mail,...hope you've had a chance to review the Rb and OCXO calibration/test and Allan Deviation plots for the Cybershaft clock; let me know if you have any questions.  I'm very happy to find a 10Mhz master clock that doesn't break the bank and yet delivers superior quality.  It's not the G-01 in cost or in its ability to send other 44.1 frequency multiple clock frequencies, or 22.xx or 24.xx "direct master clock" frequencies but what it does do very well is a rock solid 10Mhz high-precision pulse output to help up the performance of my D-02 clocking itself and the P-02 together.  I've just crossed 310 hours or so and things have matured nicely so I am very happy with this path I've chosen.  

Insofar as the 50-ohm versus 75-ohm cable question is concerned, the Esoteric P-02 and D-02 manuals are explicit in that both terminal types are available and should be used with the matching cable depending upon configuration desired.   I've done a good amount of research and in threads here, links referenced externally by posts here and on other sites, I've read that it does introduce errors and anomalies if you try to utilize a 75-ohm cable where a 50-ohm connection is specified. It's true that you 'can' do it, and a small number of people report that they do hook-up this way (mostly because none of the high-end cable firms seems to make a high-quality 50-ohm cable) but from all I've read, it can/does have some negative affect on the overall sound of the configuration.  Therefore, I'm running 75-ohm cabling where it belongs and did procure a good quality 50-ohm cable from Cybershaft to hook up the master clock to my D-02.  Joe Kubala is building a proper 50-ohm version of his "Emotion" digital cable for me and I should have that in about 2 weeks; I'm looking forward to matching the quality of my existing 75-ohm clock cable!

justubes2: Apologies for the delay in replying and thank you for all the useful info on the D-02X (and together with the P-02X) as well as your observations!  I had not read up on the X versions of the P-02 and D-02; they look impressive to say the least; they've added ESLink4 and many more capabilities and internal build from the P1 and D1 generation. The upgrade would be major based upon what I read though I need to stick with my current units for 'a while'.  

If you send me an in-mail and let me know your external email address, I'd glad share the detailed calibration test results for my units dual clock modules and the separate Allan Deviation test reports.  From what I can see, the Rubidium seems to have a bit of an edge in overall precision with lower Harmonic distortion (very small margin) but higher overall phase distortion versus the OCXO module (which appears to have extremely low phase distortion), so it's going to be a tough choice overall to select my 'final config' as to which circuit to utilize. The Rubidium side SEEMs to have better overall Allan Deviation performance but as I'm no expert at this (reviewing such data), if you want to have a look at the very detailed reports, I'm happy to share them and get your opinion.

I did check out the config options on my current P02 and D02; the D02 does offer the ability to config either a 10Mhz input as well as (one or the other at any one time), a master clock input; I think what your reference for the X versions is also present on the P-02 and D-02 based what I've just seen again in the config menus.  The D-02 also offers a "THRU" clocking mode that allows me to take a 10Mhz pulse into the D-02 on the 50-ohm connector and (while clocking the D-02 to it), pass it through directly to the P-02 (but on the 75-ohm Word Out/In) if I wanted to have both units fully clocked only on a 10Mhz baseline.  The way I do have it setup though is that I have 10Mhz baseline come into the D-02 on its 10Mhz input and then use "MCK" direct master clock frequency output of 22.xx Mhz from the D-02 to the P-02.  So far, this is the best sounding combination (along with 4fs or 8fs up-sampling of RBCD and S_DLY2 filter which has been my 'go-to' configuration all along.

All this stated, I also don't know how this all compares without going out and plunking down the sizable commitment for a G-01 (or X when they bring it out) and/or using the G-01 AND driving it with a 10Mz reference signal from the Cybershaft.  

Wow....too damned many options to consider :-) ! The life of an audio-nut is never complete I guess as always!