2. digital
  3. 147917-3034

Digital clock - any recommendations?

Recently heard an Esoteric setup with and without a digital external clock and the difference was not subtle.  I have a marantz sa11 s2.  Any recommendations?
tzh21y

Showing 3 responses by dgarretson

dgarretson
2,588 posts
 
For that unit you'll need a clock that outputs 44.1, 88.2, and 176.4. Try an Antelope LiveClock and upgrade its wall wart to a good LPS.  If you want to go further, the LiveClock may in turn be synchronized to a 10mhz atomic clock like Mutec, Cybershaft, or Stanford Research System.   
dgarretson
2,588 posts
 

+3  @folkfreak 

With an Esoteric DAC it's easy to perceive the improvement of an external 10mhz atomic clock powered by a good LPS.  Why would Esoteric market the interface were this untrue?

Also, if your networked computer audio components have master clock inputs(e.g. SOtM renderer and ethernet hub), or if you have a PCM/DSD digital recorder with clock inputs(e.g. Tascam), it is beneficial to sync everything to one master clock, just like in studio environments.

That said, I have no experience with Marantz.  To Erik's point, at an early stage in digital evolution I had good results with Audiocom Superclocks inside a Sony SCD-1.  The idea there was to position the clock within a few centimeters of the PCB input.   

dgarretson
2,588 posts
 

@mzkmxcv  OK, you rooted me out:  Esoteric and DCS are expensive junk, and so are laboratory instruments like my Stanford Perfection 10 Rubidium clock specified +/- .05 ppb and < -150dBc/Hz@ 10kHz phase noise.  None of this matters with any DAC >$500.

I'm done.   

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