Rubidium Clock

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!

Hi Zephyr,

Thanks for your info on the Cybershaft, i have read the specifications, most impressive, seems 2nd only to the 6X more costly non commercial BVA OCXO which is an end of life product.

It looks to be very impressive where the Rakon's OCXO phase noise surpasses any commercial audio clock!

As to your P-02 / D-02 units, a Masterclock option will likely be  more superior, it believe it is the output feeding of either the P-02 to D-02 or vice versa as your units can act as a Masterclock to feed other units (as such, you will not need to feed 2 separate clock signals to both units).

Are you finding that you are liking the Rubidium output over the OCXO output from the Cybershaft unit?

Thank you for checking all that out and letting me know your thoughts!

I have only been using the Rb 10Mhz output thus far and like it very much. It ups the ante on 'meat/substance" around each note and the overall musical presence.  It's a not so subtle improvement over what the P-02/D-02 with the D-02 set to MCK (22.xx Mhz) output to drive itself and the P-02 are capable of.

I have things setup as follows:

Cybershaft RBOCXO-01 (10Mhz, 50ohm output) into D-02 10Mhz 50ohm input
D-02 set for WORD IN of 10Mz
D-02 set for WORD OUT (75ohm) of "MCK", so 22.xx Mhz
P-02 set for WORD IN (75-ohm), so it gets a Direct MCK pulse from the D-02

Near as I can tell, even with the higher phase noise of a typical Rb circuit baselining the
operation of the D-02 with an atomic-reference/rock-solid 10Mhz pulse is the jump I was
looking for.

I have not tried the super-accurate/low-phase noise OCXO circuit (10Mhz, 50ohm) on the Cybershaft as yet. As the unit has crossed 350 hours as of late tonight, I will switch over and see which config I like best.

I had two Esoteric clocks over the years;

G-0s: Amazing and super-accurate overall system presentation driving the P-03U and D-03 but a touch analytic
G-03x: Not so analytic, accurate sound-staging, etc....just enough precision for my ears

I never drove the G-0s or G-03x with a separate 10Mhz reference pulse clock device....

I later found when I got the D-02/P-02 combo that the D-02 has an improved clock over the G-03x so I parted ways temporarily with a separate clock.

The combination of the 10Mhz Cybershaft and the much improved Direct MCK 22.xx Mhz operational mode of the D-02 driving the P-02 leaves me with the best overall sound I've heard out of any my systems, ever.  

More later as I listen to more combinations!

Good Morning! In the way of any update,....the Cybershaft has well over a 1500 hours on it at this point (and the RB and OCXO clock outputs are equally broken in) and I've done a lot of testing over a wide variety of material (CD, XRCD, SACD) and alot of different recordings.  During this time I've spent several days at a time with the Cybershaft Rb and then the OCX outputs; over the past month I have found myself using only the OCX output circuit for 10Mhz 50ohm output as sonically, it is a much better match for the widest variety of recordings and things simply sound their best over and above what the Rb-based 10Mhz output circuit provides.  At this point, I think it is safe to say that assuming no other changes to the system, that I will be sticking with the current config and using the OCX output over the Rb for playback of 90-95% of all material.  Questions...please let me know.

Justubes2: Thank you once again for highlighting the lower phase noise/etc...on the OCXO side of my Cybershaft clock. The difference in terms of satisfying musical presentation of every note, more precise and natural imaging, etc...once I switched over and have been using that circuit as my 10Mhz baseline is not only noticeable but dramatically better! With the Rb circuit (as with my experiences a few years ago with the Esoteric G-0s Rb clock), I had precision in many ways but not the beauty and naturalness I am experiencing with the lower phase-noise OCXO-based presentation.  Thank you again!!!