MNG

I have only just stumbled across this epic review of an intriguing product. Huge effort in this Ray, well done and thanks for sharing it. Has anyone had the chance to compare the Extreme to the PINK FAUN 2.16 ULTRA out of interest? They seem natural competitors being pitched around the same price point. The fact that they do the same job but with quite different approaches leaves me intrigued as to how that plays out in terms of performance and sound quality.

I’m very interested in this device. Would I be right in thinking that the best results will be achieved by having the EtherREGEN located close to the music system in order to minimise the travel of the Ethernet output cable to system. This as opposed to locating the EtherREGEN close to the router which, for me, is quite a distance away from my music system. Logic suggests that this should be the best way of arranging things, but it would mean that I’d need two devices because I am, again, assuming that the EtherREGEN may lend some improvement to streamed video/audio as well, so I’m inclined to get one for the movie room.

Thank you for that info John, much appreciated. I look forward to seeing your new switch devices emerge.

I have asked this question before on this thread, but I’m interested in understanding why we’re using the term ‘phase noise’ all of a sudden nowadays whereas historically the term ‘jitter’ has always been used - it appears that the two terms are just different ways of describing exactly the same thing. A cynic might view this as a marketing move because using the term jitter would likely lend more credence to the comments made by @RussL in most people’s minds because they think they understand what it means whereas phase noise seems a bit racy and new. And reducing ‘noise’ is always good, right? From an uninformed perspective using simple logic, I would have made exactly the same comments that Russ made about there being no merit in clocking the signal unless you are slaving multiple devices like in a dCS system. However, I am open to trying things out for myself as opposed to just theorising as I have learnt that relying on theory can often be wrong. I have a Chord BluDave combo which is quite a good DAC and the DAC designer would also agree that there is no value in massaging the signal, and yet I am feeding it with a signal from a Zenith SE which is then ‘enhanced’ by a tX-U tied to an OCX10. Why? Because I found that, contrary to theory, there was a definite improvement in sound quality from the clocking devices. But, using a professional sound level meter, there is absolutely no change in dB loudness. So, I’m always going to be slightly cynical, but this clocking stuff does somehow make a difference. I don’t really understand how or why, but I think that we are digging in an area where even the experts who design the gear that we listen to are still learning about all of this.

I’m surprised at the lack of feedback on the G2 Aries given that the original Aries was quite a popular device. My initial reaction to the G2 was that it looked nice but I couldn’t identify enough of an upgrade to warrant the difference in price compared to the original. Maybe others thought the same and it could possibly be that the lack of feedback indicates that not many are being sold? I would actually be very interested in how the G2 compares against the original as well as the dCS Network Bridge which looks like the main competition at this point.

My apologies. I don’t wish to interrupt the debate, but I’ve been through 10 pages and I’m still non the wiser as to whether those cables are genuine or a spoof - does anybody have any actual information about them? Thanks.

Thanks for your posts, although I’m still confused - easily done with this stuff for me. It seems that phase noise and jitter are essentially the same thing, just different ways of expressing against either time or frequency. Is there a tangible difference at all - t seems not - or could it simply be that the term ‘phase noise’ is being used instead of jitter in relation to these Master Clocks as a marketing angle rather than anything else? Certainly, it plays better with our focus in recent times on removing ‘noise’ of various persuasions from our systems and is likely more effective in a marketing sense than the term ‘jitter’ which many modern DAC’s claim to control very well and ‘noise’ is a much easier word to relate to than jitter for most people.

There were pages on the subject over on Headfi - you have twin BNC cables joining Blu II to Dave and the Chord DAC designer recommended trying ferrites so we went through a rigamarole of which ferrites and how many, how much $ and so on. I’m not a fan of ferrites because they make the cable bulky, heavy and unwieldy - but they do definitely work in certain applications.

I must be missing something then? The clock in the tX-U is already pretty good and we’re improving it with these expensive Master Clocks. How is it only 55$? The one in the tX-U must cost that at least?

Yes, quite amusing actually - who knows with this stuff how it will pan out in any given system and environment. People definitely need to listen and test for themselves as opposed to just following what others have done because it worked for them. I did get the cable as part of the launch offering, although it wasn’t in the initial delivery, but anyway I wanted to check the OCX10 on its own first in order to separate out the contribution made by the clock and the cable. Listening to it now, I believe that the cable is settling in a bit more now as it seems that the sharp edge is reducing and it seems warmer and more relaxed. I’ll take it out at the weekend and go back to the cheap cable and see how that compares. Having done the hoopla with my BluDave, I doubt I’ll be trying any more ferrites for a while - though I do have a load lying around.

I agree, but I think price is the denominator here - these clocks are very expensive and it gets cost prohibitive to stick them in each separate device so stick it in one and share it seems to be the prevailing logic. Currently, I’m only clocking my tX-U and I would far rather have just the tX-U without need for a SPS-500 and CLX10 to run alongside. Some very interesting info to be found here:

I’m trying to learn and catch up regarding these clocks, but isn’t it a different thing entirely? I was getting confused myself about this, but I think that the Word Clocks do bring a benefit of synchronicity of timing but these clocks we’re talking about, OCX10, Ref10 etc, are not Word Clocks and they benefit by reducing phase noise, not improving and syncing timing. I hope that’s right anyway.

Useful to know. I found exactly the same with the tX-U when I first got it and very nearly returned it because first impressions were not good, but it did improve over time and I kept it. I was quite prepared for exactly the same with the OCX10 but, funnily enough, it sounded pretty good straight away in my system. Has your opinion of the SoTM BNC cable changed as well - I’m assuming that it has? I’m still undecided with it. Did you use the SoTM BNC cable from outset? If so, I wonder whether the change that you have observed might be as much to do with the cable as the OCX10? I don’t understand enough about clocking as I’d like but, in any case, I don’t like to introduce more than one new item at a time into my system as I find it very hard to assess where any changes that I detect are coming from. I have found it quite interesting to note the degrees of difference that people feel the OCX10 made in their system. I found it made a similar degree of improvement to that which the tX-U made and, at 3 times the cost, it was a much harder decision to make than it was for the tX-U. I consoled myself with the fact that I could use it with the forthcoming SoTM switch and thereby increase the nominal value derived from the Master Clock but a) I’m not totally convinced that I will obtain very much benefit from the switch and b) I was disappointed to see the size of the switch from Austinpop’s photo of it. Much will depend upon the price and I have my suspicions about that now because a) the size and b) the fact that a BNC Master Clock input is a chargeable extra, so possibly £300 for that alone judging by the tX-U pricing.

SE>tX-U - Nordost Blue Heaven tX-U>BluDave - Curious I agree with various reviews that I have seen that the more analytical cable is best going into the tX-U, but there is a degree of mix and match to taste involved.

Ah, well I’m glad you are enjoying it. Another irony is that I had decided that keeping it simple was the way to go and not the rash of black boxes that a lot of folk were pursuing, which is what led me to the SE. I may have been right, but the boxes still got me in the end! I don’t much care for the aesthetics of the boxes tbh, but they look pretty cool the way that you have them in your setup. Regards, Malc