Word Clock Cable Quality

[Audiocom AV]

Does anybody have any experience to share with different brands of word clock cables?

Several have reported better results using MIT digital cables BNC to BNC for word clock, but it is difficult to try a selection of digital interconnects because most have RCA connects, and RCA to BNC adaptors are bad news for the impedance and clock signal.

[Reid Malenfant]

Using BNC connectors on my kit. What i did consider is less cable has got to be a good thing imo so rather than use the standard 2M BNC to BNC cable supplied by dCS i'm replacing it with a 50CM section. Oddly the standard supplied IEEE1394 cable is 2M long as well & this got substituted for a 60CM Oyaide..

Less cable must be better, strange that my two units come with 2M cables when they are designed to sit on top of each other :eyebrows:

Standard & replacement cables are both industry standard 75ohm RG59U

[Audiocom AV]

Which brand/type of word clock cable was supplied with your DCS gear?

In studio applications they run several metres of word clock cable, so the differences between 0.5M, 1.0M, 2.0M should be negligible. Did you find your 0.6M gave better results, if so how?

As a confessed o’holic I will be trying different types of word clock cables between Esoteric, Antelope Audio gear and report back.

[Audiocom AV]

AudioWorks News;

Calling all dCS owners, and other owners of CD transports and DACs with clock links or external clocking.

We have been experimenting with new digital cables from MIT as clock cables, and the difference they can make is profound. We are not saying that this is so in every case, but in our trials with dCS kit, the results are remarkable!

A new clock cable needn't cost a fortune, we get very good results with the MIT AVt1 at £130. However, the differences made by the better cables need to be heard to be believed. The MIT Shotgun digital cable at £599 is a significant improvement on the AVt1, and Oracles (starting at £1,500) are absolutely stunning.

This may be a difficult concept to accept, but no one so far who has heard what these cables do in this context have been anything other than bowled over.

Call for more details.

[Reid Malenfant]

Which brand/type of word clock cable was supplied with your DCS gear?
No idea, all i know is the BNC plugs are gold plated (whoosh) & the cable is RG59U, industry standard 75ohm coaxial cable..

On the other hand the 50cm cable i'm replacing it with doesn't have gold plated BNC plugs but still uses RG59U cable. It probably won't make any other difference than i won't have 2M of cable flapping about behind the units :eyebrows:

[Steve H]

AudioWorks News;
Calling all dCS owners, and other owners of CD transports and DACs with clock links or external clocking....


Mark, if you're looking at that standard of cable then I think a comparison with Vertex AQ would be worthwhile. I use their BNC one which is a substantial improvement over the standard dCS offering.

[Audiocom AV]

Mark, if you're looking at that standard of cable then I think a comparison with Vertex AQ would be worthwhile. I use their BNC one which is a substantial improvement over the standard dCS offering.

Thanks Steve.

What improvements did you hear going from the standard BNC to BNC supplied with the DCS gear compared to the Vertex AQ Illimani?

Do you use the standard AQ Illimani or the Hi-Res version?

I planned on experimenting with have a couple of the better performing 75 Ohm cables I have used reterminated with BNC, will try and get hold of an AQ Illimani also.

Cheers,
Mark

[Steve H]

Mark, I have the standard Illimani, one of the originals with 2 boxes. I've a few pieces of Vertex AQ. They each provide a lowering of the noise floor, a greater sense of space for instruments and voices, a better flow and pace to music. The Illimani is second hand and The latest piece added. It has made me especially aware of how notes start and stop - John Paul Jones of Led Zep, Preston Reed, Gerald Moore playing Schubert Lieder are all examples. It allows complex music to unravel and has made some music I've found difficult to listen to in the past much more accessible. It's a very real improvement, adding to pace and timing. The dCS equipment can be very fast. The Vertex gives the music space and time and I wouldn't be without it.

Steve

[Reid Malenfant]

Can you link to this cable Steve? I took a look earlier but came up with a big zero :(

ATB fella :)

[Steve H]

Here you go: http://www.vertexaq.com/images/stories/pdfs/analogue%20and%20digital%20int%20pdf%20sep10%20v2. 1.pdf

If that goes wrong, then here's a link to a Vertex "resource" page. At the bottom you'll find links to various .pdf's

http://www.vertexaq.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=21

Mark, this is a slippery slope - Krell, dCS, etc., but the results are, well, just wonderful!

[Audiocom AV]

Mark, I have the standard Illimani, one of the originals with 2 boxes. I've a few pieces of Vertex AQ. They each provide a lowering of the noise floor, a greater sense of space for instruments and voices, a better flow and pace to music. The Illimani is second hand and The latest piece added. It has made me especially aware of how notes start and stop - John Paul Jones of Led Zep, Preston Reed, Gerald Moore playing Schubert Lieder are all examples. It allows complex music to unravel and has made some music I've found difficult to listen to in the past much more accessible. It's a very real improvement, adding to pace and timing. The dCS equipment can be very fast. The Vertex gives the music space and time and I wouldn't be without it.

Steve


Hi Steve

Very interesting.

I will try an Illumani cable with BNC and compare.

The best results I have had to date with digital cables have been the pure Silver types from Wireworld and Audioquest. These have all been better than the Vertex Illumani.

What makes the best digital interconnect may not be the same for word clock cable, but since they are both 75 Ohm in theory higher quality materials and connectors should reap better results for word clock cables.

Best,
Mark

[Reid Malenfant]

Here you go: http://www.vertexaq.com/images/stories/pdfs/analogue%20and%20digital%20int%20pdf%20sep10%20v2. 1.pdf

Mark, this is a slippery slope - Krell, dCS, etc., but the results are, well, just wonderful!
That worked just fine thank you ;) I might have to investigate these..

Slippery slope? :eyebrows: Wonderful indeed!

ATB

[HighFidelityGuy]

Mark Grant sells two types of BNC to BNC cables in any length you want at reasonable prices. I'd try one of his G1000HD (http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40_3&products_id=181) versions before spending hundreds. :)

[Reid Malenfant]

Good call, you just cost me more money but it's all in a good cause :D

[Mark Grant]

In the post tonight :)

thanks,

Mark.

[Steve H]

I completely agree that we should try as many cables as we can to build experience of their relative capabilities. Before Vertex, the brands I used the most were QED, LFD and Missing Link. Vertex AQ is an interesting company and their web site is a really good read. I'm not saying that every cable they make is the best in it's category but some of them are the best I've heard and I like the idea of a one brand "loom" (shades of Roy Gregory). As ever, to each their own :)

[Audiocom AV]

I completely agree that we should try as many cables as we can to build experience of their relative capabilities. Before Vertex, the brands I used the most were QED, LFD and Missing Link. Vertex AQ is an interesting company and their web site is a really good read. I'm not saying that every cable they make is the best in it's category but some of them are the best I've heard and I like the idea of a one brand "loom" (shades of Roy Gregory). As ever, to each their own :)

Steve /Mark

Here is another one to try...

Replaced the regular RG59 with a Stereovox XV Ultra, very impressive improvement, better clarity, more energy, improved bass delineation, more relaxed open high frequencies.

Cheers,
Mark

[nat8808]

??? I just don't believe it... ???


Replaced the regular RG59 with a Stereovox XV Ultra, very impressive improvement, better clarity, more energy, improved bass delineation, more relaxed open high frequencies.

These are descriptions people give for changing the whole DAC or adding a better clock or sometimes with analogue cables from their DAC, even sometimes between different digital cables (in my view I've listed those in order of effect or controversy/dispute of effect).

Now you appear to be attributing the same applitude and type of effect to just the word clock cable, not to mention the effect of the word clock itself. Surely if the cable makes this much difference when providing just a clock to lock to then there is something wrong with either the clock and it's transmitting circuit or the receiving circuit in the slave gear??

Of course anyone can then say 'well have you tried it out yourself' and then if I had and still couldn't hear the difference then my gear 'wouldn't be good enough' or even my hearing and judgement are below par.. along come the same proof-of-the-negative arguments that religious deabates revert to ultimately.

I don't believe it...

How big are these differences you are hearing and have you heard of the placebo effect (which is so strong that someone can be given a known and prooven stimulant, told it is relaxant and so exhibit all the signs of having taken a relaxant...)? Simply believing there is going to be a change can surely mean you hear one regardless?

[Audiocom AV]

??? I just don't believe it... ???



These are descriptions people give for changing the whole DAC or adding a better clock or sometimes with analogue cables from their DAC, even sometimes between different digital cables (in my view I've listed those in order of effect or controversy/dispute of effect).

Now you appear to be attributing the same applitude and type of effect to just the word clock cable, not to mention the effect of the word clock itself. Surely if the cable makes this much difference when providing just a clock to lock to then there is something wrong with either the clock and it's transmitting circuit or the receiving circuit in the slave gear??

Of course anyone can then say 'well have you tried it out yourself' and then if I had and still couldn't hear the difference then my gear 'wouldn't be good enough' or even my hearing and judgement are below par.. along come the same proof-of-the-negative arguments that religious deabates revert to ultimately.

I don't believe it...

How big are these differences you are hearing and have you heard of the placebo effect (which is so strong that someone can be given a known and prooven stimulant, told it is relaxant and so exhibit all the signs of having taken a relaxant...)? Simply believing there is going to be a change can surely mean you hear one regardless?

You don’t have to believe it, you need to try it and decide for yourself.

I am not attempting to prove a concept here, merely giving you observations of the results I heard.

Cables and Hi-Fi are system dependant, subjective.

Of the 5 word clock cables 2 sounded worse than the RG59, yet these 2 not so good sounding word clock cables gives excellent results as digital cables.
For the Stereovox cable the test was made with an Esoteric P-70/D-70, I would expect similar results with the P-03 & P-01 with Esoteric DAC’s.

Yet to test other DAC’s, Word Clock’s like those from Antelope Audio.

We have the new Zodiac Gold DAC, which already has the excellent ‘Trinity’ clock inside. It will be interesting to test the same 5 word clock cables using the Trinity 10M, or indeed the Trinity combo combined with the Esoteric transport (s) and Zodiac Gold give the same results.