Superclock in SL-1210

[Dingdong]

Has anybody looked up 4.194304 Mhz crystals as an alternative to 4.19328MHz?

[MartinT]

That would represent a 0.024% speed error, so it would be possible. However, according to Patrick it's unlikely that a crystal swap will be an improvement.

[Marco]

Excellent replies, Patrick. I'll leave the technical stuff to the techy bods on here, as unfortunately most of that stuff goes way over my head. However:

Hey, it may very well sound better. They probably tweaked something else. Saying it has better stability, crystal, etc., sounds more high-tech than.........well, something simpler, like buying a cheap, industrial-grade cap, that improved performance. We all know that only audiophile grade caps can make it sound better!

I think they call that "artistic license".

Indeed, and that could well be the case... What needs to be done is for someone who knows what they're looking for to take a wee peek-a-boo inside the Monarch and see what lives in there, and then report back with the info

Btw, I love this bit on your website:

Don't ask when.......when it happens, it happens. We are working on it. We can either work on it, or answer all of your questions. Only one is going to happen, ok?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, the DAC is close to being ready. USB and SPDIF inputs. And they sound pretty darn close to each other. So, there!

Awesome!!

Marco.

[Paul Hynes]

Pat,

It was a good question but it only raised industry standard answers from you. In fact you have not really answered the question at all. You and I have been here before.

The LM317 characteristics are well known, as it is an industry standard three terminal regulator that has been around for decades, and the data sheets show this information. I stopped using this type of regulator in the 1980’s because the performance just was not good enough for high performance power supplies, even for analogue use.

The reason you have given why the LM317 has poor regulation is one of the reasons I design for much wider operating bandwidth in my regulator designs and have been doing so since the 1980’s progressively moving the boundaries further. I documented this exact reason for rejecting this type of regulator for high performance power supplies in a series of articles in the UK underground magazine "Common Ground" during the late 1990's. The performance of the LM317 in audio power supplies was being questioned much earlier than this by audio enthusiasts, Sultzer, Jung, Marsh, Didden etc through the 1980’s.

Things have moved on a lot since then.

Regards
Paul

[UV101]

Sorry for the old thread resurrection!!!did this go anywhere???

Not sure what a better clock would achieve other than maybe more accurate rotation speed.

As already discovered there are no premium options for an oscillator unless purchased in quantity as a bespoke order. I may have an option on a discrete clock that will utilize the original xtal but should improve performance. Just thinking out load and wondering if its worth the effort!

[MartinT]

Not currently, Ian. I am, however, very interested in a superclock implementation for the Technics. It has nothing to do with rotational accuracy - after all, the deck is pretty accurate as it comes. What I want to hear is the effect of reduced jitter in the phase drive to the motor coils.

If you have a discrete design for use with the original crystal in mind, count me in. Continue via PM if you prefer.

[Wakefield Turntables]

[sq225917]

Martin, you seem to be throwing the 'jitter' term about willy nilly. What do you mean by "jitter in the phase drive to the motor coils" ? Is there a D/A process taking place?

[MartinT]

There's a clock involved, Simon, and some digital logic. This clock is used to derive the motor coil drive phases. Therefore time domain jitter will exist, no matter how small. You could translate that as noise, but small amounts of it will be getting into the coils and causing some fuzziness to the drive signal.

[Wakefield Turntables]

So the idea is to steady these signals as much as possible with a more upto date clock to try and stop "noise" getting into the coils and ultimately into vinyl replay. Right or wrong