Mutec REF 10 Masterclock

[k-man]

I believe you're missing something. In the dCS ecosystem the new Mutec REF 10 will be increasing the accuracy of the Vivaldi clock with the 10Mhz connection. So not really an AB comparison i.e. a Vivaldi DAC won't connect directly to this new clock.

 

It also won't look nice next to the dCS 'curves' 

[k-man]

The Vivaldi Upsampler and DAC will only accept Clock frequencies from the Master Clock at 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192kHz. The Master Clock itself can accept a Reference signal at 10Mhz (as well as 1Mhz and 5Mhz).

 

Since the Mutec MC3+ USB accepts the 10Mhz signal, Mutec's main goal is to 'improve' the performance of that unit with the REF10.

 

All in all, quite difficult to make the relevant comparisons between the 2. I am the least qualified to do so.

[k-man]

What DAC do you have?

[k-man]

 

2 hours ago, romaz said:

Each device requires its own 10 MHz input from the REF 10.

So if @Confused's Devialet DAC doesn't have the 10MHz or Word Clock Input, then is there any relevance towards getting a REF 10? Or is it perfectly acceptable to 'slave' just the Mutec unit?   

[k-man]

3 hours ago, Confused said:

Or to put this another way, if I was splashing out £10k on a clock, I would hope that it's own clock reference was pretty much state of the art.  Taking this a step further, if you use say the Ref10 with a Mutec MC3, you then have a Ref10 standard word clock that you could use with dCS products.  Do we know for sure that this would be better than dCS's Vivaldi clock?  The MC3 and Ref 10 combo would be comfortably less than half the price of the dCS Vivaldi clock, do we know that the Mutec combo would outperform the dCS.  (I know they would look 'different', but that's another story if you like the wavy dCS look)

 

Not sure why you would repeatedly mention the stratospheric Vivaldi clock and its 10k price point. I've been a dCS user enough years to know the Vivaldi Stack is not something I particularly lust for, it really is a case of some guys with a massive retirement fund go to a dealer and tell them they want the 'best'. I highly doubt anyone who has bought the whole Vivaldi setup would venture into Computer Audiophile to look for better options.

The entry cost is pricey, but it is worth mentioning other products in the dCS portfolio like the Rossini (and it's Clock £5k) which the DAC board is identical but housed in a more cost effective (and still beautiful) vibration dampened casing. I can't find the link on Audio Beat, but even Roy Gregory (Mr Nordost) even was surprised when a Puccini U-clock was added to a Vivaldi DAC and got a significant sound bump. You would have assumed the 'better' clock is housed right inside the DAC, but more is at play here, something which Mutec know very well.

 

As for your way to implement the Ref10 into your system, it seems the improvement it can make to the MC3+USB will be quite similar to what some other CA members are doing by Clock upgrades to various devices upstream to DAC via USB, and spending quite a bit of money on them. Your situation seems simple, especially it's just a matter of connecting MC3+USB with Ref10. Good luck if you decide on Ref10. 

[k-man]

@Confused Your impressions on your Mutec and further questions about clocks in this thread have been very helpful to my understanding. I appreciate your explanation, since that was mainly my thought too, but just wanted to be sure.

[k-man]

On 23/07/2017 at 1:39 PM, Miko said:

 

 

I am am looking forward to trying an additional MC3 USB and hearing what that will do. I originally envisioned 4 as that is nice and symmetrically advantageous. But now that the Ref 10 is here... dang... there just went $3,500!!

 

Anyone else multi-mutec-ing??

@julian.david I'd like to know if it is Mutec or another who is endorsing multiple MC3+ units chained in a system ?

I was thinking a singular MC3+ with Ref10 will suffice, since I cannot figure how this additional units can incrementally improve the quality.

[k-man]

Thanks @Miko that's a very entertaining read that I will re-look at in future.

[k-man]

18 minutes ago, AmusedToD said:

The dCS NB has 2 word clock inputs. So would adding a Mutec REF10 further elevate the performance of the dCS, has anybody tried that?

The key is word clock- NOT 10MHz input, so not compatible unless you get a master clock with 10MHz input, then elevate that with the Mutec. I suggest the small step of getting a loan dCS network bridge, and see if it improves on the SMS-200 Ultra. If not, then going all-out assalt on the next step is a very risky and expensive exercise.

 

It is a possibility that the clocks on the Network Bridge are sufficient, judging by some other owner's listening impressions.

[k-man]

2 hours ago, rickca said:

@julian.david is it not possible for Mutec to significantly improve the performance of the MC-3+ Smart Clock USB to yield something more cost effective than the REF 10 Masterclock?

 

I also hope to see something better at a price point somewhere in between the MC3+ and REF 10.