SOtM sCLK-OCX10

[auricgoldfinger]

9 hours ago, ducatirider said:

Does the bnc cable make a difference?  $500 seems high for such a cable. 

 

Mutec REF10 owners have paid more for Habst cables and found them to make a worthwhile difference.  YMMV.

 

There is a fair amount of cable discussion in that thread which you may find useful.

[auricgoldfinger]

Both companies claim their way sounds best. 

 

Seriously, only a side-by-side test can say for sure.  SOtM has done it themselves.

[auricgoldfinger]

1 hour ago, elan120 said:

Thank you for the recommendation.  I am also considering this one, but not sure what the differences between this and the RG401.

 

RG400 coax has a shield count of 2 and the maximum frequency is 12.4 GHz. RG400 coax cable has an attenuation at 1 GHz of 14.7 dB and a maximum power of 600 watts at 1 GHz.

 

RG401 coax has a shield count of 1 and the maximum frequency is 20 GHz. RG401 coax cable has an attenuation at 1 GHz of 7.5 dB and a maximum power of 1,400 watts at 1 GHz.

 

You can see the difference in shielding in the photos on the website.

[auricgoldfinger]

More 50 Ω clock cables.

[auricgoldfinger]

When it comes to SOtM, 'reasonable price' is a very relative concept. 

[auricgoldfinger]

I finally received my sCLK-OCX10 yesterday along with a pair of dCBL-BNC cables.  I bought the cables based on my positive experience with the dCBL-CAT7 and dCBL-UF silver USB cables.

 

Frankly, I am very disappointed with the dCBL-BNC.  There is a tremendous amount of HF glare that makes listening very fatiguing.  I spent a lot of time trying to EQ my system to no avail.  I finally remembered my six unused ferrite cores, so I put three of them on each cable.  The HF glare is now greatly diminished, so I have ordered more ferrite cores to experiment further.

 

USD700 cables should not require ferrite cores to be usable.  Given the price of the cables plus the additional $100 in ferrite cores, I do not recommend the dCBL-BNC.  A very disappointing product from SOtM.

 

[auricgoldfinger]

5 minutes ago, elan120 said:

I also thought the cable isn't as impressive as I have expected.  Do you have a link to the ferrite cores you use, I would like to give that a try as well. 

 

Here are the ferrite cores: 

 

http://www.newark.com/wurth-elektronik/74271622s/ferrite-core-split-12-5mm-140/dp/08P2341?ost=08P2341&ddkey=http%3Aen-US%2FElement14_US%2Fsearch

 

You have to order the key that unsnaps the ferrite cores separately.  I'd buy a few in case you ever accidentally break one. 

 

http://www.newark.com/wurth-elektronik/74271/safety-key-black-snap-ferrite/dp/79Y5591?MER=sy-me-pd-mi-acce

 

[auricgoldfinger]

3 minutes ago, tedwoods said:

I'd be very interested in your take on the dCBL-UF USB cable, as I am considering one.

 

Here are a few brief comments that I made couple of months ago.  I hope you find them helpful.

 

 

 

[auricgoldfinger]

Here is an update on the HF glare:

 

 

[auricgoldfinger]

23 hours ago, MNG said:

 

This is interesting - have you found any change arising from continued use of the cable? I’ve been running an sCLK-OCX10 for a few weeks now quite happily with a cheap 50 Ohm BNC cable. I received the SoTM cable yesterday and my initial perception was that it was brighter and re-introduced a small degree of digital glare. I’ve left it running for 24 hours and it seems to be settling a little and seems less bright. Certainly, it’s too early for me to judge and make any decisions at this point and I need to give it time. I did find that the two BNC cables that I have between my Blu and Dave took a couple of weeks or so to settle in to my system. I know that this was not just psychological or my brain/ears adjusting because I was initially experiencing drop outs which reduced and then disappeared completely over time.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.  I'm still trying to sort through the potential causes of my dissatisfaction with what I am hearing.  At this point, the issue is more of an overly aggressive sound in the lower half of the midrange and excessive energy in the bass.  I ordered my OCX10 with the Evox caps upgrade, and I am wondering if those are the source of the problem.  Everyone else seems quite happy with their standard version.

[auricgoldfinger]

17 minutes ago, BigAlMc said:

Introducing my latest upgrade:

 

 

Premium Organic Bamboo Chopping Board by Harcas. Extra Large Size Cutting Board 44.5cm x 30cm x 2cm

 

 

 

The instructions say its best for meat, vegetables and cheese. But there's nothing about acoustics or isolation! 

 

Does anyone know the burn-in time for bamboo? 

 

Oh I also added a sCLK-OCX10, SPS-500 and the SOtM dCBL-BNC cable. Not quite as exciting as the bamboo but (hopefully!) a big step towards audio nirvana. 

 

These I gather do need sufficient burn-in but let's just say it's sounding very, very promising at just a few days. 

 

So. Reason for posting. Am a bit disturbed to read that my £500 dCBL-BNC might not be as truly great as you expect/demand a 500 quid cable should be. 

 

Ferrites on order to play around with them on the clock cable and the USB cable into the TX-USBultra. 

 

Be interested to hear how you gents get on with the clock cables. 

 

I looked at the Pasternack but whilst the cable is very reasonable at 60usd for 12 inches they wanted 122usd to deliver it to the UK. Not a ratio that stacked up! 

 

 

 

Keep us posted on the burn-in.

[auricgoldfinger]

Here is the latest update on my OCX10 saga.

 

 

[auricgoldfinger]

4 hours ago, MNG said:

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

 

It's interesting how our experiences were similar but differed by device.  I loved the tX-USBultra from the moment I plugged it in.

 

I bought the dCBL-UF with the OCX10 to take advantage of the special pricing offered at the time, so I have never tried another BNC cable.  I would guess that 90% or more of the change I have observed is from the burn-in of the OCX10 itself.  However, I do find the ferrite cores on the cable make a subtle improvement.  They seem to make the sound a bit more relaxed without sacrificing any detail.

 

I am happy with the dCBL-UF, especially with the ferrite cores, but I can't say if it's worth the price since I lack a basis for comparison.

[auricgoldfinger]

3 minutes ago, MNG said:

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.

 

What was the hoopla all about?

[auricgoldfinger]

I am experiencing an improvement in SQ after connecting a Synergistic Research HD Ground Cable to one of the unused BNC outputs on my OCX10.  The ground cable is connected to a Synergistic Research Ground Block.

 

If you own a grounding box, try connecting the OCX10 to it.

[auricgoldfinger]

On 5/5/2018 at 2:34 AM, mustafakaiser said:

Hi what plate are you using above the stack ?

 

Here is some information that you may find helpful.

 

 

 

[auricgoldfinger]

47 minutes ago, RussL said:

Two close friends, both golden ear +, with systems to die for, heard the master clock demo (in and out) at Axpona.  They both came to the same conclusion independently; no change other than a 1-2 dB  higher sound level with the clock in.

 

Their observations are correct from a techical prospective as an USB DAC throws away any incoming clock and substitutes its own clock.  So there should not be any difference when a master clock is used ahead of the DAC.

 

A master clock makes sense in a studio environment where many devices may have to be synchronized, but makes no sense in the audiophile world. Only exception I can think of otherwise is in an DCS stack where the master clock becomes the clock in the DAC.

 

Russ

 

You might want to spend some time reading these 2 threads.  There are a lot of people who would argue otherwise based on their real-life experience.

 

 

 

[auricgoldfinger]

2 minutes ago, RussL said:

I read the first post quite some time ago but I'll go through again and take a look at the second post.  I'll still stand by my earlier statement though; the only clock that counts is the one in the DAC.  I'm an audiophile since my first year in college (1961) and have seen, heard, too much voodoo "enhancers" over the years.

 

Understood. 

[auricgoldfinger]

Big review of BNC cables by Jay at Audio Bacon

 

https://audiobacon.net/2018/08/11/the-audiophiles-short-list-the-best-digital-coaxial-cables/

[auricgoldfinger]

In case anyone is in the market for a cable upgrade...

 

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649455547-sotm-dcblbnc50-digital-cable-1-meter/?utm_campaign=new-classified-ad&utm_source=notification&utm_medium=email