Giesemann OCXO Ref 10M Master Clock Listening Impression

[Qstik]

OK - I've had my Emperor Double Crown (50 ohm) since Monday.  It has been burning in constantly since then (5 days now).  But, a concentrated A-B-C comparison just now has convinced me that the improvements going from A (no EtherREGEN or Emperor Double Crown Master Clock) to B (EtherREGEN only) to C (with both EtherREGEN and Emperor Double Crown Master Clock) are not subtle and that I could easily rank order A, B, and C configurations in a true double blind test.  I realize that Adrian says that the burn-in period could take up to a month, but I thought it important to get my initial comments out there.

 

Here is my system as a key point of reference:

WAN (direct from router - no other switches in signal path) or LAN (NAS) > Uptone Audio EtherRegen powered by Uptone Audio LPS 1.2 @12v with AfterDark Emperor Double Crown 10 MHz External Master Clock powered by AfterDark Modernize LPS > RPi4b/Pi2AES running Volumio as end point using Spotify Desktop App or JRiver > I2S over ethernet UTP > Metrum Onyx NOS DAC > balanced AES/EBU > PS Audio SGC Preamp > balanced AES/EBU > Parasound A23 > NHT Classic Towers with dual sealed NHT subwoofers using miniDSP digital xover  My listening room has very good acoustical qualities with almost a constant 400 ms reverberation time versus frequency and few room resonances which need to be controlled.

 

I believe my system is somewhat unique in that I use a RPi4 with a Pi2AES add-on card as my streamer with I2S native output to a non-oversampling ladder DAC.  See a review of the RPi4/Pi2AES here:  https://youtu.be/Jvu_doQfAI0

 

What I hear when I add the AfterDark Emperor Double Crown Master Clock to my EtherREGEN: 

- reverb and soundstage are better defined, wider and deeper.  Vocalists in reverberant spaces are easier to separate and locate.

- bass is tighter and more defined.  Some bass passages have a texture that wasn't noticed before.

- pianos have improved timbre, sound more resonant, sound more "natural"

- I find that brass instruments, which have suffered the most from digital harshness to my ears, are now non-irritating and very natural sounding

- Overly hot and harsh sounding cymbals are now tamed in some recordings

- I can now play music at lower levels without seeming to lose clarity and definition

- I can now play music at higher volumes without being turned back by glare and harshness

- This is a strange one - I can now listen to music playing while I am in other rooms of my house and it still sounds great.  I guess that improved fidelity and musicality are true regardless of distance.

  

In general, the Emperor Double Crown significantly (noticeably) improves on all things that the EtherREGEN by itself improves.

 

Normally I am not one to risk being on the "bleeding edge" of technology, but I took a chance with my AfterDark Master Clock purchase in spite of relatively few reviews to go by.  However, as you can see from my comments above, I, for one, am very pleased with my Emperor Double Crown purchase.  Your mileage may vary- depending on your system, its setup, room acoustics, musical preferences, hearing abilities, etc., etc.

 

I do not have the Mini-Circuit filter yet.  It is on back order.  I will report later if I find that it makes a difference.

 

[Qstik]

I, too, am having excellent listening experiences after moving my AfterDark Emperor Double Crown 75 ohm MC from my EtherREGEN to be instead the external clock input for my Gustard R26.  My system has never sounded this good.  However, I found that I got much better bass definition and impact if I used a 75 ohm to 50 ohm BNC matching pad at the end of the AfterDark-supplied 75 ohm clock cable and the input to the Gustard external clock, which is nominally 50 ohm.  I got the matching pad here:  https://www.fairviewmicrowave.com/matching-pad-75-ohm-bnc-male-50-ohm-bnc-female-2-ghz-si1500-p.aspx

 

This configuration sounds better to me than using the AD Emperor Double Crown as external clock to my EtherREGEN.  I am considering getting a second AD Master Clock for my EtherREGEN, but will probably wait until its ER Gen 2 version is released and make a decision from there.

 

See a diagram of my current signal paths in my profile.