HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Well I only use digital music so this is all I can talk about . Now there are many paths to get your musical satisfaction from digital simplest being a CD in a player then in to your system . I know Paul has gone down a very different route using HQ player and seems very happy with that . I have found a different path and mine seems to be dominated by the clock . About a year ago I heard a system with a Mutec 3+ usb in and was amazed at how much it improved things . At that time new they were just too expensive and used was the same . By chance found a great condition unit that was affordable . Bought it fitted it and loved what it does . Then was told that an external clock made it even better but the clocks were all thousands rather than hundreds . Then a friend on another forum suggested an LB clock and that this was very nearly as good as the far more expensive ones £175 including postage was at least something I could consider . Bought set up installed (it was not really that simple but that was down to user error not the device) and then a real shock . This sounds amazing not just good ,stereo is an illusion and anything that makes that more real is making the music better . This addition has made my music breathe and come alive real voices , real instruments and more real emotion . I am swept away by this and would just suggest if you have any equipment that can take an external clock then try it out I do not think you will regret it .

I concur.
Audio GD DI-20 - Not specifically a clock but does re-clock - was just a smidge less than 500 Euros new, so could be picked up used for much less.
But also deserving of mention is Chord MScaler and upsampling in general - which I believe is one of the benefits of HQ Player.
As you say different paths, but the advantage of digital now is that you can do a lot of signal clean up ( Galvanic isolation , jitter reduction, timing ) at the front end and what can be wrought from 44.1kHz CD quality is unbelievable for me compared to what I experienced over the years with CD players - e.g Linn Ikemi, Naim CD3.5, Musical Fidility 3D Nuvista

For me, digital audio is reliant on jitter reduction - where reclocking can play an important role. Jitter (a loss of absolute synchronicity within the stream of 1's and 0:s) is audible in digital audio playback as a veiling of the clarity and a reduction in detail and definition.

Recently I swapped the Schiit Wyrd in one setup for the Oehlbach XXL Masterclock and was impressed by the improvement. Not all reclockers are equal.

AudioQuest Jitterbug. Put 1 or 2 in anything with a USB socket. This little device removes a lot of unwanted noise from digital circuitry.

Cables are vital. OCC with ultra-long crystal structures helps reduce jitter. AudioQuest uses silver-coatings to reduce Skin-effect and improve jitter reduction.

Upsampling: using a PC to stream means that there is ample CPU capacity to resample / upsample a digital signal. I like to upsample to the maximum sample-rate that a DAC can handle on input. An exception here is the NOS Metrum Musette that works best on native bit-rates.

Price: there are some amazing DAC's around at reasonable prices - think of Topping, SMSL, Denafrips and Sabaj. And the cutting-edge tech is being constantly improved.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=51499

For me it is upsampling, filtering and clean power.

I'd be happy to attend a digital source bake-off if anyone's inclined to host one?

Bencat57 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:17 pm Then a friend on another forum suggested an LB clock and that this was very nearly as good as the far more expensive ones £175 including postage

Bencat, can you put up a link to this unit? I'm intrigued and would like to find out a little more about it.

Apologies Fretless I am never sure how each different forum reacts to links to other products so try to err on the side of caution .

https://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.ph ... 4a22783f7a

This is the unit and if you are well versed in these things then have a root around . If you want a little help to set it up (I admit that I did ) there is a thread on Audio Addicts forum called tick tock tick tock tick tock which explains and another showing the set up for a Mutec which is what I use it with .

Hmmm.

Interesting that it uses GPS network timing as a reference.

More reading required.

Bencat57 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:05 am Apologies Fretless I am never sure how each different forum reacts to links to other products so try to err on the side of caution .

https://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.ph ... 4a22783f7a

This is the unit and if you are well versed in these things then have a root around . If you want a little help to set it up (I admit that I did ) there is a thread on Audio Addicts forum called tick tock tick tock tick tock which explains and another showing the set up for a Mutec which is what I use it with .

Interesting. It is similar in size and price to the ifi Ipurifier, plugged into Mscaler I use which brought about a worthwhile improvement. A major difference is the Ipurifier is plug in and play.

I'm useless with computers and remain impressed by all I read here by those who are able to program or install updates etc. to any form of digital device. Having said that, I decided that now Apple Music is available as Hi-Res Lossless that I would donate all my CD's to a charity shop and go digital... So my system starts with a MacBook Air, feeding an Audiolab M-DAC+ via a Chord Company interconect. I think that the DAC's clock takes over the one in the Mac but whatever I listen to sounds sublime. The system is simple enough for me to use (although it can take me a few attempts to track down artists due to my poor spelling) and provides me with so much scope for discovering unfamiliar music.