Cheap CD clock upgrade

Chaps,

Since I bought my VRDS-7 I've been considering the idea of a clock upgrade. Several well knowledgable members have stated that the std Teac clock only makes about "average" in the quality stakes, so I did a whole bunch of research on options.

From what I could see, there are 3 well known groups:

- Trichord (clock)
- Audiocom (superclock)
- LC Audio (miniclock)

Well I finally got around to ordering one today. What was interesting was that I contacted the LC audio chap directly, and he quoted me all of £42.00 all in for a new miniclock 2, stating that he's basically more interested in building/selling complete CDPs than clock upgrades.
It becomes far more interesting when you check out the LC website, and find that it's quoting a price of £145.

So, looks like hopefully a seriously big bargain. If you want this guys e-mail ID, just PM me and I'll pass it on.

 

Jammy bugg*r...........I'll have to give them a ring for my Denon

 

What exactly does "clocking" involve? What benefits can you expect from it? I request this info in idiot proof style as always

Cheers MO

 

Mo>
The logical process for a typical CD players operation is:
1. Motor in CD player spins CD at correct speed
2. Laser reads the CD
3. Data from the CD is transfered to the DAC
4. The DAC converts the data from a digital to an analogue waveform
5. The analogue waveform is amplified to a voltage of around 2v by small op amps before being passed to the RCA outputs on the back of the CD player.

During the above operation, the DAC is expecting data at the same rate that it was sampled. For CD, that is 44100hz, or in other words once every 44100th of a second.
To achieve this, the CD player uses a type of quartz (I assume) clock, in pretty much way that a computer uses one to define it's speed. The problem is that internal CD player clocks are not of great quality, often having slight variances against what they should be doing. This results in some data being sent either slightly earlier than it should be, or slightly later. This is "jitter".
When the DAC gets hold of data with "jitter", whilst the data is still correct, these timing issues create a slightly different analogue signal to what is anticipated.
If you "re-clock" a CDP, you put in a far more accurate clock, which should reduce jitter.

Whilst I've not heard a re-clocked player myself, I've read plenty of reviews, the comments made are usually consistent and positive, along the lines of:
- Reduction of harshness in the sound
- Improved definition
- Improved detail
- Improved positioning of instruments in the sound field

Most of the reviews have covered the effect of adding a £200 re-clock. The seem to infer that it can effectively make your CD player sound one upgrade better, effectively doubling the value of your CDP. As the upgrades typically cost £200, you really need to have a pretty decent system to appreciate the benefits. At the cost I've been quoted, looks like a complete bargain.

Hope that helps.

 

Contacted the vendor but can't get his web to work, is just me ?

I'm writing my check now !

So should be intresting to see what turns up.


looks like the Teac has the same clock Freq. as the Denon. I think there's a dedicated psu for the board as well ......but as I said can't get the site to work.

 

Pete,

LC are here:

http://www.lcaudio.dk/com/

 

I'm confused now coz your, e-mail was for....
http://www.net-audio.co.uk/miniclockupgrade.html

?????????

They don't appear to be the same...though confusion is not unknown !

 

Well spotted. I wonder if I'm thinking about a completely different group?
I did think that they were both selling "mini-clocks" and assumed that it was the same product. Maybe I'm just talking out of my ar*e.

 

They appear to do the same job .....the PSU of the miniclock looks a better unit than the other.....but that's not always a definative test !
By the way I've ordered one, plus PSU as it seemed a good buy.

There have been several good reports on the units.

So as they say round here
"A faint heart never *uc*ed a *ig"

 

I guess you'll probably have yours up and running by the end of this week. Let us know the results.

 

:nuno: :newbie:

I'll wait till you've had a crack then wait for your reports on it

Also, I'm using a DVD as transport into an offboard DAC. Will that cause any complications? Am I right in thinking that the clock will need to do both 44.1 and 48?

 

Oink oink !

Yes err, careful where you put that bacon.

But seriously....nettle grasping etc.

Has anyone here used this upgrade ?

If not, well... I'm really out front on this one.

 

There was a sticky over on GH about clocking wasn't there? I think GrahamN mirrored some of the GH thread (whatever that means) so he may have a copy of that available.

 

I stuck a Trichord digital output board (basically, clock 3 + psu + new digital output circuit) on my Marantz CD50SE and the improvements weren't subtle.

Michael.

 

calling Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

Which clock circuit did you buy for 42 gbp?

The Netaudio or LC Audio one ?

I'm after one for my antique Arcam Alpha ...

Cheers

 

the only complication i can see for you Mo, is that you,ll have to remove about 20kgs of blue tak to fit the thing in

 

9 packs to be precise! and silicone gel from the *feet*

I was actualy thinking about opening it back up again to see how the tak is getting on!

Am I right in thinking that a different sort of clock is required for DVD players then?

 

Re: calling Mr_Sukebe

Firestorm,

I seem to have bought a Netaudio one.
Apologies for being a little vague earlier in this thread. I'd really not paid a lot of attention, and actually mixed up the two groups, because they both called their products miniclocks.

 

Mo .....don't quote me but

I don't think so the clock as long as its the right freq. will do the same task. I'm certain someone with more knowledge will be along in a moment.

 

On seeing this thread a couple of days ago, I e-mailed LC, 'cos I was game for an LC clock at that price. How silly did I feel when I later read it to see it was Net-Audio.....
Anyway, just got a reply from Lars - "The current price is: UKP 83.25 for the clock, and UKP 15.00 for the PSU.". So that is still quite a lot cheaper than quoted on the website. (Not that silly..)

Michael, if you end up with new transport (a la other thread), what will you do with the DOB/PS? I've gotta a couple of Marantz CDPs just waiting to be fiddled with..

robs

p.s. Don't see what improvement a new transport will give you anyway if you've got this already?