Improvement using external clock Mutec Ref10

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Improvement using external clock Mutec Ref10 SE120

I read that the word clock input is for using a 75ohm external clock. Is there noticeable difference if connected for discrete and premier DAC?

Reason i am asking is i have a mutec Ref10 clock. Currently connecting to hifirose RS130 and matrix SS-1 Pro network switch. 50ohm clock input.

This word clock is useful when on which audio input?

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Hi.

If you already own a precision 10MHz word clock that should be connected to the word clock input on the DAC.

This will provide an external reference that is more precise than DAC’s internal clock, on that model.

While some Ethernet switches also have word clock inputs, this makes – forgive my French – no F$&-ing sense because Ethernet is an asynchronous protocol.

Cheers!

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A 10MHz clock is not a word clock. A word clock is either 44.1kHz or 48kHz. All of our DACs support a word-clock output to use with other transports. Some transports/servers support a word-sync input.

You cannot connect the 10MHz clock to our DACs for two reasons:

  1. Our DACs don’t support external clocks. The clock in our DAC is going to be of higher quality than almost any external clock.
  2. 10MHz is a worthless audio clock. It’s not at a rate that can be used for conversion, so the only thing you can do with it is convert it to a useful rate. This conversion process will add more jitter than even the most generic audio-rate clocks.

I think the only reason you see 10MHz at all is that it’s the most common clock for test gear. It’s not useful directly for audio or Ethernet…it’s just the most affordable way to get a good clock off the shelf.

You can read more about clocks here:

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Apologies Jonathan. I meant a 10MHz “reference” clock.

Agreed of course. Again, apologies for the confusion.

Respectfully, I am not sure that this statement is accurate Jonathan. An external 10MHz clock may have higher accuracy than the DAC’s internal clock, and therefore can serve as a reference for the word clock. The SRS Perf10 for example, is a rubidium oscillator that quotes an accuracy of ±0.05 ppb. I am guessing that is higher accuracy than the Sentinel’s Femto clock (?) (I’m sorry, I don’t know if MSB publishes that statistic).

Separately, as I am sure you are aware, the dCS Vivaldi stack does support the addition of external reference clock to the separate Vivaldi Clock. That product’s manual states this:

“If you have a GPS receiver or an atomic clock with a 10MHz output, you can lock the Vivaldi Clock to it. These sources are even more accurate than the Vivaldi Clock, but note that low jitter and good stability are more important than absolute accuracy.”

I greatly appreciate your thoughts on this topic!

(Separately, I stand by my response to @djq that clocking an ethernet switch–at any frequency–makes no sense because, again, ethernet is an asynchronous protocol.)