Anyone have experience as an audiophile with this Apogee Big Ben master clock for cd transport to DAC connected in AES/EBU connection for standard CD.
44.1k
I've read the stereotimes article, quite interesting...
StereoTimes -- The Apogee Big Ben
thanks
44.1k
I've read the stereotimes article, quite interesting...
StereoTimes -- The Apogee Big Ben
thanks
Well after letting someone answer, i decided to take a test myself.
I inserted from my sonic frontiers SFT1 transport AES/EBU 110 ohms output clocking at 44,1khz to the Big Ben .
clock was right on the narrow and steady.
Output of the BB on AES/EBU to my DAC an ARC DAC3mk2.
AES cables are 3 ft. long Belden 1800B 110 ohms to neutrick xlr.
My SFT1 did had a replacement CD drive to a CDM12, it does track well and works fine , but it's not a factory calibrated drive unit, so knowing this i think the Apogee BB would sync everything and keep totally in phase.
Inserting of BB in mt set up was not night and day upgrade, but it made sound stage and musicians lock in the stereo panorama, that on some CD's was blur or not as focused.
Again it depends on original CD recording quality.
On ECM's jazz differences were so slight.
On more confused CD or lesser organized presentation, it does make a difference.
On jazz vocal , signer are more palpable and lifelike.
so it's a keeper.
I inserted from my sonic frontiers SFT1 transport AES/EBU 110 ohms output clocking at 44,1khz to the Big Ben .
clock was right on the narrow and steady.
Output of the BB on AES/EBU to my DAC an ARC DAC3mk2.
AES cables are 3 ft. long Belden 1800B 110 ohms to neutrick xlr.
My SFT1 did had a replacement CD drive to a CDM12, it does track well and works fine , but it's not a factory calibrated drive unit, so knowing this i think the Apogee BB would sync everything and keep totally in phase.
Inserting of BB in mt set up was not night and day upgrade, but it made sound stage and musicians lock in the stereo panorama, that on some CD's was blur or not as focused.
Again it depends on original CD recording quality.
On ECM's jazz differences were so slight.
On more confused CD or lesser organized presentation, it does make a difference.
On jazz vocal , signer are more palpable and lifelike.
so it's a keeper.
This is one of those things that can be very easy to test with the proper protocol.
If only testing for audible difference ABX works fine here.
What you can do is re-record a sound file with big ben and without it.
Make sure the files are cut sample accurate.
Do an ABX test and repeat 20 times without looking at the results.
Then report here.
If only testing for audible difference ABX works fine here.
What you can do is re-record a sound file with big ben and without it.
Make sure the files are cut sample accurate.
Do an ABX test and repeat 20 times without looking at the results.
Then report here.
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The article contains approximately zero technical details, followed by a sighted comparison. Hence it contains no useful information about the item being 'tested'.
Many live sound engineers carry their own clock box to feed into modern digital mixing consoles and a few I have spoken to swear by Apogee Big Ben.
Although there are no performance numbers the subjective difference on an arena PA system is very clear when switched in/out.
Although there are no performance numbers the subjective difference on an arena PA system is very clear when switched in/out.
Even if true, and not just a manifestation of 'lucky socks' syndrome, this does not necessarily mean an advantage in a domestic setup.
I was mainly looking for some feedback with people owning the Big Ben.
We know audio marketing to have a lot of snake oil about certain category of products, but technically proving the better effect or upgrade???
We know audio marketing to have a lot of snake oil about certain category of products, but technically proving the better effect or upgrade???
The difficulty with asking for opinions on something which may or may not be snake oil is that if it is snake oil you can be reasonably certain that most people who have bought the product will have bought into the accompanying story and will not be in a position to technically measure it. They will want others to join them, thus affirming their wise choice and excellent ears.
It is a pity that the review you linked to contains almost no useful information. All I gleaned is that the device appears to be an adaptive PLL. You need to find a reviewer with the appropriate test equipment and the knowledge to use it.
It is a pity that the review you linked to contains almost no useful information. All I gleaned is that the device appears to be an adaptive PLL. You need to find a reviewer with the appropriate test equipment and the knowledge to use it.
It is difficult to answer as it depends not only on the quality of the external master clock, but on the specifics of the transport and DAC too (and on the listener, of course).
If you think about it only in this context of cd transport and dac, you might not need the versatility of the big ben, so other high quality clocks would be good choices too, see for example the smaller brother of the Grimmaudio CC1vs, the CC2.
The Tape OP reviewers even managed to do some controlled listening tests with the CC1 and found some benefits when used within their environments.
So, in any case, I'd strongly recommend to try it out in the specific combination of devices that you want to use i.
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