Unfortunate that Andrea is banned again...there seems to be deep emotions about him here...
Well, going back to the subject...DAC and Fifo ran now how long...like 6 weeks non stop. Now we are at a point that I am very happy...still with crytek 957 clocks. I plays now as said before...more analog meaning ...more 3 D, deep room, very natural voices, no coloration, very fine micro details and precise dynamics...you hear voices or the resonances of a large orchestra drum and its room echo in a stunning realsitic way.
I have to admit that my beloved Soekris found its master. Even without Andreas clocks, this machine is good enough to retire on DACs.
Now I go through the same painful process of burning in the clocks and Clock-PSU...I got a Drixo and an Exo here and let both play with 5.x in parallel to figure out if i can hear any difference between them at the same frequency. The plan is than to buy anyother board of the winning setup and give it 6.x (crystal is already here). It s a true blind test as i dont know which clock is in which hammond box...
PSU to be burned in/compared:
Yesterday evening i put one of Andreas clocks in with the diyinhk supply...and wanted to extract it immediately. Yes, more crisp details, but overal tonal balance and stage setting/naturalness was a mess. Too technical and confused by far. The crytek (playing for 6 weeks in 24h/7d) gave less treble details but better musical integrity overall.
So, patience is needed...if (and i have no doubts it will happen) the burn in turns out positive (with the best to be found PSU version)...this is a monster DAC. A bargain. One of my best investments in my chain.
Well, going back to the subject...DAC and Fifo ran now how long...like 6 weeks non stop. Now we are at a point that I am very happy...still with crytek 957 clocks. I plays now as said before...more analog meaning ...more 3 D, deep room, very natural voices, no coloration, very fine micro details and precise dynamics...you hear voices or the resonances of a large orchestra drum and its room echo in a stunning realsitic way.
I have to admit that my beloved Soekris found its master. Even without Andreas clocks, this machine is good enough to retire on DACs.
Now I go through the same painful process of burning in the clocks and Clock-PSU...I got a Drixo and an Exo here and let both play with 5.x in parallel to figure out if i can hear any difference between them at the same frequency. The plan is than to buy anyother board of the winning setup and give it 6.x (crystal is already here). It s a true blind test as i dont know which clock is in which hammond box...
PSU to be burned in/compared:
- DiyinHK LT3045 (currently)
- Andreas PSUs ...so the linear reg, the push-pull and the battery PSU
- Salas Ultrabib
- Variations with LC, Lt4320 (in some german forums they discussed the sound of the different mosfets used...will try)
- Maybe pure passive with and without a Cap multiplier
Yesterday evening i put one of Andreas clocks in with the diyinhk supply...and wanted to extract it immediately. Yes, more crisp details, but overal tonal balance and stage setting/naturalness was a mess. Too technical and confused by far. The crytek (playing for 6 weeks in 24h/7d) gave less treble details but better musical integrity overall.
So, patience is needed...if (and i have no doubts it will happen) the burn in turns out positive (with the best to be found PSU version)...this is a monster DAC. A bargain. One of my best investments in my chain.
I just saw the picture from your previous posts,
On the crystek pcb adapter if Ian's, you should try caps from Cornel Dublier FCA 0,1 uf x2 (or equivalent acrylic). They are 0805 casing and was a substantial improcment in my dac. Best Q/P tweak ever. If you populated it with xr7, just swap them.
On the crystek pcb adapter if Ian's, you should try caps from Cornel Dublier FCA 0,1 uf x2 (or equivalent acrylic). They are 0805 casing and was a substantial improcment in my dac. Best Q/P tweak ever. If you populated it with xr7, just swap them.
Thats a nice hint...you mean these ones ? https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/Cornell-Dubilier-CDE/FCA0805C104M-J2?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsh%2B1woXyUXj6NtWGAPJ8U2r2MixYnq2ks=
I believe Ian had like 3 smd ceramic caps there...how many of the above did you use ? Replce all three with three of the above ? I will certainly try this. I am not a big fan of ceramic caps.
Pulsar I did not try yet as they are 45/49 and I believe Andreas Fifo can only fügo up to 22/24...I ask him if that can be changed to use the Pulsar.
I believe Ian had like 3 smd ceramic caps there...how many of the above did you use ? Replce all three with three of the above ? I will certainly try this. I am not a big fan of ceramic caps.
Pulsar I did not try yet as they are 45/49 and I believe Andreas Fifo can only fügo up to 22/24...I ask him if that can be changed to use the Pulsar.
Yup , this one.
On the Crystek DIL adapter there are two area for caps and one for the resistor. On the both Crystek I just populated one adapter with two FCA caps only and the second one unpopulated. It is on the Ian's Clock 2 board.
It is enough. The sound becomes less hifi climbing in the highs and fuller in the mid and bass without resolution loss in my setup. Worth a try as it gave the so looked for analog sounding (mat background).
Ok...the clock burn-in process is on its way...I changed from diyinhk lt3045 to Andrea's linear reg which was a relief...now we listen to music. Maybe I am not patient enough, but I assume I still have a lot of wait time in front of me...all on 5.x frequency as I have only two boards...will change that...
Clearly, I assume that changes will happen over burn-in, but I can say already that the drixo and the exo do sound different...which is the opposite of what I expected. I mean...two excellent clocks...better than anything you can buy...both on the absolute same PSU...would you expect a difference ? Me not.
But they have two different characteristics at this point of time:
I could look up who is who as both are in Hammond boxes, but will do this later, I think both deserve more burn in and different combinations of psus which are in the works...
Nevertheless the big surprise was...they do sound different. And not marginal.
Clearly, I assume that changes will happen over burn-in, but I can say already that the drixo and the exo do sound different...which is the opposite of what I expected. I mean...two excellent clocks...better than anything you can buy...both on the absolute same PSU...would you expect a difference ? Me not.
But they have two different characteristics at this point of time:
- A is very musical, very authentical...not crystal clear completely, maybe a bit more depth of room would be possible...but you simply listen to the music and realize...musical themes and flows of the musician, how they want you to understand the music.
- B is very crystal clear, a bit technical, but gives you the room depth clock A was missing, but sounds a bit more high-fish, cooler, less musical, but more transparent.
I could look up who is who as both are in Hammond boxes, but will do this later, I think both deserve more burn in and different combinations of psus which are in the works...
Nevertheless the big surprise was...they do sound different. And not marginal.
Last edited:
Well...the jump from the Soekris (after 6weeks burnin) to the Fifo/DAC is bigger than the jump from the Crystek to the clocks (in current state with simple linear reg psu from Andrea...not burned in)...
So, we got to be patient...waiting for the burn in and than I will compare again...but I believe Andrea pointed out that even the crystek need three days of continous operation before they stabilize...
Apropos "Patience": I couldnt stand it anymore...today the difference between the two clocks became even bigger, so i needed to look up who is who (in which box)...and the clear winner is ....
...the Drixo...!!!
...today it had much more air around voices, tones stayed rich and natural like before but with added transparency, transients just vibrate through the room...like with a great turntable...while the EXO stayed less life-like, a bit uninspired, warmer than before but still a bit stiff, more like classic hifi equipment (CD-Player)...this is obviously an exaggeration...but you get the point I guess...(and both are running non stop fed by the same PSU).
So, Andrea was not only right from a technical perspective that the Drixo is the state of the art device...it sounds also like such.
So, we got to be patient...waiting for the burn in and than I will compare again...but I believe Andrea pointed out that even the crystek need three days of continous operation before they stabilize...
Apropos "Patience": I couldnt stand it anymore...today the difference between the two clocks became even bigger, so i needed to look up who is who (in which box)...and the clear winner is ....
...the Drixo...!!!
...today it had much more air around voices, tones stayed rich and natural like before but with added transparency, transients just vibrate through the room...like with a great turntable...while the EXO stayed less life-like, a bit uninspired, warmer than before but still a bit stiff, more like classic hifi equipment (CD-Player)...this is obviously an exaggeration...but you get the point I guess...(and both are running non stop fed by the same PSU).
So, Andrea was not only right from a technical perspective that the Drixo is the state of the art device...it sounds also like such.
Last edited:
