[yammy1688]

Just got the Big Ben in today and preliminary assesment says it kicks ass. My audio logic 2400 dac supposedly already does a great job of reducing jitter, so things sounded good before, but the Big Ben really just took it to another level. I don't want to sound trite, so I'll just say there's more space, mids are smooth, and high's are succinct. Cymbals kick ass now, no more shimmer. Bass was always good so not much change there. I'd bet my ears aren't as acute as some of the more dedicated head-fiers here, but I tell it like I hear it.

Since I'm committed to using a PC as a playback device, I kind of had to get one out of necessity. As good as the RME is, I doubt the digital out is anywhere near as good as a high quality CD player. So here's what I've got going at the moment:

FOOBAR (no DSP outputs whatsoever) -> RME PST -> Big Ben -> Audio Logic 2400 -> Prehead -> HD600(cardas).

I'm particularly excited about the upcoming firewire card for the Big Ben, finally enabling a fully error-correcting means of digitally transporting the music. It will come with it's own ASIO drivers.

For most of you, I'd imagine the 1300 would be best spent elsewhere, but for those that are looking to improve an already good system, it might be worth your while.

 

[yammy1688]

I have to ship my prehead out to another head-fier tomorrow so no listening for ~4 weeks waiting for the singlepower maestro

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

What is a Big Ben, anyways?

 

[yammy1688]

it's a clocking device, so say for a recording studio, you can plug any component that take world clock input to make sure all the clocks are synced up. It can also take a not so great digital signal and re-clock it using it's built in (super duper good) clock and output it to a dac, which is what I'm using it for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer What is a Big Ben, anyways?

 

[lan]

Must be Apogee Big Ben

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/bigben.php

Are you using it to reclock signal from the RME or are you syncing the RME to it? Can your DAC sync to it also?

It's unfortunate that you're sending your amp away tomorrow. You could be the perfect person to try EMU 1212m's digital out. I do find it much better than RME's digital out. I may have to try some kind of external clock like this on my soundcard. Such a thing really is like one of the final things to add. $1300+ is quite a lump sum though. I guess that's what happens after the point of diminishing returns

The only issue with more components is you need more cables. Since you're using noisy computers, how's your power conditioning?

 

[yammy1688]

Power conditioning, well, I have none

I want to get all my components together first before doing the 'tweaky' stuff, like cables, power etc... First is source, so I'm just about finishing that up. I'm not doing any syncing, only reclocking. I don't have the word clock module for the RME, nor does my DAC have any WC input/output.

I'm looking at selling the RME in the near future anyways. Need to get my grubby paws on that firewire module. ASIO -> firewire -> big ben, dunno how much of a difference it would make, but I will be at ease knowing all those bits are leaving my PC intact

The only thing left to try is to use a REAL professional editing app like SoundForge for playback. I'm curious if it can make an improvment over foobar w/ASIO.

You're definitely right about the diminishing returns thing, but I take comfort in the fact that I can pretty much plug any digital source into the big ben and get good digital out. Looking at cheap SACD players

Also, just a personal taste thing, but, I find switching CD's too cumbersome. I'm one of those people with a short attention span and cant sit through an entire album. Need to hear what I want, NOW.

I can definitely say that It beats my Wadia 301 -> Audio logic combo, but not by much, so as far as $$$/sound, it's actually a better value for me.

I'm using Stereovox HDVX digital cables. got them for $75 a piece off audiogon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan Must be Apogee Big Ben http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/bigben.php Are you using it to reclock signal from the RME or are you syncing the RME to it? Can your DAC sync to it also? It's unfortunate that you're sending your amp away tomorrow. You could be the perfect person to try EMU 1212m's digital out. I do find it much better than RME's digital out. I may have to try some kind of external clock like this on my soundcard. Such a thing really is like one of the final things to add. $1300+ is quite a lump sum though. I guess that's what happens after the point of diminishing returns The only issue with more components is you need more cables. Since you're using noisy computers, how's your power conditioning?

 

[lan]

I consider power conditioning a must for a computer setup since they make a lot of noise.

You can try to slave the RME from the Big Ben via SPDIF in. You should be able to get some improvement. I did.

The RME card's digital out is better with optical. Try a glass toslink instead of the HDXV. Generally speaking optical is better to use from the computer since it's galvanically isolated.

How much is firewire module for big ben?

>>>>The only thing left to try is to use a REAL professional editing app like SoundForge for playback. I'm curious if it can make an improvment over foobar w/ASIO.

SoundForge doesn't support ASIO. With the RME it doesn't matter since the drivers don't resample but for other cards it will take a quality hit. So on RME, a WAV file should sound the same. I wish they added ASIO to Soundforge. Heck Vegas Video has ASIO.

>>>I take comfort in the fact that I can pretty much plug any digital source into the big ben and get good digital out.

I don't believe in jitter immunity though. I believe that the transport has to output as minimal as possible. Just a difference of views

>>>Looking at cheap SACD players

Why? The SACD will be lower quality? If I was interested in a high res format, I'd still get a good player.

 

[Ticky]

Congrats on your new - and to be new - rig, Yammy.

Looks like you're doing a total make over of your system! Just don't get too carried away.

 

[tortie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan I consider power conditioning a must for a computer setup since they make a lot of noise.

Lan,

Will power conditioning help in computer setups considering the soundcard will still be drawing its power from the computer's powersupply?

 

[NightRaven]

You can always upgrade your computer powersupply too. A high level model is usually quieter and will certainly provide stabler, cleaner power.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tortie Will power conditioning help in computer setups considering the soundcard will still be drawing its power from the computer's powersupply?

Yes in two ways. The first is filtering out noise going back into the line from the computer. This can affect your other components. The second is filtering noise going into the computer. The results of this vary.

I use, balanced power -> filter -> voltage regulator -> isolation transformer -> better power cord. Remarkable difference compared to my system plugged into the rest of my computer system with 2 UPSes. There's this level of harshness removed from some recordings and it sounds more natural. I listened through my stereo and headphone system and could notice easily the difference.

 

[yammy1688]

I'm just going to hold off on all the sound card stuff and try to solve all of those syncing/jitter issues (at least between PC and big ben) with the firewire card. The list on it is 650, but I'm guessing it will end up selling for 550 or so.

I actually had a glass optical cable left over from my work rig, but for some reason it didn't come to mind to try it out. Oh well, too late as the Prehead is shipped already

Well, I definitely don't expect the big ben to make anything jitter immue, but I do expect it to re-clock crappy signals properly. I'm not too interested in SACD, but am curious enough to pick up a cheap player and use the optical out to the big ben to see how it sounds.

Will probably live with my HA-1 + ER4P combo at home for the next month

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan I consider power conditioning a must for a computer setup since they make a lot of noise. You can try to slave the RME from the Big Ben via SPDIF in. You should be able to get some improvement. I did. The RME card's digital out is better with optical. Try a glass toslink instead of the HDXV. Generally speaking optical is better to use from the computer since it's galvanically isolated. How much is firewire module for big ben? >>>>The only thing left to try is to use a REAL professional editing app like SoundForge for playback. I'm curious if it can make an improvment over foobar w/ASIO. SoundForge doesn't support ASIO. With the RME it doesn't matter since the drivers don't resample but for other cards it will take a quality hit. So on RME, a WAV file should sound the same. I wish they added ASIO to Soundforge. Heck Vegas Video has ASIO. >>>I take comfort in the fact that I can pretty much plug any digital source into the big ben and get good digital out. I don't believe in jitter immunity though. I believe that the transport has to output as minimal as possible. Just a difference of views >>>Looking at cheap SACD players Why? The SACD will be lower quality? If I was interested in a high res format, I'd still get a good player.

 

[asdfeproiu9]

Does anybody know any cheaper alternatives? I am interested in purchasing a studio clock to use in between my RME HDSP-9652 and my non-oversampling, non-reclocking TDA1543 DAC. The DAC has a special optical signal that outputs the DAC's receiver chip's clock frequency (but no audio data) and I thought I could use this to sync with my RME (as slave) but the card doesn't seem to be able to get a Lock or a Sync. Does anybody have any ideas?