[FredA]

Some more listening time with the sine output. And some a/b with the internal XOs. I am on verge of calling it clearly better using the ocxo. More liquid, sharper trancients and perhaps tighter bass as well. The internal seem fuzzy in comparison. I really like what i am hearing right now.

 

[DACLadder]

Thanks Fred... Sine wave makes sense for locking a PLL. Perfect sine waves have no harmonic content. On the other hand, perfect square waves have infinite number of odd harmonics.

Nothing is perfect but a typical square wave clock signal has strong 3rd, 5th, 7th harmonics. No perfect sine wave either but even 1% distortion is not much.

Ebay tracking says my OCXO should arrive Saturday!

 

[FredA]

@DACLadder @JaMo

I am calling it: i never heard such convincing imaging in my room as i am hearing now. The track is There is no greater love, Sonny Rollins, Way out west. All sorts of recording room effects can be heard distinctly. Wow!

 

[motberg]

@DACLadder @JaMo

I am calling it: i never heard such convincing imaging in my room as i am hearing now. The track is There is no greater love, Sonny Rollins, Way out west. All sorts of recording room effects can be heard distinctly. Wow!

Very interesting perspective concerning sine wave output.
The GPS Disciplined unit I use also has this (from an online manual):
10 MHz OUTPUT: Sine Wave 1 Vrms, 1 0-15 dBm.

And your observations somewhat mirror mine - many elements previously buried.. now somehow exposed..

 

[FredA]

Very interesting perspective concerning sine wave output.
The GPS Disciplined unit I use also has this (from an online manual):
10 MHz OUTPUT: Sine Wave 1 Vrms, 1 0-15 dBm.

And your observations somewhat mirror mine - many elements previously buried.. now somehow exposed..

One point though, my cable is so badly assembled, one center pin barely holding in place, that the difference could be due to getting a better contact when inserting it into the sine out.

I got a new cable today, i will have to redo the comparison. It is not perfectly put together either, one pin being off center. I expect another cable within 10 days, so...

 

[FredA]

Thanks Fred... Sine wave makes sense for locking a PLL. Perfect sine waves have no harmonic content. On the other hand, perfect square waves have infinite number of odd harmonics.

Nothing is perfect but a typical square wave clock signal has strong 3rd, 5th, 7th harmonics. No perfect sine wave either but even 1% distortion is not much.

Ebay tracking says my OCXO should arrive Saturday!

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. It is likely that you will not listen through your su6 much after hearing the u16 with the oxco. It is freaking good. I am flabbergasted.

 

[roni44]

I think it's safe to say a well designed OCXO or GPSDO will elevate sound to another level, now I wonder which one is better. A gentle reminder if U16 resets itself, then CLK goes to default to INT, I get all paranoid and make sure it's on EXT each time I use the system.

 

[FredA]

I think it's safe to say a well designed OCXO or GPSDO will elevate sound to another level, now I wonder which one is better. A gentle reminder if U16 resets itself, then CLK goes to default to INT, I get all paranoid and make sure it's on EXT each time I use the system.

My understanding is that for audio, the gps synching is not required. Only the quality of the ocxo, and of the psu you use matter. I could be wrong.

I will receive a dc cable next week. This will help with power quality.

 

[roni44]

My understand is that for audio, the gps synching is not required. Only fhe quality of the ocxo, and of the psu you use matter. I could be wrong.

I will receive a dc cable next week. This will help with power quality.

I was just told to get this clock and that cable for U16 and grateful for the outcome and money not wasted. Currently both unit plugged into a cheap power strip, I am looking for a good PSU and LPS for both, any recommendation will be highly appreciated.

I was really worry you guys will not hear any difference and I will be forever in Head-fi solitary confinement, glad your experience is positive and cheers.

 

[DACLadder]

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. It is likely that you will not listen through your su6 much after hearing the u16 with the oxco. It is freaking good. I am flabbergasted.

LOL. The OCXO shipping notice says delivery Friday...... September 13, 2019. It may be a while before I can try.

Well, I have a lot of questions... Does a higher spec OCXO make it sound even better? Technically, why does it sound better than free running TCXOs? Are there better PLL chips than what is used by Gustard to synthesize clocks (future project)? Any way to predict performance?

If it is so seemingly easy to connect 10MHz sine wave to a digital PLL chip and get better performing clocks than what TCXOs can provide, why are we not see this in products like high-end consumer DACs? Let the customer provide 10MHz clocks to their digital products based on expected performance and what they can afford.

 

[FredA]

LOL. The OCXO shipping notice says delivery Friday...... September 13, 2019. It may be a while before I can try.

Well, I have a lot of questions... Does a higher spec OCXO make it sound even better? Technically, why does it sound better than free running TCXOs? Are there better PLL chips than what is used by Gustard to synthesize clocks (future project)? Any way to predict performance?

If it is so seemingly easy to connect 10MHz sine wave to a digital PLL chip and get better performing clocks than what TCXOs can provide, why are we not see this in products like high-end consumer DACs? Let the customer provide 10MHz clocks to their digital products based on expected performance and what they can afford.

My take on this is that the u16 has taken the cheap route on clock psus. Or that having higher freq. on the singularity board makes the audio-gd internal clocks superior. Probably both reasons. The point is sound will improve only up to the point you reach the quality (meaning as having low jitter) of the dac's clocks. This is for an asynch dac. For a synch dac, the benefit can be even be greater.

 

[FredA]

I was just told to get this clock and that cable for U16 and grateful for the outcome and money not wasted. Currently both unit plugged into a cheap power strip, I am looking for a good PSU and LPS for both, any recommendation will be highly appreciated.

I was really worry you guys will not hear any difference and I will be forever in Head-fi solitary confinement, glad your experience is positive and cheers.

I got this lps. i dont know how much diff it makes in itself, only it does not contaminate the power line like a switching supply does. The form factor is perfect as it can sit on top of the u16 right next to the ocxo, they are both the same size. Another plus is it does not run hot. It is a quality unit IMO.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/25W-TALEMA-Ultra-Low-Noise-linear-power-supply-DC-12V-2A-upgrade-your-device/143331836888?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I also got a silver-plated copper dc cable from Ghentaudio. It is shielded to avoid rfi contamination. And also has a star quad config for the same purpose.

 

[Toni-Mang]

In this case i am more than sceptical regarding the OCXO vs. the acusilicon clocks in the U16. But as always, you guys are teasing me...ordered a linear psu and the double OCXO as mention above. I really don't get the "studio/broadcasting sync theme vs. TCXO´s" yet...but lets have a try….

 

[FredA]

In this case i am more than sceptical regarding the OCXO vs. the acusilicon clocks in the U16. But as always, you guys are teasing me...ordered a linear psu and the double tcxo as mention above. I really don't get the "studio/broadcasting sync theme vs. TCXO´s" yet...but lets have a try….

It is not very risky. i would call it one of the best upgrade per spent dollar i ever did. My dac having a regenerative psu (r7he) , it is plausible that i get a greater upgrade than the same dac without (r7).

 

[DACLadder]

In this case i am more than sceptical regarding the OCXO vs. the acusilicon clocks in the U16. But as always, you guys are teasing me...ordered a linear psu and the double OCXO as mention above. I really don't get the "studio/broadcasting sync theme vs. TCXO´s" yet...but lets have a try….

I have the same skepticism but worth a try. @FredA and @JaMo I have known for years and trust their assessments. And my investment is very minimal at this point. Spent more for USB cables!