[anroj]

Can you please share your experience with the C16 hooked to the U16? Is the improvement easily noticeable? Does it justify the cost of the C16? I’m thinking about getting one but I don’t want to it “blindly”. Thanks in advance.

The C16 has made a marked improvement in my system and you can readily hear the difference between the internal clock of the U16 and the external C16 10Mhz clock. There is more air around instruments and voices, front-to-back and side-to-side soundstage has improved, timing is better, and the whole presentation is a lot more analog-like.

 

[MrCypruz]

The C16 has made a marked improvement in my system and you can readily hear the difference between the internal clock of the U16 and the external C16 10Mhz clock. There is more air around instruments and voices, front-to-back and side-to-side soundstage has improved, timing is better, and the whole presentation is a lot more analog-like.

Thank you very much for sharing your impressions. I’m going to pull the trigger and give it a spin. I hope I like it.

 

[anroj]

Thank you very much for sharing your impressions. I’m going to pull the trigger and give it a spin. I hope I like it.

I really like it. I leave mine powered on all the time. I have had 0 issues with it. I was going to go the GPSDO route, but my wife wouldn't let me hang the antenna out a window so I ended up purchasing the C16 and I'm glad I did.

 

[fragoulisnaval]

Hi, I have had my 16 for a couple of weeks now and I have not tried the gentle outputs. I have not seen anything that explains the difference. Maybe sine vs. square wave, but that is just a guess. The stock cable is too short for my system so I purchased a different on eBay.

How much time passed since the clock stabilized? can you advise an approximate burn in period?

The C16 has made a marked improvement in my system and you can readily hear the difference between the internal clock of the U16 and the external C16 10Mhz clock. There is more air around instruments and voices, front-to-back and side-to-side soundstage has improved, timing is better, and the whole presentation is a lot more analog-like.

I concur to your comments above. Of course, mine is only two days old, always on, and maybe differences will be more clearly audible. However , listening to tracks i know well, i agree with you.

 

[anroj]

How much time passed since the clock stabilized? can you advise an approximate burn in period?

On initial connection and power up, the C16 stabilized in about 20 minutes and I would estimate the burn in period to be about 100 hours powered on constantly.


I concur to your comments above. Of course, mine is only two days old, always on, and maybe differences will be more clearly audible. However , listening to tracks i know well, i agree with you.

Its good on initial clock stabilization, and gets much better after about 100 hours.

 

[Strappo]

I got my U16 about a month ago and I wanted to ask some advice about clocking. All my content is redbook CDs ripped and played back in JRiver.

So far my 2ch chain is:
- Gustard U16 AES out
- Minidsp 88d AES in, AES out
- Lynx Aurora 8 DAC, AES in, 8ch analog out

The Minidsp 88d is asynchronous, so whatever I send it is going to get a sample rate conversion. This means the ideal, of one clock for all three boxes cant happen.

This leaves me with three choices for clocking:
1) internal Lynx clock
2) Lynx sync to AES inputs (takes 40 seconds to sync then makes a popping sound as it locks)
3) Lynx sync to external VIA a bnc cable back to the U16

I am fairly sure 2) and 3) sound best, the 40 second sync time makes A/Bing them crazy hard though.

 

[DACLadder]

Found some nice 50 ohm cables on Ebay for connecting external clocks to the U16. Made with RG400 coax cable which has silver plated wires, good performance, and more easily bendable versus stiffer, thicker RG58. The cables come terminated with BNC connectors (in my case) and available in very short lengths. I bought 0.5 and 1 ft. cables for my needs but even longer lengths available,

Just search Ebay “bnc male to bnc male RG400”. If you need another connector type on one end just change the search like “sma to bnc male rg400”. Many vendors available.

 

[Chopin75]

Found some nice 50 ohm cables on Ebay for connecting external clocks to the U16. Made with RG400 coax cable which has silver plated wires, good performance, and more easily bendable versus stiffer, thicker RG58. The cables come terminated with BNC connectors (in my case) and available in very short lengths. I bought 0.5 and 1 ft. cables for my needs but even longer lengths available,

Just search Ebay “bnc male to bnc male RG400”. If you need another connector type on one end just change the search like “sma to bnc male rg400”. Many vendors available.

I think the Oyaide makes very nice silver BNC digital interconnect and not expensive if you get from eBay or amazon. I have a 75 ohm oner for audio. But I am not sure if they have the 50 ohm ones.

 

[FredA]

Found some nice 50 ohm cables on Ebay for connecting external clocks to the U16. Made with RG400 coax cable which has silver plated wires, good performance, and more easily bendable versus stiffer, thicker RG58. The cables come terminated with BNC connectors (in my case) and available in very short lengths. I bought 0.5 and 1 ft. cables for my needs but even longer lengths available,

Just search Ebay “bnc male to bnc male RG400”. If you need another connector type on one end just change the search like “sma to bnc male rg400”. Many vendors available.

Ordered a 1ft. one. Thanks!

 

[DACLadder]

Oyaide appears to only have 75 ohm cables. http://www.oyaide.com/ENGLISH/AUDIO/products_category/digital_cable/index.html

Here's a RG400 vs. RG58 coax chart. RG400 has higher bandwidth and lower loss. Double shielded versus single on RG58. There are other cable stocks available but finding an affordable 50 ohm cable may be challenging. RG400 seems readily available and the best bang for the buck. Still researching....

 

[MrCypruz]

I really like it. I leave mine powered on all the time. I have had 0 issues with it. I was going to go the GPSDO route, but my wife wouldn't let me hang the antenna out a window so I ended up purchasing the C16 and I'm glad I did.

I received my C16 today and I’ve clocked about 5hrs of listening time...the difference is there, very audible. The C16 brings indeed more air, separation and reduces the graininess of the internal clock!
Thank you very much for your impressions and for recommending the C16 without hesitation. I can’t wait to get it burned-in to unleash its full potential.

 

[anroj]

I received my C16 today and I’ve clocked about 5hrs of listening time...the difference is there, very audible. The C16 brings indeed more air, separation and reduces the graininess of the internal clock!
Thank you very much for your impressions and for recommending the C16 without hesitation. I can’t wait to get it burned-in to unleash its full potential.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the C16. I continue to smile every time I fire up my system. I was listening to “Strode Rode” from Sonny Rollins Saxaphone Colossus last night and the power and tone of his saxophone was amazing.

 

[wwmhf]

I received the OCXO suggested by JaMo in the post Post #1292 above. I quickly connected it to my system, and below is my quick report:

1. I use one of my spare power supplies with this OCXO, and this power supply was adjusted to output 12.2v or so.
2. I connect this OCXO to the U16 by a cable bought on ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3ft-1m-RG58-Low-Loss-Coax-RF-50Ω-BNC-Male-to-Male-Crimp-Jumper-Cable-Connector/282599302248?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

This OCXO seems to be able to provide two outputs.
3. This OCXO is running hotter than I expected. I am not surprised if it draws more than 1A.
4. In the first few minutes after turned on, this OCXO generated some periodical white noise so that it was not possible to enjoy music. Fortunately, the noise disappeared a few minutes later.
5. I play wave files ripped from my CDs via foobar2000 up-sampled to DSD128. So far, listening to Mozart's Piano Sonatas played by Mitsuko Uchidamy, I feel that my system sounds fuller with this external clock than the internal one. This is only the first disk.

 

[JaMo]

I received the OCXO suggested by JaMo in the post Post #1292 above. I quickly connected it to my system, and below is my quick report:

1. I use one of my spare power supplies with this OCXO, and this power supply was adjusted to output 12.2v or so.
2. I connect this OCXO to the U16 by a cable bought on ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3ft-1m-RG58-Low-Loss-Coax-RF-50Ω-BNC-Male-to-Male-Crimp-Jumper-Cable-Connector/282599302248?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

This OCXO seems to be able to provide two outputs.
3. This OCXO is running hotter than I expected. I am not surprised if it draws more than 1A.
4. In the first few minutes after turned on, this OCXO generated some periodical white noise so that it was not possible to enjoy music. Fortunately, the noise disappeared a few minutes later.
5. I play wave files ripped from my CDs via foobar2000 up-sampled to DSD128. So far, listening to Mozart's Piano Sonatas played by Mitsuko Uchidamy, I feel that my system sounds fuller with this external clock than the internal one. This is only the first disk.

Hi @wwmhf,
Good to hear. Yes it draws about 1,2Amps. Keep it powered on at all times. After a few days it really shows what You have added to the chain. It benefits from a good power supply so to get out the most of it buy a good and dead silent 12V 2A Linear Power supply for it. @FredA had a good recommendation in an earlier post in this thread.
/Jan

 

[PeterCraig]

Someone should put all this stuff into a chassis and sell it for $659 USD