[JaMo]

The U18 is very good as it comes with those selected higher spec Accusilicon AS338's. I recommend You to start with it as is. It sounds really good.
To really benefit from a quality Ext XO You need to have the rest of the rig on a high level and in shape and in the best of cases also use the same time pulse (Master clock) also with the dac. The fact that U18 have this, now with an even more sophisticated synthesizer for the Ext XO is a big argument to chose this DDC.

If the C16 or the C18 will push the performance further..? I don't know. Good clocks are expensive and You should aim on -118 dBc/1Hz or better. I think the C18 has -110dBc/1Hz and it will help a bit but I think You can get a better clock for decent money from AfterDark. @FredA is a good guy to ask about this.
/Jan

 

[mantraone]

The U18 is very good as it comes with those selected higher spec Accusilicon AS338's. I recommend You to start with it as is. It sounds really good.
To really benefit from a quality Ext XO You need to have the rest of the rig on a high level and in shape and in the best of cases also use the same time pulse (Master clock) also with the dac. The fact that U18 have this, now with an even more sophisticated synthesizer for the Ext XO is a big argument to chose this DDC.

If the C16 or the C18 will push the performance further..? I don't know. Good clocks are expensive and You should aim on -118 dBc/1Hz or better. I think the C18 has -110dBc/1Hz and it will help a bit but I think You can get a better clock for decent money from AfterDark. @FredA is a good guy to ask about this.
/Jan

I'm iterested to develop the performance with external master clock, the natural one could be the Gustard C18 that is less expansive of your Mutec Ref 10 SE120 and probably the result better than use the old C16.

Why do you jumped direct on Mutec and do not consider the C18?

 

[JaMo]

I'm iterested to develop the performance with external master clock, the natural one could be the Gustard C18 that is less expansive of your Mutec Ref 10 SE120 and probably the result better than use the old C16.

Why do you jumped direct on Mutec and do not consider the C18?

A very relevant question. I started to test with cheaper clocks to get some performance lift and to learn from it. I tested with a few USD50 of different brands. I have a very revealing rig of high quality and the ext XO added gave definitely positive results. I had an internal struggle with myself. I know myself all too well and small step upgrades will be big money in the end and the shelf will be filled with too many unused XO's....So I decided to go to a "Shut up"-solution and contacted Mutec and ended up with the REF10 SE120. In my case I knew/know I will enjoy it even if it is crazy money for normal people. A good investment really. For me music and the evolution of high end gears is essential and great importance in my life.
So there You have it.
/Jan

 

[mantraone]

A very relevant question. I started to test with cheaper clocks to get some performance lift and to learn from it. I tested with a few USD50 of different brands. I have a very revealing rig of high quality and the ext XO added gave definitely positive results. I had an internal struggle with myself. I know myself all too well and small step upgrades will be big money in the end and the shelf will be filled with too many unused XO's....So I decided to go to a "Shut up"-solution and contacted Mutec and ended up with the REF10 SE120. In my case I knew/know I will enjoy it even if it is crazy money for normal people. A good investment really. For me music and the evolution of high end gears is essential and great importance in my life.
So there You have it.
/Jan

ehehe ok, and in your experience the price difference from Mutec Ref 10 and Gustard C18 could be "proportional or just a small step from C16? wich Digital converter do you use?

 

[cglin222]

A very relevant question. I started to test with cheaper clocks to get some performance lift and to learn from it. I tested with a few USD50 of different brands. I have a very revealing rig of high quality and the ext XO added gave definitely positive results. I had an internal struggle with myself. I know myself all too well and small step upgrades will be big money in the end and the shelf will be filled with too many unused XO's....So I decided to go to a "Shut up"-solution and contacted Mutec and ended up with the REF10 SE120. In my case I knew/know I will enjoy it even if it is crazy money for normal people. A good investment really. For me music and the evolution of high end gears is essential and great importance in my life.
So there You have it.
/Jan

Wonder if ref10 is 6x better than c18
I think the ref10 is 8000 and c18 is 1500 and having 15% off right now

 

[DACLadder]

Mutec has raised prices twice in the past few years. I have a Ref 10 and performs great but there are other high end clocks. The Gustard C18 clock has great specs. 15% off is a bargain.

But the U18 has better Accusilicons XO so no sense rushing to buy a 10M clock. May or may not make your system sound any better. But 10M can sound excellent - especially on a 10M DAC.

 

[cglin222]

Mutec has raised prices twice in the past few years. I have a Ref 10 and performs great but there are other high end clocks. The Gustard C18 clock has great specs. 15% off is a bargain.

But the U18 has better Accusilicons XO so no sense rushing to buy a 10M clock. May or may not make your system sound any better. But 10M can sound excellent - especially on a 10M DAC.

Sorry for noob question a 10m dac is a dac that doesn’t use your typical 45/49 clock but a10m only? Like gustard x26 pro?

 

[DACLadder]

Sorry for noob question a 10m dac is a dac that doesn’t use your typical 45/49 clock but a10m only? Like gustard x26 pro?

Yes, looks the x26 pro uses the same K2 clock synthesizer. Connect a 10Mhz clock and the K2 circuit generates 45/49 clocks. Much debate why it sounds as good as it does.

Is the x26 pro 10M only? I did not see XOs in the description.

 

[JaMo]

The X26Pro is a dual ESS ES9038 Pro chip based dac. I has most likely at least one 100MHz TCXO inside. Here is a quote: "X26 PRO uses a custom built high-quality femto-second clock generator which is integrated into a jitter reduction architecture." from this review : https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/gustard-x26-pro-dac-review/. Read under "Tech Inside X26 PRO"

Wonder if ref10 is 6x better than c18

No. Clocks aren't linear priced to their performance, it is more of an logarithmic scale. You almost always have to pay a lot to get the upper levels
/Jan

 

[JaMo]

Go with the C18, I agree with @DACLadder, 15% off is a bargain. The C18 has four outputs, two w sinewave and two square wave outputs.

 

[cglin222]

Go with the C18, I agree with @DACLadder, 15% off is a bargain. The C18 has four outputs, two w sinewave and two square wave outputs.

Actually c18 is 1599 and 1359 with 15% off
I think this is still a good deal
So what does the sine and square wave do to the sound? In theory

 

[cglin222]

And what’s the take on the denafrips Terra clock that don’t use 10 mhz
What clock is consider audio clock 10, 22/24, 45/49?

 

[JaMo]

Actually c18 is 1599 and 1359 with 15% off
I think this is still a good deal
So what does the sine and square wave do to the sound? In theory

It is a good deal.

Sine wave will be transformed/reshaped to square wave inside the dac's circuits. A high quality square wave can give a better result especially in lower/mid level gears. High end gears usually have a well thought trough conversion and both are equally performance-wise.

As Master clock 10MHz is studio standard.

In normal gears (dac's..) You normally derive useful clock signals from 22/24 or 45/49 and in some cases 90/98 Mhz oscillators. This to be able to play the following sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 196, 352.8 and 384 kHz on PCM and DSD64, 128, 256, 512... ESS chips often uses 100MHz. The reason for going to higher frequency XO's is to get the phase noise down. (-dBc/1Hz).

A good clock function give more air, more detailed and laid back presentation to say it very short.

/Jan

 

[MAURO16164]

Has anyone ever used the Neutron Star3 clocks from NewClassAudio? What do you think? https://www.newclassd.com/index.php?page=200

 

[FredA]

Agreed with the recommendation of the Gustard c18 made by headfiers on this thread. I have no experience with it but its little brother (c16) has good comments and on paper, it is the best bang for the the buck, especially if you need multiple outputs. It is well worth a try. It looks like a high-quality device.

As for single output units, Afterdark is well worth checking too. The 3-ouput units like the one i own are still very good values, but not as much as the c18, on paper at least. Their top 3-output is around 4k. I am happy with mine.

An important note: never turn off your OCXO. They take days to stabilize and reach max performance.

Don't shop for frequency accuracy, like the atomic and GPSDO clocks offer. What matters is having ultra-low phase noise.