Clock difference

Hi,

Im curious to know whats the difference between rossini clock vs vivaldi clock. Is it functionality wise or how it’s tuned or… How l much better in sound does vivaldi clock add to compare to the rossini clock?

Hi sili,

I can’t directly answer your question. But a few years ago I had a dCS Scarlatti stack and upgraded the pieces one by one to Vivaldi. The last replacement was the Scarlatti clock with the Vivaldi Clock.

It was meaningful, musically important, and one of those things that there was no need for an AB comparison.

I think the answer for you depends on your ancillaries. If you you’re planning on going Vivaldi one day, might as well get that clock now. If you have the Rossini platform, it could be a small improvement.

Can you AB this at your dealer? My dealer has both, but I never asked this question…

Hi Sili,

Worth having a good search here, as there are a few people who have asked similar questions.

The high-level answers I’d give are:

  • A simple DAC + Clock configuration will be the same with either, but…
  • You can plug a 10MHz reference clock into the Vivaldi Clock (there’s no external clock input on the Rossini Clock)
  • The Vivaldi Clock sounded much better to me (see here)
  • You’ll need a lot more space for the Vivaldi Clock, and these pics will show you part of the reason why :slight_smile:

As @jcfrech suggests, if you can compare them at a dealer, you should :+1:

Thanks John and Ben for your good advice. Its a pity but I am not near to a dealer so I cannot ab test both to hear the difference. Anyhow, I went with a rossinin clock because I do feel I will keep the Rossini for quite some time. Instead, I have invested in a better clocking cable instead of using the stocks.

The results is very noticeable. To use the clock to its full potential I would recommend anyone to invest on decent clock cables. Im glad I made this decision and my money is well spent. thanks

May I ask which are the clock cables you are using and like?
I am on the quest to get good clock cables at a reasonable price.

I’m happy with my Geistnote 75 Ω Apogee Wyde Eye Word Clock cables.

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Many of us are very happy with good quality cables from the professional audio world, such as the Apogee cable that Jonathan has. The big manufacturers such as Belden and Canare seem to design their 75 Ohm digital cables to transmit higher and higher frequencies over longer and longer distances - many tens of metres. I suspect our application is not very demanding from a technical perspective, and there isn’t likely to be one ‘perfect’ cable.

My own cable choice, which I would not claim to be either better or worse than the Apogee, is a Belden cable (type 4794). It’s a bit stiff, being solid core and silver plated, but they have other choices available. The price? About $30 for a 1 m cable.

Years ago when I owned a Puccini, and my system had less resolution than it does now, I compared a Transparent Reference clock cable (very pricey, a 4 figure amount) with a Chord Sarum or Sarum T ‘digital’ cable. I use the quotes because I realise now that the Chord cable wasn’t even 75 Ohms. I was unable to discern any sonic difference between the two!

One more observation, related to what I’ve said about the Chord: I think that the BNC-terminated ‘digital’ cables sold by many hi-fi cable makers very likely aren’t 75 Ohms unless they state it explicitly.

Finally, elsewhere on the forum there is a lot of discussion of clock cables that is worth reading.

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I am now using the Jorma digital (75ohm) cable. I think its good but I have not compare with others(not mentioning the stock cable). I later find out the other cables they sell are so crazy expensive, Im amazed that this one cable relatively affordable ! I was told it has good cost/performance ratio and resell value, plus Im not a cable guy I do not like to fiddle with cables so I just went with it. My opinion is that unless you use the Vivaldi, this combo you likely get more value for money.

Two years ago when I purchased my Rossini+Clock I went through the exercise of querying forum members as to which clock cables they were using. I was surprised to find many, including those with Vivaldi stacks, using relatively inexpensive cables. The former head of dCS America suggested I start with the Apogee Wide Eye cable and I found many to be using this particular cable as well.

A few months ago I followed several posts by Marco @anon30536008 singing the praises of Chris Sommovigo’s Black Cat TRON cables. Pete @PAR had complimentary things to say about this cable artisan as well. Two months ago I ran across a set of Black Cat’s introductory DIGIT 75 clock cables and inserted them into my system. I was impressed - enough to place an order for Chris’s new MINI TRON clock cable. This is advertised as bumping right up against the performance of the full TRON cable at a more “affordable” price.

I have been trialing these cables for the past week and have been completely floored with the improvement they have made to my system. It has been an upgrade similar to what I experienced many years ago when I moved up the Chord Company range of cables and inserted their MUSIC cables in my Naim system between my Linn Klimax DS/Linn LP12 and 552 preamp.

I have been so impressed that at times I have wondered about trying the TRON cables to see how much more they can provide. I am trying to hold back as I also believe in system matching. A pair of $2300 MINI TRON cables are appropriate, imho, for a $7000 Rossini Clock. A full set of TRON, at $4600, does not seem wise for a $7000 clock. If I had a Vivaldi clock perhaps it would be a different story :smile:

Highly recommended

Best
Gregg

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It is true, that is the ultimate level of snobbery :laughing:

Some can spend 100.000€ in dCS gear but they spend 300€ in cables, it so unimportant :wink:

Personally I use Transparent reference cables and I can’t complain…But there are so many good combinations that deliver a good sound that it is impossible to give valid advice, the only thing we can do is sharing individual experience…

Everyone has personal experiences and views on cables. I’m using the Apogee cables on my Vivaldi and have no interest in trying expensive ones because I know how a clock signal works and the role it plays in the Vivaldi stack. I don’t believe expensive cables could possibly improve on the electrical behavior of the Apogees for this type of signal. Obivously others have come to different conclusions, so I’m happy to admit I might be wrong, but also happy with my decision!

I do use Acrolink/Estoeric cables for all my other digital/analog/speaker cables, so I do recognize that in other applications they can make a difference, but I’ve never found it to be more than subtle. Again, that’s just me, as others commonly change cables and find the difference ‘obvious’, ‘night and day’, ‘jaw dropping’ etc.

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I would just advise being cautious when you say “I know how a clock signal works…” and using that as a justification; IMHO it’s just as dangerous as saying “this cable is pricier, so it must perform better.”

Rather than make the decision intellectually, try a different cable sometime, just for fun; most dealers will let you borrow one. You may hear no difference, or the sound may get better… or worse.

Once upon a time I “knew” power cords couldn’t possibly make a difference either; how wrong I was.

As far as subtle vs. “night and day” - it depends on what you’re listening for and how little details affect your enjoyment of music.

There are people that say they can’t hear a difference between an MP3 and an uncompressed digital file as well, and I don’t criticize those people, I actually think them somewhat lucky as to me an MP3 is like listening to nails on a chalkboard.

I’ve actually had to leave a room before because someone was playing MP3s and I couldn’t stand the sonic artifacts, they were putting me on edge.

It reminds me of the first time I heard a Wadia DAC. Sure I had CDs and liked them, especially the absence of surface noise.

But while those I was with didn’t hear a huge difference, my jaw dropped as it was the first time I had ever heard CD sound like… music I wanted to listen to rather than something that was on in the background or a way to hear that cool new song.

For the record, I originally was using Cardas Clear clock cables between my Rossini Player and Rossini Clock, but my dealer recommended I try a pair of AudioQuest WEL Signature because he was blown away by what he heard.

After getting over the shock that a clock cable could make such a major sonic difference, I found he was completely correct and bought a pair.