I have a Vivaldi One + Clock, difference is not subtle, shutting down the clock the scene collapses and the atmosphere around instruments is gone.
With the clock a violin sounds like a violin, the piano is the real thing.
Without the clock Vivaldi One is a good DAC, but you must turn it on not to miss (too much) the analogue sources.
Cables?, yes unfortunately clock cables do matter.
… in my system, to my ears.
IMHO the type of music you listen to matters a lot when it comes to evaluate the importance of a clock.
If you listen to classical music, you need the clock, on other types of music where harmonics are not that important to get the “feeling”, maybe you can get along without it.
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I am more convinced than ever that what makes instruments sound real and defines soundstages in digital is proper clocking. This kind of makes sense if you understand jitter will smear micro-timing cues, which historically have been important for humans to know whether that animal you hear is 100 feet away or in the bushes in front of you. 
As I mentioned Wadia was hyper-nerdy about getting timing right, and Moon uses a femtosecond-accurate clock in their 780Dv2.
That doesn’t mean dCS’ DACs are bad about clocking without external clocks, but they can always be better.
They are also not the only factor as Esoteric is also incredibly nerdy about clocking yet their DACs still sound a bit bright to me compared to dCS and Wadia.
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You didn’t have to delete your post. I have double-checked my non-external-clocked Rossini and pianos indeed sounded like pianos. My wife (professional classical musician for decades) agreed to lend her ears and was able to concur that those were, in fact, pianos.
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I’ve always said we need more emojis for posts than just the heart. This one deserves 
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Note I will admit the clockless Rossini is better about this than the Bartok.
It took me less than thirty seconds to unplug the Bartok when I got the demo home and put it back into the box.
The sound of a piano hammer striking a string does not have a harsh metallic-sounding leading edge; on many DACs that’s how it’s reproduced.
Sorry to say, but this is your truth BillK, in your system. But there are many more factors that influence the performance of a DAC then just an external clock. I can tell you that there are no harsh metallic sounding leading edges (piano) on the Rossini in my system (without a clock), in my system it took me a while to find best matching powercord, that gave me a much better result than adding the clock.
But again this is in my system, that is what is bugging me a bit, if you mention that you get the best result with clock in your system, it’s fine, but I get the feeling you try to force your point to everyone else,
I can confirm, I heard many times Rossini in different configuration, many places and never sounded harsh or metallic. I played it with scarlatti clock and Now with vivaldi one. If you had a harsh sound, it came from somewhere else.
Sorry @mwilson, I was afraid my sarcasm would not be well-received and so I deleted the original post. Thanks for having a sense of humor and for your kind and funny response! : )
R
Though I have said dCS shouldn’t allow the Rossini to be sold without the Clock I also understand why they don’t take that approach.
Honestly, if you’re not sensitive to it or perhaps if you don’t have my track that shows it, it may not be a big deal to you but it was to me as I’m sensitive to it.
Do what you like, I’m not trying to “force” anyone to get a clock, but today I had my impressions reinforced all over again when comparing a Rossini APEX with and without the clock.
The piano thing is something I am sensitive to; the sound stage and depth and sense of space thing is immediately noticeable to anyone, the question being whether it matters to you.
Bill, what track is that you’re referencing?
“If These Walls Could Speak” by Amy Grant
Source: Myrrh CD Lead Me On (7016871614) (1988)
Thanks. Will have a listen.
Note it has to be the 1988 version; the later EMI remaster available on iTunes and streaming services completely destroys the sound profile as most remasters do.
Granted this is YouTube, but you can hear it (not as strongly but it’s there) here:
It’s almost painful to listen to directly on my iPhone or Mac. 
It’s much more obvious on the CD or a rip from the CD.
I can’t get dCS or my local dealer to respond to my not fully working Bartok never mind upgrading to a Apex series unit.
I am having to dispose of the dCS and have purchased a Linn LP12 Klimax instead…
Bartok not working since Xmas '21…details here:
Sean
I don’t understand why my comment to agree that it is not a great recording is offensive
I agree, your comment is on the quality of the recording only. It should not be flagged.
Having said that, I heard worse recordings, it is not that bad…here the point was on the way the piano is heard…lacking deep impact but not agressive…on my system…
Can I flag the flagger 
Why have I been flagged? Is it deemed offensive now to point out that a so-called reference recording is just a bad recording and, in my opinion, an utterly forgettable piece of music? Is it too impolite to point out the obvious truth that certain kinds of music neither warrant nor benefit from a highly resolving hifi system? Are we now meant to hold all music in equally high regards? Lady Gaga equals Bach?!
I don’t feel it’s a bad recording at all, in fact it’s one of the better engineered recordings particularly of that era.
Having seen Amy in person innumerable times and having spoken to her several times, it captures her voice well and it also is wonderful for other reasons, both in content and musically.
Further, it has been a test track for me because the piano, whether you call it poorly recorded or not, has instantly revealed the character of the DAC under test for the twenty-eight or so years I’ve used it for that. I’ve used it at home, at RMAF and myriad dealers.
When I played the track for PS Audio’s Ted Smith at RMAF, upon hearing the metallic sound of the piano hammers he instantly said “Oooh, I know what I did wrong” and started thinking of a fix. He suggested we try going back a firmware level, and there the metallic sound of the piano hammers was gone but soundstaging was off, proving it’s always something.
The late Charles Hansen of Ayre and I also had a good discussion of it comparing the QX-5 Twenty to one of their older DACs when I stopped in Ayre one day. I miss him, great guy.
If you want to say you don’t hear a difference, that’s fine, or if you have a better demo track, that’s cool, I have no issue with that.
If you want to say you feel it’s a bad recording that’s also fine, and perhaps it should be unflagged.
However with your desire to flag the flagger (yes, me) this might as well be Twitter in terms of attacks on those with whom you disagree.
We’re all here to enjoy ourselves, aren’t we?
My opinions, for what they’re worth:
- some recordings are better than others
- some music I enjoy more than other music
- some people disagree with me on both
- almost all the music I listen to on my system is for my own enjoyment
- occasionally, I’ll listen to something that I don’t find enjoyable, but that helps me highlight a difference between a couple of upgrade options
- if an upgrade option makes the music I enjoy sound worse, the upgrade doesn’t happen
- I’ll do my utmost not to disparage someone else’s tastes or opinions — it seems unproductive at best and unkind at worst
If we think someone’s choice of music for comparisons is terrible — either musically and technically, in terms of how much it’ll help comparisons — then sure, why not suggest a few tracks that could be “better” in some way.
For me, though, it’s presumptuous to think that our “better” applies to either the music or technical aspect. And I’m not sure what the forum gains when we disparage someone else’s taste.
A system that reproduces music I don’t like really, really well isn’t a good system for me.
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