I just got my K50 and connected it with my DCS Rossini APXE DAC and Rossini Clock.
I am using AES and I am not sure whether its clocked or not…
I asked this on the Antipodes forum and received this response from Mark Cole of Antipodes:
"The Word Clock Output on all Antipodes serves runs in multiples of 44.1 and 48khz. Any device connected via Word Clock must be run in SLAVE mode. From my understanding the golden rule with DCS is that the source must be slaved to DCS, this is not possible with any Antipodes products. However if the DCS has a Reference input then in the Reference input setting it must be set to TTL. The DCS is a grade 1 master clock, there is nothing to be gained in slaving it. When connecting via AES the signal is reclocked in the Antipodes, then reclocked again in the DCS."
Can someone please shed some light on this as there is no TTL or Slave options on the Rossini?
If the Antipodes has a Wordclock output, you can connect it to the Wordclock input on the Rossini. See if you like it compared to no clock connection.
As you already own a master clock, it probably won’t improve.
Different manufacturers have different philosophies regarding clocking. Unfortunately, of all the server manufacturers out there to the best of my knowledge only Aurender offers options that are philosophically aligned with dCS (see my post in this other thread for more detail) and can be connected according to dCS’s preferred clocking schemes.
The bottom line is that with the K50, your only option is to use the embedded word clock in the AES3 signal, to do this set the Sync Mode in your Rossini DAC to A for Audio. Your Rossini Master Clock is redundant in this configuration.
Mark appears to be mixing things up a bit, I don’t think he fully understands the dCS clocking architecture. No dCS DACs have a Reference Clock input (a Reference Clock is a clock that runs at 10 MHz, as opposed to a Word Clock which runs at an integer multiple of the sampling rate, either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz). In the dCS product range only the Vivaldi Master Clock has such an input and it can be configured to accept either a square wave (‘TTL’) or a sine wave (‘AC’). Those options are not relevant for the Word Clock inputs on the DACs.
As an aside, I find it strange that a music server, which is a digital source, should have a clock output. I thought most companies accepted that the preferred clocking schemes are based on either an external master clock or having the DAC provide the master clock, both of which require a word clock input on the source. That said, this is all hypothetical to a degree. If feeding your Rossini from the K50 sounds better than the internal streamer then who cares about philosophical differences over clocking?
[Edited] Yes, this should work (assuming the K50 Word Clock is supplied at an integer multiple of the sampling rate - can’t find that information anywhere on the Antipodes site) but according to dCS’s philosophy this is a but like the cart pulling the horse.
You COULD take the clock out from the Antipodes into one of the two clock inputs on the Rossini and then set the sync option for the AES input (that you have the Antipodes connected to) to W1 or W2 (whichever you have the clock connected to) but then you wouldn’t be able to use your Rossini Clock with your Rossini correctly elsewhere.
My suggestion in this case would be to simply set the audio sync to “Auto” / “Audio” and let the Rossini pull its sync from the Antipodes source audio.
Thanks everyone, your feedback is much appreciated. @Phil , I am currently using a single AES cable without a 75-ohm cable from the K50 server. Therefore, only the two 75-ohm cables are connected between the DAC and the Clock. The Clock is set to ‘Auto Word Clock’ and appears to be switching between W1 and W2 based on the source file format (44 kHz or 96/192 kHz), suggesting that the clock is receiving information via the AES cable. Could you confirm if this configuration is technically sound/correct?
Unfortunately I don’t think that’s going to work because, unless I’m badly mistaken, the Antipodes Clock output runs at 22.05MHz/24MHz. Multiples of 44.1k/48k, but not very useful for most consumer audio kit.
I’m not sure why Antipodes continues to play hide & seek with these basic Clock output frequency numbers. Quite disingenuous of them.
Yes, understood and in line with most people’s ex experience in various circumstances. However AES in this case limiting you to DSD64 and PCM to 192. Of course how significant that may be is down to your music library. I just wonder if a dCS/Antipodes combination is really the most compatible?
Yes, makes me think the same at this point…
I was considering Aurender but I really like to use Roon, so opted for Antipodes which sounded really good in my setup.
I guess I can squeeze more / better sound quality with a more suitable source?
On a subjective level, possibly but that will be down to your tastes. This being so I steer clear from suggestions or recommendations. Objectively, though ,it depends on what you want. Better NAS ( storage) or a different streamer to Rossini ? In the latter case just about every alternative only provides USB and you have already experienced the possible downside to that. As NAS some audiophile units do provide network (ethernet) connection which is what Rossini was primarily designed for.
I suggest that you go to Antipodes website and read the guide for you model. I haven’t time ( or the inclination) to read it in full but it seems playback method requires more of your activity in playback settings than just changing the ports and wire.
BTW, as I was checking this I saw that one option in playback setting was use with MinimServer which is how Mosaic with network connection functions. I don’t know exactly how this works but you may wish to investigate further.
