Rossini Clock, dither switch on or off, what sounds the best, is there a difference?

[PAR (Pete)]

As with all user selectable options like this, dCS provide them because there is no “correct” answer. It is irrelevant if others like it one way or another . It is what YOU prefer that is important.

You say that you prefer it on. If the majority of respondents prefer it off, would you
decide to change your mind? Remember that the number of respondents would be random.

Of course you might also have no preference in any case.

The earliest dCS system clocks did not have this feature which was added later after it was suggested.If I remember dCS simply said try it and see. Which you have .

[MattC (Matt)]

One of the great strengths of dCS - that is also a weakness - is the myriad options

I love the fact they are configurable to taste - but they are also a tinkerers dream, and I’m not a tinkerer (!!) …I genuinely have no desire to spend months back to back testing different music on different settings and writing them down and remembering that if I’m playing a jazz album I should go with Filter 4 in DSDX2 with no dither, whereas if I play a Soul playlist I should go DSD and Filter 3 with both dithers on…. I’m not arguing that each wouldn’t sound better than the other if I put the hours in and did all the groundwork to get to that point, and I’m also not arguing that some people get a huge amount of satisfaction out of doing just that!

What I’m saying is - I like to find a sound that works for me and stick with it…and if there is a fast track to that from hearing a consensus view or some advice on “start here” then I’m always very open to it

PS I honestly don’t even know what dither is. I just want to play my Ambient Elecronica Compiliation Album!

[Ermos (Erno)]

@MattC

PS I honestly don’t even know what dither is.

[FAQ] How does the Dither feature on dCS Master Clocks work?

With a Master Clock in the system, the Transport, Upsampler and DAC use their internal Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuits to lock to the Master Clock. PLLs use a phase detector to determine the frequency difference between the incoming clock and the internal clock, then adjust the internal clock slightly so that the two clocks are at the same frequency – locked. Unfortunately, phase detectors are not very sensitive to the very small frequency errors found near the lock point. The Dither feature m…

[Anupc (Anup)]

@MattC

whereas if I play a Soul playlist I should go DSD and Filter 3 with both dithers on

It’s not actually “double” dither. As in Erno’s quote from the manual, those dither buttons allow you to activate dither independently for each of the Clock frequencies; 44.1kHz and 48kHz. No configuration applies “double” dithered to a single clock frequency.

[AndrewS (Andrew)]

I would recommend you set dither to on on both clocks.

[PAR (Pete)]

@MattC

I honestly don’t even know what dither is

Scroll back a few posts in this thread to June 2020 where James of dCS gives a useful explanation . Incidentally I would once have posted a link bu this new version of the forum is giving me some issues for mid-thread links which I have yet to solve.

[MattC (Matt)]

@Anupc

It’s not actually “double” dither

Makes sense. I just enjoyed the alliteration of it. Like Double Denim. Makes me smile. The ‘Ol Canadian Tuxedo

[Anupc (Anup)]

Double-Ds generally point me in a slightly different direction…

(And I don’t mean American Eagle Denim )