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Originally Posted by louieo  I was hoping this experiment would generate some A/B samples from other people with external word clocks, but it looks like this thread is pretty much dead, so I'll finish up. The two of you who guessed "B" were right, that was the microclock. Counting my friends who guessed offline the results are about even. Myself, I've tried hard to hear a difference and I can't really, but when mixing "in the box" I do think that's better than either A or B, so I decided to go that route with my setup. Hats off to Jon Nolan and ghetto3jon: let me know if you're in the market for a used BLA clock, I'll sell you mine. |
Thanks for taking the effort to cut and upload the Wav files!
Sorry for raising an old thread, guys. But I was just doing some research on clocks and came across this thread.
I honestly did a blind A/B test with a couple of head/earphones and could hear quite some distinct differences.
For headphones, I was using a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50 monitor cans and felt that the pick-attack of the acoustic guitar had a bit more presence and clarity on sample B.
For earphones, I was using a pair of Shure SE210 (yes they're terrible, I know) and even with its not-so-extended high response, sample B indeed sounded clearer.
I found that it made most impact on the voice, like an extra bit of air into the backup's "ooohs" and the main vocals' sibilances were more airy and prominent (not aggressive btw) too. Perhaps the high accuracy of the low-jitter clock really did reduce the phase cancellations of the high frequency region during conversion (sounds like you deployed some really good mics btw).
Glad to find this post's confirmation that sample B was indeed the externally clocked sample and that I'm not imagining things.
Sure, the mix definitely does just fine without a dedicated external clock, but I believe it's just a matter of taste. Some folks like to capture stuff as accurately as possible while others find that some coloration (or "smearing") adds a touch of character into the recording (or helps gloss over some imperfections of the talent's material).
I really think there's no harm in keeping the microclock in your digital signal chain.
-Just some background-
Not that I am affiliated with Blacklion in anyway.
I was just looking around on clock oscillators for some plans that I had on gear modifications and what are the benefits of getting one with lower jitter ratings.
Looks like I've found extra motivation to pursue this subject matter a bit farther.