Big Ben VS. ??

[NyquistFilter]

I currently clock everything to my Mytek Stereo 96. Does anyone know if this clock is close to the Big Ben or is the BB leaps and bounds ahead of most clocks? Or does it not even matter unless I am syncing tons of gear? Would there be a huge difference using the Big Ben?

[Ruudman]

I hate to be a bore, but do a search on Big Ben at this forum. Several large threads has covered this subject.

Happy hunting


ruudman

[Toad]

There's no reason to use the Big Ben if you're using the Mytek as master!

[natpub]

summary: some people like it, some dont, some situations may need one, some dont, test one out

[jabney]

hi Nyquistfilter,

Yes you can search the threads. The Big Ben you will see touted as being able to work miracles, cure dandruff, bring about world peace, etc. Usually by people who have one, or have only heard of the Big Ben when it comes to word clocks.

I am probably the only person posting here who has a Drawmer M-Clock, and I am very pleased with it. I bought it instead of the Big Ben because the Drawmer has eight clock outputs which I could - theoretically - need (The Big Ben I believe has six). I also like the Drawmer's extensive conversion capabilities.

However, if I am using one piece of clockable gear only, I generally prefer using internal clock. The Drawmer M-Clock does improve a couple of older pieces, and doesn't seem to degrade the newer stuff to any appreciable degree. Of course for multiple devices, then an external clock is a real lifesaver.

[lowland]

...and I'm the other guy with an M-Clock! It started as a review, and I ended up buying one.

Agreed, jabney, M-Clock's a good bit of kit if used appropriately, like any external clock: when I'm running my chain all-digital I use it for everything except the HEDD, which doesn't sync to external WC in digital mode though is quite happy picking up clock from the AES. The M-Clock's AES black outputs also genlock my SADiE and considerably improve the Masterlink's playback quality.

Two downsides to the M-Clock: it doesn't do video sync (I use the Rosendahl Nansyncs for that at my other workplace - also a good box) and it doesn't take external clock and distribute it.

I probably wouldn't use the M-Clock onboard SRCs except in a 'quick and dirty' emergency, but for my fairly simple mastering purposes this must be one of the better wordclock bargains around. If anyone's interested, when I run an analogue loop through my new and fab Chandler LTD-2 compressors (the loop comes back in via the HEDD ADC), I then clock the whole shebang from the HEDD which seems to work fine at the moment.

To reply to the original post, if the whole system is being clocked to the Mytek then I would find it hard to imagine that a Big Ben would make things sound any better unless you have scads of digital gear and endless retransmission of the digital clock is making the signal the worse for wear as jabney says - even if that's the case clocking the Myteks from the BB - if that's even possible - would probably lead to a degradation in sound quality, but taking the WC out from the Mytek and redistributing it via the BB (assuming it can do that) *might* help.

[crypticglobe]

Frankly, I prefer the UA 2192 over both. It's an incredible clock, and has the best sounding 2 channels of A/D and D/A I have heard. Really, really incredible. Clocking my other gear to the 2192 really made a big difference. Side by side with the Big Ben and using it alternately as the master clock.... several of us could hear no difference in the rest of the converters in the chain when clocked to the Big Ben vs clocked to the 2192.

Just my 2 cents..

[Ruudman]

There you go , what a good feeling to be satisfied


ruudman

[Shaman]

Many agree on that big ben makes especially the digi 192 sound much better.
If it was not made in exactly that intention. It improves the 192 noticable.

So if you have at least one 192 and several external digital FX the big ben is the best "chip tuning" bargain there is.

Doesn´t have to be the case with other converters

[jabney]

hi lowlands,

You left out my only real pet peeve about the M-Clock - the bright blue LED :-) (Even a little brighter than the blue LED on the Great River MP2 NV.)

Thank heaven for rear rack-rails.