Does clocking the RME Fireface 800 change it´s sound?

[Mats H]

Hey!

RME keeps stating that adding an outside clock will never improve the sound of the interface, as the Fireface re-clocks all incoming clocks.

I had some time to kill and did a clock test with my FF 800 to see if it´d be improved or at least performing differently by adding another clock. The clock used was a Swissonic WD-8.

At 96 KHz, I did two loopback recordings. One with and one without external sync. The test tones was a -3 dBFS 20 seconds long 10 KHz sine wave file through out 3-4 and input 3-4 on the FF800, at +4dBu input/output sensitivity, with balanced HOSA cables of 1 m length. I then analyzed the results using Rightmark Audio Analyzer (FFT 131072 samples, 75% FFT overlap, Kaiser window) to see if there was any difference in the frequency spectrum.

Look at these files with microsoft´s image viewer or something similar that will show you the images in a sequence, or just overlay one over the other one with photoshop/paint shop pro, to see the differences.

You be the judge.

[Youn]

so... does it sound different?

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by Youn

so... does it sound different?

I can´t hear the difference between externally and internally clocked audio on my FF800, switching between ext and int sync. When I used my old Wami Rack 24 the clock did a big difference, but only when I had recorded a bunch of tracks and mixed them. It sounded more defined, smoother, less harsh. Especially vocals sounded a whole lot better. Much less grain. It was easier to mix.

I have a home studio and I haven´t really put a whole lot of money into acoustic treatment yet, so the monitoring kinda suffers from it. Now when I have the new sound card everything sounds a whole lot better and I have yet to notice a big difference between better and better, compared to how it used to sound.

The test was more of a theoretical test, the spectrum analysis "looks" better when externally clocked, even though it "shouldn´t", according to RME...

[NathanEldred]

Maybe you'll need a better external clock to hear a difference?

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by NathanEldred

Maybe you'll need a better external clock to hear a difference?

Yeah, maybe. Now this was just a clock test to see if RME was bullshitting us with the "the sound doesn´t change when externally synced". I got this Swissonic clock a year and a half ago for $200, to improve my old sound card. It did. I don´t feel the need to put $1400 into a Big ben to improve the clock of a $1400 sound card... and certainly not for proving a point. I´d rather just get an Aurora and be done with it.

Now, if someone (Apogee) would help me prove my point by sending me a Big Ben for free...

[sunflute]

Although RME says that an external clock won't improve the sound of the Fireface, I clock mine with a Lucid SSG192 and I notice a difference. The sound is tighter and more defined with the lucid clock.

Peace
Marco