I'm looking for a master clock, primarily to improve the sound of my Apogee AD16. The Big Ben seemed like the obvious choice, but I'm not sure that it's not overkill for my needs.

How would, say, the Lucid GENx6 compare in terms of sound quality alone for clocking the AD16? I'd be interested to hear from people who have experience of both. I'm looking for a unit with wordclock out, so any other suggestions?

Thanks! thumbsup

Try a few?

Absolutely - I will when I get the chance. The reason I ask specifically about the Lucid is that it has a similar spec. to the Apogee but weighs in at less than half the price. I just wondered if the Apogee would give me twice as much performance...

Kinda of doubt the Big Ben would give you twice the performance of the GENx6-96. At a certain level you are only buying a few percentage points more in quality. The law of diminishing return. I have the GENx and it really improved my sound quite a bit more than the $600 I paid for it. Highly recommended. Go for the GENx you will certainly be happy with it. I got mine from a company I never dealt with before - Same Day Audio. They were excellent.

pat
mms

Lets relive this for my sake.....

I've got my UA2192 clocked to my Lucid GENx6 clocked to my Big Ben all clocked to my UltraVolumeMaximizer!



but honestly. I run a GENx6 at 44.1Khz. The other parts of the equation are a Sony DMX-R100 console and a Motu 2508mk2. I can't compare to other boxes but I noticed a very big difference when I clocked to the GENx6. I don't know if the Big Ben is worth twice the dough.

-Chris

That is what I am thinking, but anyone else care to chime in?

So...do you think the GENx6 would improve the converters on the Presonus Digi-Max LT?....

I'll second that. I bought a Lucid clock a couple years ago because of odd noises that would show up now and again when I used an ADAT stream for sync. Aside from the blips and bleeps (and swishes and whirls) going away, I noticed a great improvement in the quality of sound from a 2408MKII (of which I no longer use the analog section). And a brand who's name I dare not speak...the B-word... ... (only using the DA side) clocked to the Lucid sounded pretty darn good, actually better than the MOTU.

Currently, my GENx6 is distributing clock to RME converters, several HDSP9652s, the MOTU, etc. Works peachy. The RME DS does sound tighter to my ears. But it's really about being able to use many digital devices, at this time for me, and the converters getting a slight goose is gravy.

Someone may be able to chime in here to tell you why a BB's C777 clock would make a better clock source because of how it handles jitter compared to a Lucid, etc., etc. I may eventually try one out in my set-up, but it's not because I feel that the Lucid is lacking in any way, or that the converters I have are going to become Lavrys...

I wouldn't think a BB + your AD16 is going to get you any closer to a AD16X, if that's the logic, as opposed to a Lucid + your AD16. I may be wrong, which happens from time to time.

Yes, I would say from experience with both that you are most definitely wrong here. Big Ben is a great deal better than the Lucid. The Lucid clock was not even as good as the clock in my Prisms, at least, it did not sound as good clocking the Prism to the Lucid. On the other hand, Big Ben clocking the Prism made a big difference.

Thanks for your input, ToddS. I'll check out the Apogee.

On a related note to what you said:

I took a look behind my racks (it's been a loooong while since I fooled around with my clocking), and noticed that I actually have an RME converter clocking the Lucid. I'm basically using the GENx6 as a distributor. I don't remember making that switch, but at some point I must have tried it and liked the results. Hmmmmm...





Sorry for the slight hi-jack, Recording David.

Just a follow-up, ToddS.

Had the opportunity to hook-up a BB over the last week in numerous configurations in my studio.

Conclusion... more money for another pre. Glad I tried it, though.

I recently got a Big Ben and am over the moon with it. It's improved the sound of my Mackie D8b no end, until I can stump the cash to get 2 Rosetta 800's that is!