Author Topic: Clocks - Recommended? (Read 14500 times)

ozmillsy · « **on:** September 26, 2010, 07:11:47 AM »

Hey fellas, I'm going to source a better clock for my CD960.

What's recommended?

Trichord
Burson
DIY, mario design?

Are there specific model numbers that are better than others?

tuyen · « **Reply #1 on:** September 26, 2010, 08:59:40 AM »

I've tried trichord and burson and played around with both. I have found after doing the same mods as I have done on both units, they are pretty much indistinguishable in terms of performance and sonics. Hence I have personally concluded that it is more to do with the power supply used (I'm using 12V car battery), capacitors (mainly vintage oil fills) and using TCXO 1ppm 11.2mhz oscillator chip.

In stock form, they differ slightly.. the burson is very clean and clear sounding. After changing the stock onboard Elna Silmics to Dubilier Nitrogol oil fill caps, the sound became less sharp/pinpoint clear but it added more 'glow' to the sound. I guess it is a personal preference and it might not measure as good as the stock unit but to me it sounds more natural/real

So I guess my point is, they are all 'good' and will improve things from the stock unit (especially after feeding the unit with external power), but it is just a matter of modding it to see if you can get it to sound different (and hopefully more suited to your tastes).

kajak12 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 26, 2010, 11:01:05 AM »

hello oz,mario diy clock is still in r@d stage (my mate has got it) it works and its diffrent to my trichord 2 clock.
bang for your buck you cant beat it.and you also learn how to build one.

kajak12 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 26, 2010, 11:14:57 PM »

just for oz

ozmillsy · « **Reply #4 on:** September 27, 2010, 09:11:54 PM »

Quote from: tuyen on September 26, 2010, 08:59:40 AM

In stock form, they differ slightly.. the burson is very clean and clear sounding. After changing the stock onboard Elna Silmics to Dubilier Nitrogol oil fill caps, the sound became less sharp/pinpoint clear but it added more 'glow' to the sound.

Thanks for the experiences Tuyen. I've ordered a Burson, and will get another battery pack (like the one I'm using with the Lightspeed) to power it. Unfortunately, the missus simply will not tolerate a car battery in our loungeroom.

I also plan to build a diymario special for fun. The Burson will be a good reference for comparison, and I have a CD94 on the way, so I might need 2 clocks eventually anyway.

vitavoxdude · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2011, 02:39:06 PM »

Hey Oz

Just get a wooden 'sowing box' remove the inside trays, insert the car battery close the lid and tell her you've taken up sewing!
Yeah like thats going to work.

Grow a pair and put it in a nice decrotive box tht matches your / her decor and tell her its essential to your relationships health, sure she will get the message.
V

audiophool · « **Reply #6 on:** January 09, 2011, 05:32:36 PM »

Kojak has a lot to answer for, rubbished my Burson clock, dragged me over to see his "better" one and all I can find are pictures of a few components connected by long wires to capacitors the size of a can of baked beans and a car battery and all sitting on a piece of plywood - like all that will fit in my poor CD52.
False pretences I call it.

Did see http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290513887563&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT this which looked a bit interesting, reckon I could fit that into the 52 with a little traffo of its own and I'm half tempted to try http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290513887563&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT on the output as well.

Did you fit a Burson Oz ? do anything special to power it ? change any caps ?

No I don't have a "killer DAC" but I did kill one DAC earlier last year - bit keen with the hot iron, had to send it away for open heart surgery - it has allegedly been resuscitated now and on its way home.
All fun though.

kajak12 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 09, 2011, 05:39:30 PM »

Quote from: audiophool on January 09, 2011, 05:32:36 PM

Kojak has a lot to answer for, rubbished my Burson clock, dragged me over to see his "better" one and all I can find are pictures of a few components connected by long wires to capacitors the size of a can of baked beans and a car battery and all sitting on a piece of plywood - like all that will fit in my poor CD52.
False pretences I call it.

Did see http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290513887563&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT this which looked a bit interesting, reckon I could fit that into the 52 with a little traffo of its own and I'm half tempted to try http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290513887563&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT on the output as well.

Did you fit a Burson Oz ? do anything special to power it ? change any caps ?

No I don't have a "killer DAC" but I did kill one DAC earlier last year - bit keen with the hot iron, had to send it away for open heart surgery - it has allegedly been resuscitated now and on its way home.
All fun though.

the version you have mentioned was in R&D MODE

if your after looks then the kajak12 clock is not for you
ask tuyen about mods to burson clock i told him what to do i dont think much will be left on the board

kajak12 clock is made for music not looks unless you can make a nice box for it.(i should of kept my mouth shut and dressed it up and sold it to
some suckers for $500 BUT BEING A NICE GUY I TOLD PEOPLE HOW TO MAKE IT LESS shiezer! IS MORE

http://killerdac.com/forum/index.php?topic=5.30 NEW VERSION RING ME AND I WILL HELP YOU

kajak12 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 09, 2011, 05:50:56 PM »

Quote from: audiophool on January 09, 2011, 05:32:36 PM

Kojak has a lot to answer for, rubbished my Burson clock, dragged me over to see his "better" one and all I can find are pictures of a few components connected by long wires to capacitors the size of a can of baked beans and a car battery and all sitting on a piece of plywood - like all that will fit in my poor CD52.
False pretences I call it.

Did see http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290513887563&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT this which looked a bit interesting, reckon I could fit that into the 52 with a little traffo of its own and I'm half tempted to try http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290513887563&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT on the output as well.

Did you fit a Burson Oz ? do anything special to power it ? change any caps ?

No I don't have a "killer DAC" but I did kill one DAC earlier last year - bit keen with the hot iron, had to send it away for open heart surgery - it has allegedly been resuscitated now and on its way home.
All fun though.

yeh looks great but your feeding it ac and then turning it to dc using diodes thats smart
less in the path the more sq you get
u you can power it with a 9v battery if you would like to have it all in the cd player (crystal runs on 5v)

ozmillsy · « **Reply #9 on:** January 10, 2011, 08:10:24 PM »

Quote from: audiophool on January 09, 2011, 05:32:36 PM

Did you fit a Burson Oz ? do anything special to power it ? change any caps ?

Not yet, it's going to be fitted to the CD94, when I get the other mods done to it. It will be battery powered, but not by a car battery, by 1 of these.....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12V-Lithium-ion-Li-ion-Rechargeable-Battery-CCTV-/320641263162?pt=US_Batteries&hash=item4aa7b5663a#ht_1821wt_1110

I dont plan to mod the Burson beyond the battery. I'll move onto a tweaked kajak clock eventually, once I have the transport done.

audiophool · « **Reply #10 on:** January 10, 2011, 08:54:45 PM »

Quote

yeh looks great but your feeding it ac and then turning it to dc using diodes thats smart
less in the path the more sq you get

That did appear as a drawback - in general I am in agreement with you on the less is more - though in the area of power filtration I am not so sure - the JLH "Ripple Eater" on the input to my DAC seems, to me, to be making a positive contribution.

Thanks Oz, that battery certainly looks like it could be worth a try.

ozmillsy · « **Reply #11 on:** January 10, 2011, 09:36:26 PM »

Quote from: audiophool on January 10, 2011, 08:54:45 PM

Thanks Oz, that battery certainly looks like it could be worth a try.

On the recommendation of the manufacturer, I use 1 of these to power my Lightspeed, and it made quite a positive difference to running off the wallwart/mains.

I figure it will work for the clock, and be a tad tidyer in my loungeroom system. Whether it will be as good as a car battery, I have no idea?

kajak12 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 11, 2011, 01:15:21 AM »

Quote from: ozmillsy on January 10, 2011, 09:36:26 PM

Quote from: audiophool on January 10, 2011, 08:54:45 PM
Thanks Oz, that battery certainly looks like it could be worth a try.

On the recommendation of the manufacturer, I use 1 of these to power my Lightspeed, and it made quite a positive difference to running off the wallwart/mains.

I figure it will work for the clock, and be a tad tidyer in my loungeroom system. Whether it will be as good as a car battery, I have no idea?

this is waf for a car battery in the house

zenelectro · « **Reply #13 on:** January 11, 2011, 03:13:58 AM »

Got this bad boy powered up tonight - outputs a nice 5V sine wave.

The damn thing draws >200mA, holy $hit that's gonna take a serious supply

Building LN discrete PS, wave squaring up cct and we'll see how she sounds.

Stay tuned!

T

audiophool · « **Reply #14 on:** January 11, 2011, 01:28:38 PM »

That's no clock crystal - that's a ballast ingot.

crazikid · « **Reply #15 on:** January 12, 2011, 11:40:34 AM »

how did this beast fair??

Will you be making this available to kdac forum members?

zenelectro · « **Reply #16 on:** January 12, 2011, 01:09:08 PM »

Quote from: crazikid on January 12, 2011, 11:40:34 AM

how did this beast fair??

Will you be making this available to kdac forum members?

I have clock working but not in a transport. It requires some additional circuitry to square up the wave and a low noise power supply which I'm building.

WRT availability - yes. I will also evaluate correct I2S OP from transport upgrade. Current method of taking from
decoder chip is good but does not take full advantage of a clock upgrade.

More later.

cheers

Terry

crazikid · « **Reply #17 on:** January 12, 2011, 04:45:57 PM »

very good terry.. looking forward to how this progresses

crazikid · « **Reply #18 on:** February 13, 2011, 04:22:36 PM »

whats the word on the t(terry)-clock?

id like to test and give feedback if your after volunteers

James

Erik van Voorst · « **Reply #19 on:** March 12, 2011, 05:39:26 AM »

Today I installed a Trichord 4 with its dedicated Never Connected Power Supply...I must admit that the supply is costing a lot...but when you fire the music up.....

By the way this is becoming a mini-PiTbull I am building for a friend....it is already a straight attack at the Wadia 23 and 861.