External Word Clock Generator for Digi001? Worth the effort/cost?

[H E A D W E R K ' N]

As my studio upgrade comes together I'm going to have a lot more digital equipment to interface up to my 01V's and Digi001's SP-DIF and ADAT I/O.

Rather than constantly changing word clock sources each time I record/use different gear, I'm thinking it would be much more convenient to just use a single dedicated master source to drive everything (ie. Digi001, digital I/Os on mic pres/compressors, samplers, digital mixer).

I've also read that, while not bad, the 001's own clock source can be improved on, and that a quality master clocksource can produce a very audible improvement in audio quality.

I have 2 concerns. Firstly, most WC generators are quite expensive, obviously a good generator is required to get a noticeable improvement over the 001's own clock. Does one need to spend US$1500+ on an Apologee or Aardvark, or can the sub-US$1000 units, like the MOTU Timepiece, deliver an improvement in sound quality too?

Secondly, not all my gear has BNC Word Clock inputs, most notably the 001 itself, which would obviously have to read it's word clock from an ADAT or SP-DIF input. Obviously I would need a master clock generator that could output WC to multiple formats.

Another concern is that I'll eventually upgrade the Digi001 to a MIX|24 system, once prices drop a bit more, so I'll want everything to work happily with that too. Given that TDM systems are pro-level though, this shouldn't be a problem.

Anyone able to offer some experience or knowledge? I know I'm going a bit beyond what the Digi001 is supposed to do, but I want to have a good sounding, well thought out studio setup eventually, and need to explore every direction properly.

Cheers!

[fire2k2]

Buy an Apogee AD8000. It has superior AD/DA and clock . In fact it allows me to bypass every analog in and out on the 001. And when we upgrade to a Mix system, the AD8000 is already a Digi-Certified TDM interface. I've seen crazy price drops on these over the past six months. You can't go wrong.

L-Fire
EMO

[rnt_u_listnng]

With the equipment you are using you are somewhat limited on your choice of how you clock. I don't believe either your 01v or your 001 has word clock inputs so you are going to have to use S/PDIF or ADAT if you stick with that equipment. As you know, external clocks, even those included in Apogee, Crane Song, Benchmark or other A/D converters can make a significant difference in the quality of your recording.

When I buy digital equipment, I always consider how I am going to get it clocked. I suggest you make word clock i/o a requirement for all your future digital purchases and as you move up from the 01v and the 001 make your change to an external clock at that time.

[H E A D W E R K ' N]

Sounds like a great Interface but at 4500 Squid it is an investment I simply can't justify, not at least until the studio is making serious money.

Has anyone had experience with the Apogee 'Big Ben'? Sounds like it could be what I need...

[H E A D W E R K ' N]

In reply to rnt_u_listnng:

The Digi 001 and 01V don't have BNC word clock I/O, so you're correct there. Clock sync would have to be established via SP-DIF or ADAT Ins. The Apogee Big Ben seems to do this; am I right in the thinking that I can just connect an SP-DIF connection to my Digi 001 and have it sync off "digital black"?

However, my sampler and the digital boards on my Focusrite Pentra and VoiceMaster do, and I imagine subsequent additions, especially as I move more towards higher end and more professional equipment.

[jeronimo]

You should have a digital patchbay if you're using more than 1 unit that has SPDIF going into the 001 right?
Let's say you have a pre-amp goingo spdif to the 001 and it has BNC ins... so you clock it from you master and tell the 001 to clock to spdif.... how does it sound?

[bassbuddy]

Hey guys,

I find this post interesting, ( especially sinceI have been recently researching options to upgrade the clock in the Digi ).

Since the 001 doesn't have a word clock(BNC ), is it, or isn't it possible to use another clock to bypass the 001 ? Somewhere along this post I got confused, so let me give you my chain, and if any of you guys could help out grasshopper, I will wax on , wax off.....

Little labs DI > Mindprint AN/DI PRO - (A/D convertor/preamp) > digi PCI card. The optical out from the Mindprint > to the Optical in > PCI card. I don't think I can bypass the 001 clock, eh ?

If anyone has a good read on this very subject, you can be my best friend !! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ( if you want to )

Kenny

[kangoljas]

okay if I were in your sitation and I either had a ADAT input going in lightpipe such as the octopre or the swissonic adat preamp or the RME ad8 I would basically get a Lucid Genx for 350.00 its a wordclock generator and works marvelous. Another option would be to upgrade your front end with a a/d converter such as the Lucid AD96 or the Swissonic AD24 for 700 bones and throw in the genx and your setup would be all wordclocked to spdif and or adat. Just a thought.

Kiggity Kiggity Kangol

[Loftman]

....it allows me to bypass every analog in and out on the 001.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">By using the Adat light pipe right? I dont think there is a way to bypass the analog I/O's and still get 18 inputs. If you know a way to bypass the analog I/O's and install a second Adat I/O, please make my day.

[Pablo Lach]

Good topic!!

I have a 001 and 01V with a Miditimepiece working with WC via an extra audio card (echo Layla 20 w WC I/O) so I feed WC from MTP AV to the Layla with BNC's an the the card outputs SPDIF to the Digi 001 then the digi sends clock to the 01V.
I dont really know if this setup gets more jitter but it works!!