Munich 2018

[zdenes]

As one of the magnificent seven being there in Munich (Literally. Not the magnificent, the seven) I think I am obliged to cover some areas that have not been mentioned. One being using different sources rather than streaming with AIR. More specifically, we asked why some of us experience better results with SOtM/Microrendu + MUTEC re-clocker(s) and reference clocks.
Now, before I elaborate on what Mathieu said, let me digress a bit on this clocking/re-clocking

With every re-clocking, providing that it is with a good clock, the SQ seems to improve IME. I have one Mutec MC3+USB but a friend brought over two (so we had 3 in series) a few months ago and the improvement was mind-blowing.  The same goes for SOtM products. A tx-USB ultra has the same sCLK-ex that is in the SMS-200 ultra, and still improves the sound.  

I couldn't resist and talked to Christian Peters, the head engineer for Mutec about it at the show. He said it is difficult to explain, even for engineers what is going on but each re-clocking can only improve jitter by a certain “amount”. It is like having your dirty windscreen wiped once, twice or more times. Each wipe will make it cleaner, even if you use the same wiper. After a number of 'wipes' you won’t see much improvement of course, but that number depends on a few of things. In this analogy, how dirty your window is and the quality of your wiper, etc.

That is why, even though the Devialet has a good clock when it receives a cleaner (jitter ‘free’) signal, it will have to do less and may improve it further. With a less good signal (high jitter) there is just so much it can do. And that goes for even the new clock on the CI board. The new clock on the CI board is not replacing the original clock. That is still the heart of the system but the better digital signal it receives, the better will be the outcome (at least that is how interpreted the explanation). External clocks and as such the re-clocked low jitter signals may bring further improvements. Given this explanation, the improvement most people with the new pros may be the better clock on the CI board but in my opinion more likely down to the improvement in the power supply, Magic Wire, further EMI insulation with the bottom copper plate, better heat management, etc.

Mathieu said that "the Devialet is true/transparent to the source" i.e. if you improve the source you improve the SQ. When they demoed the EUR160K system with a Macbook and a 5m USB cable (for printers) I asked why they don't improve the source. His answer was that "let's say that this is the minimum performance of the system".

Zoltan