Reasonably priced dual-master clock (10Mhz) Rb and OCXO....

SCAudiophile

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Sep 11, 2010
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See my system listing for details as well as various threads about these units I've posted on the 'Gon. About 3 months ago, I stumbled on Cybershaft Japan as an option via listings on various sites for high-quality 10Mhz master clocks. It seems they make OCXO, Rudidium-only and OCXO+Rb clock units (single port each standard) for high-end audio, video and studio purposes at an extremely aggressive price point. They are rated for 100-120V and 50-60Hz use which makes them perfect for US or Japanese usage. The Rb-only unit has a single FIFTY (50)-ohm BNC clock output; they supply all their test and calibration results with each unit plus a 1 year unconditional warranty. They have OCXO and dual (RB & OCXO) units as well. You may read more here (use Google Chrome and let it translate the page).

www.cybershaft.jp
and
http://www.cybershaft.jp/a-products/entry27.html

I have the Cybershaft Rb+OCXO 'dual master clock' offering up and running for about 2 months and I am extremely impressed by the build quality of the unit and the customer service provided by Hasegawa-san. He goes to great lengths to ensure all questions are answered and provides unit-specific test data for ALL testing of the unit including Allen Deviation, reference measurement devices used, etc....It's the most specific and open backing data of what a unit truly does after it is built I have ever seen. The price point of the unit is a fraction of the other offerings in the space (that provide 10 Mhz atomic-precision master clocking) and frankly when I saw the unit, it's quality, appearance and sheer weight coupled with the exceptional customer service, I don't feel that I am missing out on a single thing compared to the offerings from Stanford Research, Isochrome/Antelope, Esoteric or others. I currently have this connected as follows;

Cybershaft Rb-output=>10Mhz=>Esoteric D02 (WRD CLK IN, 10Mhz)=>Esoteric P02 (MCLK frequency from the D02)

Put another way, the Cybershaft clock is providing an atomic-precision baseline for the clocking circuit of the D02

All the specs and other technical aspects aside, there was an immediate improvement in the natural/liquid nature of the sound when I enabled the 10Mhz input signal from the Cybershaft to drive the WRD CLK Input of the D02 over the D02 alone. All was extremely good before but I find a touch more precision in image size and placement (of instruments and voices) and an even more musical presentation overall of the system as a whole.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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congrats and good to know...
 

SCAudiophile

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Thank you!
 

sbo6

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Great, thanks for the info. I'm using the Antelope Audio Isochrone OCX which made a significant benefit to my K-03. I wonder how the Cybershaft compares...
 

SCAudiophile

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From what I could see when I did my research, the Isochrome OCX is a fine unit and they appear equally capable from what I could see in the specs though I admit I had much more detail from Cybershaft in terms of actual test results of every major aspect of its performance (both Rb and OCX) than any other option. I skipped the Isochrome OCX due to the lack of reasonably priced used units (their $6K retail on a new unit is a bit over the top in my book) and the SRS PERF10 for the same reason (no used units on market in the month I was looking) and the wait on new units was a long backorder at the time but the price was a bit more down to earth compared with other options for the SRS. For the record, I also skipped the Esoteric G-02 unit (I've owned the G-0s and G-03x both very happily for other uses, i.e PCM frequency-multiple reclocking) as none of them provided a 10Mhz reference pulse. The SRS PERF10 looked beautiful but would have looked like a piece of lab test equipment (which it is) sitting on my rack whereas the Isochrome OCX looked like a piece of precision audio gear but I just could not get past the price differential all the pinkish-red LED lighting on the unit (my hang-up, not a ding on the unit!). After all,..this is a highly subjective hobby; I feel that I could not lose no matter which of the 3 choices I would make (Cybershaft, Antelope or SRS)!
 

sbo6

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Thanks for the info.

FYR - The Isochrone OCX is $1300 USD new, the Antelope Isochrone 10M is $5K. I believe you need the OCX to run the 10M through if you want to use the 10M.
 

SCAudiophile

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Sep 11, 2010
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Thanks for the info.

FYR - The Isochrone OCX is $1300 USD new, the Antelope Isochrone 10M is $5K. I believe you need the OCX to run the 10M through if you want to use the 10M.

Thank you for the correction...I believe you are absolutely right. I was thinking of this model which I believe is now discontinued;

http://antelopeaudio.com/products/10m/
 

Eichenbaum

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Sep 29, 2013
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Thanks zephyr24069 for your recomendation. I've bought the Cybershaft Limited OP 15 and it made a huge difference in my Vivaldi+MBL system. Btw Kenji Hasegawa is a gentleman.
 

SCAudiophile

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Thanks zephyr24069 for your recomendation. I've bought the Cybershaft Limited OP 15 and it made a huge difference in my Vivaldi+MBL system. Btw Kenji Hasegawa is a gentleman.

Thank you for your email; I am glad to be of any assistance I can be. Kenji is a gentleman and a breath of fresh air in the majority of the audio industry; only tells the truth, backs it up with hard facts and test results that are quantified and documented, no hyperbole (or other forms of b.s.), builds a solid product at a reasonable price, etc... What 50-ohm cable did you wind up putting in with this clock? I had to have one custom built to get the right wire plus terminations in an audiophile-grade cable. Let me know,...I'd like to know which direction you took for this clock and cabling. Wait until you get a few hundred hours on the clock; it made a sizable difference here for the clock and cable to fully break in and show what they were capable of. Have a great day!
 

Eichenbaum

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Sep 29, 2013
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I'm using the Cybershaft 50ohm bnc cable Kenji has sent together with the clock. I'm missing nothing so far.
That's true that it's getting better as time goes by. My wife is very impressed: "it has never sounded so good"
No digital artifacts at all.
 

SCAudiophile

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I used one of those initially as well; it worked very well for me. I have a spare now if you ever need a 2nd. Let me know and I'll drop it in the post to you (gratis).
 

Eichenbaum

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Thanks, I just need one from OP15 to Vivaldi masterclock. I have 4 Transparent XL bnc cable from Masterclock to Upsampler and DAC, for 44.1 and 48khz. I'll try one of them in the OP-Masterclock conection after break in time.
 

SCAudiophile

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Sep 11, 2010
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For the OP15 master clock connect (assuming 50ohm, 10Mhz), you definitely want to use a 50-ohm compliant cable w/proper 50ohm connectors. I did some A/B here and it is audible when you use a 75-ohm instead. 75-ohm is for frequency-multiple clocking (44.1, 88.2, 176.4Khz, Esoteric's MCLK 22.xx Mhz, etc...), 50-ohm is for 'master clocking' for 10Mhz.
 

SCAudiophile

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Sep 11, 2010
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435
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Greer South Carolina (USA)
I'm using the Cybershaft 50ohm bnc cable Kenji has sent together with the clock. I'm missing nothing so far.
That's true that it's getting better as time goes by. My wife is very impressed: "it has never sounded so good"
No digital artifacts at all.

Now that you've got a good number of hours on the clock, how are things sounding? I switched to the OCXO side of my dual clock a while ago
and am never going back! Best of both worlds viz. precision of imaging, attack and decay of notes, etc...coupled with beauty and naturalness
of each note. In short, extremely musical and the whole setup is making me extremely happy!

Another gentleman up in Canada (BC) just picked up an Ultra Premium OCXO clock from Kenji and he is already loving it from day 1. I am very
glad to have lucked upon this amazing company out of Japan. Word has it they may be working on a better web presence....
 

Eichenbaum

Well-Known Member
Sep 29, 2013
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323
Now that you've got a good number of hours on the clock, how are things sounding? I switched to the OCXO side of my dual clock a while ago
and am never going back! Best of both worlds viz. precision of imaging, attack and decay of notes, etc...coupled with beauty and naturalness
of each note. In short, extremely musical and the whole setup is making me extremely happy!

Another gentleman up in Canada (BC) just picked up an Ultra Premium OCXO clock from Kenji and he is already loving it from day 1. I am very
glad to have lucked upon this amazing company out of Japan. Word has it they may be working on a better web presence....

It's getting better from day one!
 

SCAudiophile

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2010
1,156
435
1,205
Greer South Carolina (USA)

Elberoth

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My friend just bought the $1000 CyberShaft Premium OCXO:


CyberShaft OCXO Premium

It already has much lower jitter than the $23.000 Esoteric G-01 Rubidium Clock, not to mention the $6000 Antelope crap:



He will test it with his dCS Vivaldi stack (directly connected to the 10M clock input on the Vivaldi clock).

If it performes as expected, we will try the $2800 Cybershaft OCXO Limited IP17 clock:

 

microstrip

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My friend just bought the $1000 CyberShaft Premium OCXO:


CyberShaft OCXO Premium

It already has much lower jitter than the $23.000 Esoteric G-01 Rubidium Clock, not to mention the $6000 Antelope crap:



He will test it with his dCS Vivaldi stack (directly connected to the 10M clock input on the Vivaldi clock).

If it performes as expected, we will try the $2800 Cybershaft OCXO Limited IP17 clock:


Adam,

Can you tell us how the jitter figure is calculated?
 

Elberoth

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I did it myself using jitter calculator:

http://www.abracon.com/phaseNoiseCalculator.php

You have to enter the Carrier Frequency in MHz, Integration Bandwidth (1 to 100Hz) and Offset & Amplitude data (Freq and phase noise figures).
 

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