Glen, you've touched on so many levels here which i totally agree with - that much is certain.
Whether or not it would be worth, in the case you stated, using a Big Ben or a 2192 as a house clock becomes a moot point, and subject to what you believe sounds best in the particular circumstance - and at the end of the day, that is what is most important, despite anything I can say or that can be measured, if it sounds better, use it. end of story.
SouthSIDE Glen said:
At that point I'm no longer talking about whether a Big Ben is better at clocking a UA 2192 than the UA is at clocking itself. I'm talking about whether it's better to use a Big Ben (or even the 2192, FTM) as the master clock for the whole chain or to let everything in the chain use their own clocks.
The way I understood your original thread - and maybe I misunderstood your point - was that it took the position that there were too many technical problems involed to make external master clocking worthwhile, which to me sounded like a back door way of saying that it was better not to sync, even with a decent master clock source. That concept is one that I have trouble with in a few different ways, and the main thrust of where I have been coming from.
there has been a misunderstanding here. Of course, it is of upmost importance to have everything clocking properly - ie everything running of one master clock source - and i think anyone who tries to disagree with this is sorely mislead. There is no substitute for this, and of course it will greatly improve your sound, and keep you safe from bit loss and bit repitition (drop-outs and clicks). The big question is - what should be the master source?
I'll try and summerise all my posts here:
As long as you're only using 1 converter, you're much better clocking everything off the converter (assuming its got a good clock design, ie works better, or as good as, using it's internal clock vs an external clock). If you've got multiple converters, then use the converter with the most stable clock as your master source.
Of course, all this has been taken to another level and does not reflect what would go on in a home studio, where everything is built from the ground up and all the gear is probably at different performance levels - in which case, i go back to the "use whatever sounds the best", which in 75% of the cases is using an dedicated external clock.
Glen, thanks for an interesting conversation, and in your own words, MC & HNY!
Joswil44, i hope i haven't hi-jacked your thread too badly and that somehow all of this will help you! MC & HNY!