External Word Clock

msmales555

msmales555

New member
I currently use two firepods chained together and I was thinking about adding a few preamps to may rack as well by means of the spdif inputs on the firepods. This got me thinking about external word clocks.....do I need one? Will one improve the performance of the two firepods as far as staying in synch is concerned?.....especially if I add two or three preamps to the mess?

So....what is a good, dependable word clock to buy that would have enough hookups to sync up four or five devices?

Thanks!
 
appogee makes a good one... but be prepaired... it may not offer any serious improvement... i've searched a few threads on a couple of bbs's and there seems to be some question as to whether it reallt makes a diff...

the exception is a multi room facility where you need to set-up whats called "house sync"...
 
Preamps have nothing to do with sync - it is only for digital devices. Go over to GS and read Dan Lavry's thoughts on the subject. I'd get one good A/D converter, and clock everything off it, and try to record as much as possible thru just that main A/D. Or, just get a SB, Ethan says they are as good as a Lavry anyway........
 
I honestly believe that adding a big ben to my system helped a lot.

Most of that discussion involves really great top of the line gear anyways. I doubt even they would argue that the clock in the Big Ben is better than that in the firepods and would make an improvement.

Now, is is cost effective? I cannot anwser that for you.... I think you'd be spending more on the clock than on your convertors combined.


dementedchord said:
appogee makes a good one... but be prepaired... it may not offer any serious improvement... i've searched a few threads on a couple of bbs's and there seems to be some question as to whether it reallt makes a diff...

the exception is a multi room facility where you need to set-up whats called "house sync"...
Click to expand...
 
I honestly believe that adding a big ben to my system helped a lot.

Most of that discussion involves really great top of the line gear anyways. I doubt even they would argue that the clock in the Big Ben is better than that in the firepods and would make an improvement.

Now, is is cost effective? I cannot anwser that for you.... I think you'd be spending more on the clock than on your convertors combined.


dementedchord said:
appogee makes a good one... but be prepaired... it may not offer any serious improvement... i've searched a few threads on a couple of bbs's and there seems to be some question as to whether it reallt makes a diff...

the exception is a multi room facility where you need to set-up whats called "house sync"...
Click to expand...
 
I've got the microclock (it's the only external wordclock I've had, so I can't give a comparative opinion) - I've been very happy with it.
 
Adding to increase the total inputs available at one time, or just an alternative? It will make a difference as to clock requirements, who's master (and when), will the add-on have clock in or be the new 'improved a/d and master? If it's an either/or use the master can swap form the firepod to the single pre/ad during tracking. 'Larvy made the argument the 'external can be a step backwards if everything is not implemented up to snuff.
 
mixsit said:
'Larvy made the argument the 'external can be a step backwards if everything is not implemented up to snuff.
Click to expand...

He actually made the argument that it's almost always worse. He said to run your A/D off it's own clock, and sync everything to that. But heck, what does Dan know anyway? Just get a SoundBlaster and call it good. :eek:
 
NL5 said:
He actually made the argument that it's almost always worse. He said to run your A/D off it's own clock, and sync everything to that. But heck, what does Dan know anyway?
Click to expand...
I didn't want to over step. Works for me.:D
 
There are about 8.4 trillion things of greater importance in a recording than this, such as what color socks the second bassoon player is wearing.

The lavry link above is a highly reccomended read
 
pipelineaudio said:
There are about 8.4 trillion things of greater importance in a recording than this, such as what color socks the second bassoon player is wearing.

The lavry link above is a highly reccomended read
Click to expand...

Unless it's Flea - then just make sure he has a sock on. Any sock! :D
 
i've also heard, though don't have enough money to bother finding out, that clocking is way, way, waaaaaay down in order of importance to the quality of your audio.

i'd spend the money on better pre's, and more importantly mics.

really, order of importance

1. source, this can't be emphasized enough...... though it often sounds trivial to noobs. a better git amp, kit, bass, etc.... will arguably make a much bigger difference to your sound then all of the following things combined.

2. experience/ears. most people ruin their own mixes.
3. monitoring environment. very close to 2, because if you can't hear properly you DEFINITELY cannot mix. the problem with this is simply; you can't actually tell if you're not hearing properly, you have to find out the hard way. (by hearing you mix on other systems, and finding out that it sounds like crap)
4. mics.
5. recording environment, the impact of this can be minimalized with close micing if needed..... with the caviat that the sound of some things will suffer because of close micing. it's kind of hard for me to pick where on this list to put this for a number of reasons.
6. pre's. if you can't spend much DO NOT get tube. cheap tube gear sounds like crap. just trust me (and many others)
7. conversion.
8. clocking.


good luck! :)
 
If you only have one A/D converter, then I agree that an external clock is probably not something to worry about. The OP had two threads going on, and in the other one was discussing a separate pre/converter connecting to the interface vi s/pdif -- I was still in that mindset. Maybe it's best not to get into that situation :D -- but I did, and found that an external clock made it all work.

Yeah, OK, but this thread just has the two firepods, which chain together via firewire I suppose, and probably work just fine that way. In that case, an external clock is more like a 5th wheel, when compared to other ways to spend the money.

OK - I swear I hear a positive difference when using the microclock even with one converter - clearer, cleaner, but difficult for me to articulate.
 
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Word clock makes a difference when different digital devices are hooked up digitally. For example, running adat i/o between my 2 digital recorders and my digital mixer. Some devices can sync up to adat and spdif without going to the bnc word clock. It's never a bad idea.
 
I break all the rules, and am quite happy with the results...

I clock everything from a MOTU MTP-AV, to a MOTU 2408, clock a Mackie SDR through adat on 2408, two tascam TM-D1000s through TDIF on 2408, and the rest of the SPDIF gear through work clock home-runs from MTP-AV distributed through a high quality video DA... Sometime the Tascams are a bit finicky at start up... but other than that no issues...
 
I'll also add that the more digital devices connected, the more likely the chance for wow/jitter, pops/clicks, and dropouts. Last night I forgot to set one my devices to word clock and I was getting nasty digital pops and clicks like crazy.
 
Proudly showing off his new home studio to a couple of his friends late one
night the drunk led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong.

"What's that big brass gong for?" one of the guests asked. "It's not a
gong. It's a word clock" the drunk replied.

"A word clock? Seriously?" asked his astonished friend.

"Yup" replied the drunk.

"How's it work?" the second guest asked, squinting at it.

"Watch" the man said. He picked up a hammer, gave it an ear shattering
pound and stepped back.

The three stood looking at one another for a moment. Suddenly, someone on
the other side of the wall screamed

"You f(*&%in' IDIOT!...it's ten past three in the morning!"
 
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