Which USB Re Clocker


I have been very happy with my Innuos Zenith Mk 2 for several years. The sound  is excellent and ripping is child's play. I have been interested in adding the Phoenix Re Clocker for a couple of years, but for various reasons, haven't been able to get a demo yet. One of the selling points of the Phoenix by Innuos, is that it can be used between any source and USB DAC.

 Well it also means that any re clocker should work between an Innuos Server and DAC. The one drawback to me is that the Phoenix isn't cheap, at least as far as my budget in retirement is concerned. The Company claims that the Phoenix is more than a Re Clocker, with improved power supplies and other improvements. I don't suppose many of you guys have had the chance to compare the Phoenix with other units. Still any suggestions about other, cheaper Re Clocker units to consider? Particularly if you have had the chance to use it with an Innuos Server, but not much chance of that either. Still any advice is welcome, thanks.

david12
If USB noise is the problem, perhaps the USB Disruptor or Core Power USBe-Perfect is all you need.

Here's a positive review of the latter.  Seemed expensive, but I see it's on sale.

https://www.audiopursuit.com/2020/05/core-power-technologies-av-usbe-perfect.html

Still think my naked laptop USB to Termy sounds amazing but interested in what others experience.
@in_shore, I have not jumped off a 10 story building yet either, but based on laws of physics, general knowledge of what the human body can withstand, and similar things happening to other people, I know with a great deal of certainty it will kill me.

Being very knowledgeable about electronics, DACs, and async USB DACs, I know, without a doubt, that the DAC will generate its own clock completely independent of the incoming data stream. That is how they work.  A simple reclocking of the USB not fix any issues with the output clock, but if you believe that is the case, a highly fixed clock that is not synchronous with the output clock is just as likely to create a larger fixed harmonic on the output as it is to fix anything. If the input clock is random, at least clock induced noise would be random, i.e. harder to hear, than a highly fixed/periodic one.

On the other hand EMI coupled via the ground connection and data connections, and the power connection if used in any way, can absolutely play havoc with the stable operation of that output clock if the DAC is not well designed and the ops DAC is not very high end. That noise could also couple into sensitive analog circuitry.

Last, I stated quite clearly, that sure, try it out. The power filtering could quite possibly improve the overall sound and the op may be happy with the result.  However, for that much money, it would make far more sense to invest in a significantly upgraded, new DAC with better isolation of the USB from sensitive circuitry.
Robertdid , there’s an interview with Innuos design principle by John Darko , smart dude . What you just said is laughable, I find guys like you nothing more then a joke with your suggestions for others what is too expensive , how things should actually work so on and so forth and finally I distinctly heard a jump in performance using a MSB dac maybe I should of used a Denafrips Lol ..


I have to agree with @roberttdid on this. Not that you should necessarily replace your DAC if you like it, but that reclocking the USB isn't, by itself, going to make a difference if the DAC is using an asynchronous USB input with buffering. The DAC is not deriving any timing signal from the USB, so reclocking isn't going to do anything. 

On the other hand, if you are using a good quality digital-to-digital converter and using an interface other than USB between that device and your DAC, then the quality of the timing will make a big difference, and it's quite possible that such a device could have a better (even much better) clock than the DAC that it is feeding. 

It's also quite possible, as @roberttdid stated, that a digital-to-digital converter/reclocker could be reducing noise on the USB connection that is affecting the DAC's SQ. Whether using such a device for this purpose is a better investment than replacing the DAC with one that can better reject this noise directly is a decision that each listener will have to make for themselves. 

I also believe that there are some spectacular sounding DACs that don't necessarily have the best USB implementations. USB technology has evolved much more significantly in the past five years or so  than other aspects of DAC design. There are very likely some state-of-the-art DACs from five or ten years ago that will have less than optimal USB interfaces that could easily benefit from some external help for less than the cost of replacement with a more recent implementation with an updated USB implementation.