Implications of Esoteric G-0Rb atomic clock

Eric, I agree in essence with what you are saying. S/PDIF is inherently flawed. USB has advantages in terms of the ease of reclocking, etc. However, not all USB interfaces are created equal. Steven Nugent himself told me that there is a fair amount of variability in the quality of USB reclocking chips, which is where the $ is. That being said, I wonder if the sonic attributes of this WDP (nice Dgarretson....) are simply a byproduct of the USB interface or is it something more? I think you are operating under certain assumptions about the purported sonic attributes of USB data architecture. There are USB products out there which, while very good, are not a quantum leap beyond current offerings.

I will leave you with a quote from the Benchmark gang taken from a Stereophile thread:

We did measure the audio performance (Freq response, THD, IMD, etc) of the USB input, and it was completely similar to the all other digital inputs of the DAC1 up to 96/24. We also did listening tests. I am continuously conducting this test (as we speak ), as are several others here at Benchmark. Testing with a CD transport feeding the Coax input, and the computer feeding the USB with the same music, no one has been able to differentiate the two inputs.

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Elias Gwinn
Engineer
Benchmark Media Systems, Inc
www.BenchmarkMedia.com

Triode, I have the G0s working with the P0s VUK and DCS Elgar plus. Have you heard the Rubidium clock in action with the Esoteric , DCS, or EMM separates? Have you done A/B comparison?
Some fools buy "crazy" things, but the others speak about things they don't know. WHy don't you tell us about your experience with the Rubidium Clock and explain your statement?

Kyomi Audio

Ehider, "I am thinking I may start a specific thread with the USB DAC's name and some other details when the company gives me the "green light" to talk about them in detail"

Do you have a formal or informal relationship with this un-named company?

Can't wait for your thread on the specific DAC you are mentioning. I have a Pro Mac waiting for a higher purpose now, just in case.

Reading the comments from the reviewers regarding the Memory Player, it seems like this a new paradigm, a new cult, or an alien invasion starting.

Perhaps a naive question from someone technically challenged, but will any of this have an impact on, or improve upon, the performance of pc-based music delivered not by USB but wirelessly, as with a Sonos or Squeezebox? (Oh please, oh please, tell me it will!!!)

I think THIS is the real future of music delivery, whereby you DON'T have to plug a pc into your system via USB or anything else. Whereby you can sit anywhere in your house and pull up music and play it, via your laptop or your sonos, squeezebox, etc. This is truly the future. Hardwiring is NOT the answer in my book. Convenience equal with reference quality playback is the answer. I wish more effort was being put into this aspect of delivery.

Agear, IMHO you are absolutely correct that USB intefaces are not created equal. (If it was only that simple!). I think we will see just a select few USB based digital standouts in the next year or so. Most likely, many of their competitors will be "scratching their heads" to why they cannot achieve the same sonic greatness when they try to implement a USB connection within their digital products. Steve Nugent is absolutely spot on with his assessments regarding USB variability. Only a very talented digital design staff (that understand digital like Steve Nugent) will be able to implement USB connectivity and actually achieve true sonic greatness due to the myriads of technical issues that Steve pointed out. As you surmised, the most important thing I've learned with this is that the SPDIF connection itself has always "sucked the life" out of what digital was capable of giving us. Of course, the Esoteric $15K Rubiduim clock probably helps fix some of this. ;-)

Bosrt; The wonderful pre-production USB DAC I heard was actually by accident. If their production USB DAC sounds as good as the beta unit I heard I think I will be "beating the drums" very loudly about it. I am so VERY TIRED of seeing the multitudes of huge dollar digital offerings that are being talked up in the rags and on the audio forums that don't actually meet the expectations? (Can we say "almost everything"). I think many audiophiles are getting burned out with digital as they spend STUPID money yet still end up flipping their digital front ends year over year. When are we going to see the super digital "revolutionary" product actually going to meet the hype about it?

BTW: Your "Alien Invasion" statement really cracked me up!