Dcs Verona vs Scarlatti master clock

I did an A/B comparison of the Apogee BigBen to and RME word clock on a RME-Audio PC sound card and could hear no difference.

I would love to hear feedback on the BigBen and upwards in price?

I use the Verdi/Purcell combo with a Scarlatti DAC and Scarlatti clock. The DAC replaced an Elgar Plus.

The Scarlatti DAC is a major improvement. The clock refines the sound audibly, but at its cost is really best for an otherwise "complete" system. I went with clock after DAC only because the Scarlatti transport is so costly, and my Verdi has a new optical drive. Once it dies it's on to the Scarlatti transport.

Suchtan, I think you made a wise choice with the BB. I too have wondered if the higher priced clocks can affect a noticeable difference from the BigBen. I don't think too many people have actually compared A/B different digital clocks.

Now if $$$ is no object, then sure, go for the matching clock with your DCS gear. But when I did an A/B with the BigBen against a word clock that was added to my RME soundcard (as a separate add on board/option) that cost $140 vs the BigBen at around $1200, I could hear no difference.

Suchart, Scarlatti DAC break in took about 100 hours to become noticeable. Now, at about 400 hours, the greater sense of realism compared to the Elgar Plus is indisputable - and I found the Elgar Plus to be the best DAC I'd heard to that point. My vocabulary fails me beyond what I've written, but the Scarlatti DAC is quite an achievement. FWIW, I split cd playing time between the Verdi/Purcell (>DSD>)/Scarlatti DAC w/all units sync'd to the Scarlatti clock, and feeding the Scarlatti DAC upsampled 174kHz dual AES data via the Purcell with the Lector providing the clocking data (it's modded with a DEXA reference clock). I enjoy both cd sources very much. Again, I believe the Scarlatti clock s/b considered only in the context of an otherwise "complete" system that will not be tinkered with for a long long time. Otherwise, save the cash for the next amp/preamp/loudspeaker/source experiment.