|
|
Black Lion
Audio Micro Clock MK2 Description
Introducing
the Micro Clock mk2, a completely revolutionary design in external clocking
from Black Lion Audio. The Micro Clock mk2 is a radical departure in design
from its predecessor. It features ultra-low jitter third order crystal
oscillators with a revolutionary patent-pending high current parallel drive
circuit designed to increase the amount of desirable harmonics within the
clock’s spectral band. In addition to this, our proprietary noise reduction
circuitry dramatically eliminates the unwanted switching harmonics normally
found in digital signals. These are musically unrelated signals that create
distortion and phase cancellation within the converted audio signal. Because of
these technological advances, the Micro Clock mk2 may well be one of the best
performing external word clocks within the pro audio market today.
When we introduced the Micro Clock mk2 we didn’t anticipate the amount of
demand and controversy that managed to accompany it. External clocking is
certainly a hot button issue. Some folks maintain that there’s no basis for it;
that it’s a sort of modern ‘emperor’s new clothes.’ The reasoning behind this
is that the device being clocked externally will simply filter the incoming
clock signal through its phase lock loop, thereby eliminating any sort of
benefit associated with the superior clock. In addition, the simple act of
accepting the incoming signal and creating a new signal that’s in phase will
add some jitter.
The biggest problem with this theory is that we know nothing about the PLL
filter in question; it’s completely hypothetical. Many PLL’s in pro audio are
designed to filter out unwanted signals that are outside of the desired
bandwidth, although some are configured to filter out unwanted harmonics that
lie within the signal’s frequency band. It’s incredibly rare to find one that
does both at the same time. In the case of the Micro Clock mk2, there is very
little undesirable in-band or out of band content (below 10 picoseconds using a
Delta Sigma average). There is, however, an abundance of desirable harmonically
related in-band spectral content; more so than the average internal clock. No
PLL filter is designed to remove these desirable harmonics; they’re busy trying
to remove the unwanted stuff. Simply put, the Micro Clock mk2 will not only
provide audible improvement to your conversion process, but it will do it as
well as or better than any other external clock on the market today.
Black Lion Audio Micro Clock MK2 Specifications
-
Output: 3 galvanic-isolated BNC with fixed 75 ohm terminations @ 6 volts peak
to peak
-
Power: 9-12 volts DC
-
Sampling rates: six selectable rates, 44.1 kHz-192 kHz
-
Jitter: maximum 1 pico second of intrinsic jitter, less than 10 picoseconds of
accumulated jitter measured using a delta sigma averaging method.
The Micro Clock mk2 is simple and probably even boring looking by most
standards. It’s housed in a rugged yet basic 3 inch by 4 inch chassis that
provides optimum RF shielding. It has no lights, no frequency display, and none
of the usual visual candy that your friends might envy, but that's because
those items create unwanted noise that affect the signal. For a modest black
box, it does its job incredibly well and at a price that’s unheard of for this level
of performance!
The power supply is 12 volts DC using a wall wart that’s capable of accepting
both 120 and 240 volts AC. It features six selectable output frequencies from
44.1 kHz on up to 192 kHz. Output level is approximately 4 volts peak to peak.
Jitter at the crystal oscillator is approximately 1 picosecond RMS, and it’s
just under 10 picoseconds RMS at the output. Both of these figures are obtained
using a Delta Sigma averaging method. The Micro Clock mk2 is compatible with
all modern digital devices that have 75 ohm BNC word clock input.
|
Black Lion Audio Micro Clock MK2
Review /
See
All ZenPro Audio Reviews Here: Review Page
Don’t buy it for its looks (like
anybody ever looked on the inside of a record cover to see what a digital
device looked like…) but rather pay attention if you’re the owner of a
Digidesign LE hardware unit or some of the other low to mid priced interface /
converters on the market. The Micro Clock really does a lot to snap those 1’s
and 0’s in line for a much smoother and more coherent, dare I say “3D” sound.
Features 3 BNC outputs for multiple sync of your studio’s digital devices.
Against many on board clocks, the
Micro Clock MKII is like taking a camera off of auto focus and spending some
time really dialing it in manually (not that you have to dial the unit in). Better
yet, another way to say it is if you’re looking out of the window and then you
open the window for a more pure vision. I don’t believe in voodoo but voodoo
this box isn’t: it’s a serious clock that on lower cost devices can change the
way you hear “into” your mix.
I
hear a slight smoothing of the sound, the guys at BLA attribute it to the use
of transformers in the output section.
Conclusion: The Micro Clock MKII is
so good, you may forego a converter upgrade and just enjoy your own converters
that much more! The imaging is amazing, super bang for the buck in performance.
|
|
|
|
|