TEAC CG-10M Master Clock Generator

[Barry_Sound]

Looked around for reviews of this thing but did not find any.

According to Teac this "master clock generator that delivers an extremely accurate clock signal to allow Digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) to perform at their ultimate best."

TEAC | International Website

TEAC from home audio to high-end audio, we are developing a variety of products that you can enjoy the music rich.

teac.jp

I like the geekiness of it and I dont think Teac is manufacturing plain snake oil. (But then, their other brand is called "Esoteric"). What do you think? Will the master clock lead to audible results at all?

btw Gustard which I believe is generally well respected here also offers a clock generator:

GUSTARD C16 10M Audio Clock

Costa's C16 clock technology features: • C16 is a 10M high precision low noise clock generator; • The new custom model SC cut OCXO, which is a mature product line of the crystal industry, has stable quality; • True low jitter design with low near-end phase noise. In fact, the measured...

de.shenzhenaudio.com

 

[voodooless]

What do you think? Will the master clock lead to audible results at all?

No. See the clock that was reviewed: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...haft-platinum-review-external-clock-ps.30310/

I see no reason why these other products would be any better.

 

[dshreter]

You should note that the product has 4 outputs, so it can be used to synchronize multiple pieces of equipment. I’m Amir’s write up he points out that’s the actual application of independent clock generators.

I didn’t spend enough time reading about where TEAC intends it to be used, but it seems to me it is not meant to be used with just a single DAC which is likely pointless.

So I think the question is if the product is useful for how your own system operates and if multiple components require synchronization

 

[MAB]

Looked around for reviews of this thing but did not find any.

According to Teac this "master clock generator that delivers an extremely accurate clock signal to allow Digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) to perform at their ultimate best."

TEAC | International Website

TEAC from home audio to high-end audio, we are developing a variety of products that you can enjoy the music rich.

teac.jp

I like the geekiness of it and I dont think Teac is manufacturing plain snake oil. (But then, their other brand is called "Esoteric"). What do you think? Will the master clock lead to audible results at all?

btw Gustard which I believe is generally well respected here also offers a clock generator:

GUSTARD C16 10M Audio Clock

Costa's C16 clock technology features: • C16 is a 10M high precision low noise clock generator; • The new custom model SC cut OCXO, which is a mature product line of the crystal industry, has stable quality; • True low jitter design with low near-end phase noise. In fact, the measured...

de.shenzhenaudio.com

There are a few hints that this is a mission to take your money.
(1) Teac starts by saying something that a Mentalist might say at a carnival:

It is a well-known fact among audiophiles that the clock signal is the foundation for all digital signal processing.

It's a well-known fact that DACs come with all sorts of foundational electronic circuits for DSP.

(2) They have an analog status meter labeled "Oven".

Presumably where your money goes to burn.

(3) They charge $1800 for a clock, that is more evidence that this is a ripoff.

Seriously though, there are no reasons why these will improve sound, in fact there are reasons they will actually degrade performance of the clock subsystem of a DAC, although at inaudible levels. Amir covers this in his reviews of external clocks.

 

[staticV3]

External master clocks are for recording studios where you might have to sync a bunch of DACs and ADCs together.
They're not for improving fidelity of your home audio system.
A DACs MCLK is best placed close to the DAC chip, preferably right next to it on the same PCB.
An external clock with some length of wire between it and the DAC will in most cases be a downgrade for fidelity.
Any brand selling external clocks aimed at hifi consumers is a snake oil vendor.

 

[voodooless]

(2) They have an analog status meter labeled "Oven".
View attachment 248812

Well, it's a presumably an OCXO.

 

[Barry_Sound]

(2) They have an analog status meter labeled "Oven".
View attachment 248812
Presumably where your money goes to burn.

That in fact is a quartz oven.

Teac is pretty uclear of what their Master Clock actually does. "brings out the best performance from USB DACs, network players, CD players and any other kind of device that supports a 10MHz clock input."

 

[sq225917]

It won't improve the sound quality of any decent modern dac. End of story. It will increase jitter and noise.

 

[MAB]

That in fact is a quartz oven.

Teac is pretty uclear of what their Master Clock actually does. "brings out the best performance from USB DACs, network players, CD players and any other kind of device that supports a 10MHz clock input."

Yes, I love it! Don't get me wrong, I want it!!! But I had to riff.

Technically, it doesn't do anything like what Teac claims.
Clocks are useful when synchronizing multiple devices, not for improving the sound of an individual device. Unlikely you have any need for the actual use of a clock, most people don't. External clocks even degrade the performance in many cases, although likely never hear that.
The problem is they are selling it as if it will improve sound, and it won't.

 

[Keith_W]

Merging also makes an external clock. This is the one aimed at home audio market: https://nadac.merging.com/product/m...ERGING+CLOCK is not,Word Clock output for our

 

[MAB]

Merging also makes an external clock. This is the one aimed at home audio market: https://nadac.merging.com/product/merging-clock#:~:text=The MERGING+CLOCK is not,Word Clock output for our

Yes, for $18500. It would be a horrible waste too.

 

[Gradius]

No more SNAKE OIL please!

 

[Gradius]

Teac uses OCXO – an Oven-controlled Crystal Oscillator

"A unique laser-engraved serial number and the TEAC Reference OCXO logo on every OCXC case is proof of the rigorous quality inspection undertaken during the manufacturing process."

"10MHz clock signal – within ±3 ppb of frequency temperature characteristics and within ±0.1 ppm of frequency precision"

 

[MaxBuck]

Once again, someone is selling clocks with neither hour and minute hands nor an analogous digital display. I see little purpose in a clock that doesn't display the time of day.

Ideally it would also have a DD:MM:YYYY indicator, but HH:MM:SS is a requisite.

 

[Rednaxela]

Looks like it’s best placed in the middle of the room and then rocked around.

 

[Barry_Sound]

I wonder how the development of such components looks like. Dont they ever do proper A/B testing? And if A/B testing shows zero results they still push the product to market with fantasy claims about improving the sound?

 

[MAB]

I wonder how the development of such components looks like. Dont they ever do proper A/B testing? And if A/B testing shows zero results they still push the product to market with fantasy claims about improving the sound?

Exactly. But, this device doesn't even need proper A/B testing to determine how useless it is in almost any listening system. All you need is fairly straight forward test gear, you would see that the performance is slightly degraded with no other change, and certainly no improvement. This is the paradox of hifi sales. They take a perfectly good concept, like a studio needs multiple devices to share the same clock, and bastardizes it for the purpose of selling these things for thousands of dollars, even though it slightly degrades performance. It's even funnier that they then turn and claim studio gear is not audiophile-grade gear. Like Neumann and Genelec don't make good speakers, or RME doesn't make a listenable DAC. It's really quite upside down.

 

[Palladium]

Like Neumann and Genelec don't make good speakers, or RME doesn't make a listenable DAC. It's really quite upside down.

"Pro audio gear is too revealing for hi-fi" is the most hilariously ironic statement the hi-fi world has ever muttered.