If I can find one I would pull the trigger immediately … Just can’t find one …
I have the 3 and enjoy it, but don’t have any experience with other DDCs.
From an earlier comment: you don’t have to use an external PSU as it can be bus powered, although I do have one of the ifi ones.
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My dealer reached out to me, he’s itching for a new toy and he knows I’m good for a trade of sorts he would enjoy so he offered up this:
An Ideon Audio Absolute Time re-clocker. Unfortunately I’m too embarrassed to admit I have NO idea how to incorporate one of these into either of my 2 channel systems 
I just don’t understand these devices. I seem to remember @M0N giving his approval a long while ago that the device is quality BUT I have no idea how they work? It’s not cheap, several $K, I could probably scrape up some nice rifle & sub gun glass, along with maybe some cash to make a worthwhile trade but I don’t know how these work, I just know I probably want it on my front end.
Can any of you guys shed some light on this piece for me please?
- What does the clock output plug into?
- Does it go between my Switch and DAC?
- My Innuos Phoenix Net already provides an excellent clock, does this clock bypass that clock or work in conjunction?
- If I use it with my smaller system do I just plug it into my streamer or the DAC?
I’m genuinely clueless how this piece of kit works. 
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It is a Berkeley Alpha USB on steroids.
I’d be genuinely jealous. lol
You feed it a USB source and out comes a clean output from SPDIF. If I’m not mistaken it can also take SPDIF in and give you a clean USB out, although that isn’t nearly as useful as given any DAC is bound to have a crappier USB implementation with very few exceptions.
Oh… and if I’m not mistaken, they’re a Greek company, so. 
OPINION: you’re probably better off getting your dealer to send you over a good AC conditioner. May be a broader improvment for your various chains.
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Ok so this is just basically a $10k DDC?
I would feed my Zenith MK3 streamer USB output into this and then feed my Lampi B3 either a USB or SPIDIF output?
Or I could feed my Innuos Pulse SPDIF output to this and feed my Berkeley alpha a “better” SPIDIF input?
Unfortunately all I see is the requirement for another few $K worth of cable purchases to handle the in between conversion step for a device I don’t require currently 
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Yeah pretty much. It’s supposed to be the shizzle and I sure as hell would plug it in and give it a listen but there are better places to put that money, at least at our current level of gear.
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Thank you for the responses, I wanted to know exactly what it was, I guess I could use it in the smaller system to clean up the Zenith streamer a bit into the DAC I would have to horse trade him for some NORDOST cables to go w/ it to make it worth my while but my bigger problem is I’ve run out of room on the damned rack 
Not sure, maybe…I don’t know if it will have any value a few years down the road.
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You don’t need this, money better spent elsewhere. Stop salivating!!
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It’s a great piece, it’s just something that’s not really going to be worthwhile with the DACs you have tbh. If you’re running something like a pac/horizon/poseidon or whatever the new lampi is it would be worth considering imo, but not with a b3. It could be worth it with a RS2 with newer firmware or RS3 though…, but you better be committed to that dac
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I considered it between my K50 and Poseidon but the cost of it and an extra FTA Sinope USB I figured I rather upgrade the K50 to the latest generation with the upgraded USB output instead. None of those will happen anytime soon, the money is better spent elsewhere and that seems to be your case too @NickMimi !
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I ended up using mine to elevate a sig rendu se II and that worked awesome for my horizon and sometimes rs3, but I did find myself wondering if it would have made more sense going for a taiko/pink faun/new fully upgraded antipodes. It is important too to not skimp on incoming and outgoing digital cables for it, made that mistake at first with the 3r master blackstar and once I made sure the cables were equally good it justified the cost lol
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tbh for the price of that I’m probably better upgrading Poseidon to Horizon first 
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glad we could talk some sense into the boy.
Intervention.
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A question regarding DDCs. Do you really need a DDC if you have a good quality Router with good quality speed (fiber) and a good cable feeding a good streamer with a good quality USB cable out to once again a good quality DAC
Opinions?
Usually a DDC is used if you don’t have a streamer, or you need the format conversion.
There might be a win stacking them, but it’s going to depend on the quality of the streamer and the DDC.
It’s not something I’d go out of my way to do.
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Thanks. It is kind of what I thought.
If your chain is where it needs to be to get the most out of your digital source, then the answer is a resounding yes. If you have weak links or areas that you haven’t addressed yet (like quality power) then no.
I disagree with @dB_Cooper . If your chain is where it needs to be the get the most out of it, maybe you’re done. I use USB with a high end source, cable and DAC. I have all the outputs available to use and still don’t. It’s up to you to decide if you care to explore this path and know that it might not even be any better, it’s dependent on all the components around it
It depends on the DAC.
You’re also responding as someone with a Horizon. My Sonore opticalRendu takes a massive leap when its fed into the Berkeley Alpha USB. It’s just like everything in the hobby. You can’t ask for answers in a vacuum without taking into consideration the rest of the chain.
Ultimately I guess it comes down to perceived sound whether it is better or worse. If you hear it then it is worth it. Since I am at a point where I do not plan on stepping further into the hole. I run my Roon Nucleus with a good ethernet cable from my router then to my Rockna DAC then to my Bryston BHA1. I use good quality cables in between. I really have not noticed that much difference with or without the DDC. I would definitely say if I was using lower grade equipment then the DDC would surely improve it.