I just installed an Antelope Isochorm Digital Clock in my mix room, and it’s an amazing contribution to my system. Anyone could hear the difference. Everything sounds so much more open, punchy, and easy on the ears. In fact, it sounds more analog. I hadn’t thought of this angle when I was writing the review of these clocks for Tape Op (with Jessica Thompson), but it’s true. Someone told me Joel Hamilton said it was like working on tape again, and it just made sense, but I’d say it also is like working on a console becuase it’s so wide and open sounding. But it is like tape in that the harshness is gone – just gone. The top end is smooth and airy, and the bottom is fat and punchy. It’s a vast improvement, and I am thrilled to have this thing ticking away in my rack.
What a clock does is regulate the 0s and 1s streaming at ultra fast rates through the system (a CD streams 44,100 of them per second). When the spacing between these numbers isn’t right, you get distortion – called “jitter” in clock lingo. With a more stable clock, the reduction in jitter allows the sound to open up and carry far fewer of the anomalies we have heard in digital over the years. In my case, the Antelope Clock is feeding both my Lynx Aurora converter, my Cranesong HEDD converter, and my Dangerous Audio D-Box D-A converter that I use for monitoring. When I consider what an impact the Antelope is having on so many aspects of my gear – including how Pro Tools and all the plugins are operating – it’s a no brainer that this is a killer piece of kit for any digital system.