Apogee Introduces Big Ben 192kHz Master Word Clock

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Apogee has now made their clocking technology available as a stand-alone master clock in the Big Ben.

At the heart of any word clock regeneration is a phase lock loop (PLL). Currently, and most commonly in audio applications, the PLL is a combination of analog and digital elements without the ability to dynamically adapt to the nature of the external clocks. That's where Apogee's new C777 clock comes in (patent pending). The C777 utilizes an entirely digital process, that Apogee has developed using Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) technology available along with DSP based digital filtering, providing aggressive jitter reduction. With a stable, crystal based digital PLL ticking away as it's heart, Big Ben is able to intelligently manipulate incoming signals and adapt to them accordingly.

Not that you would dare expect it from a master clock, Big Ben gives you the option of real-time format conversion. Use Big Ben's intuitive digital display to go from S/PDIF to AES, AES to ADAT, ADAT to S/PDIF, etc.

With an eye toward future connectivity standards, Big Ben has room to grow with a Firewire card option that will provide clocking and format conversion functionality to Firewire equipped devices.

In digital audio, as in comedy, timing is everything. But if your audio path has got the jitters that's no laughing matter! Enter Apogee's exclusive Adaptive Loop Filtering technology. ALF maximizes Big Ben's clocking ability with an intelligent low pass filter. Because the C777 has made all incoming signals into data (1's and 0's) Big Ben is able to dynamically compensate for excessive jitter and even improve already acceptable clock signals to levels unattainable until now. No matter what your input looks like, ALF can adapt and overcome all obstacles to create a stable, reliable, low jitter clock source.

What if Big Ben encounters the ultimate disturbance in clocking, a dropped signal? Not to worry, with "SureLock" Big Ben will compensate by remaining locked on the last relevant frequency sent by the delinquent device. When the signal resumes, Big Ben will gradually, and smoothly re-synchronize without interruption. Yet another feature to help you stop watching the clock is Big Ben's termination sensing ability. Very often in an elaborate audio chain word clock signals are improperly terminated. Big Ben will chime in with a visual indication of over or under termination on it's digital display for each word clock output, allowing you to troubleshoot more quickly and get back to business.

Features & Specifications

• AES, S/PDIF, Optical I/O - Word Clock/Video In - 6 Word Clock Outs
• Optional Firewire connection to facilitate clocking and format conversion with other Firewire devices
• Realtime format conversion between all digital formats
• Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) using Apogee's C777 Clock Technology up to 192kHz
• Adaptive Loop Filtering (ALF) to optimize clock performance and minimize jitter
• Fail safe lock to external sources (Sure Lock) and Word Clock termination sensing

Inputs:

• 2 x AES-EBU on XLR 44.1k-192k single-wide and 88.2 k--192k double-wide.
• S/PDIF optical on TOS-LINK 44.1-48k
• S/PDIF coaxial on RCA 44.1-192k
• ADAT 44.1-48k
• ADAT/SMUX II for 88.2-96k
• ADAT/SMUX IV for 176.4-192k
• Word Clock BNC 44.1 --192k
• Video
• Optional Firewire

Outputs:

• 2 x AES-EBU on XLR single or double wide 44.1-192k
• S/PDIF coaxial 44.1-192k
• S/PDIF optical on TOS-LINK 44.1-48k
• 6 x BNC Word Clock 44.1-192k (of which 2 can output 256fs at low sample rates)
• ADAT
• SMUX II
• SMUX IV
• Optional Firewire

Specs:

• Sample rates: 44.1/48-88.2-96-176-192 . All +/- 10%
• Video: PAL/NTSC/60Hz
• "SuperClock" (256fs)
• Pull up/down 0.1% and 4% from any sample rate
• Apogee's new Ultra Low Jitter C777 clock
• Three stage termination indicator (under/correct/over) on each Word Clock output
• "SureLock" technology for drop out prevention
• 4 digit numeric true sample rate indication
• Universal power: 15 W 90-250 VAC 50-60 HZ

Availability: 2nd Quarter, 2003.

For more information, visit their web site at www.apogeedigital.com.