If we relate those changes to a specific track (‘Strike The Viol’ from Christine Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata’s Music For A While – Erato 08256 46337507) listening with the new boards offers a crisper, more dynamic presentation. Percussion has sharper leading edges and rhythmically the track is tighter and more insistent. Raquel Andueza’s vocal is more sinuously fluid and articulate, her changes in tone clearer and the vocal gymnastics of the central section better defined and more impressive. The rhythmic hesitation that presages Gianluigi Trovesi’s clarinet solo, previously stilted and a bit clumsy, is now sure-footed and musically congruent, becoming the linking passage it’s supposed to be. The tone of the clarinet is more natural, the playing more agile and, like the vocal, it’s much more expressive. Like I said, these are not small things – either sonically or musically. The greater clarity and dimensional/spatial definition add up to a more natural perspective and a more intelligible performance.
Take things a step further by adding the T1 into the equation and you just move even further down the same performance path – except that now it ceases to be about individual instrumental impact or separation and becomes much more about the sense of the performance as a whole. The musicians are more present, their performance more immediate. This definitely sounds more like real people playing real instruments, while Andueza’s vocal becomes literally breath-taking, as you get caught up in her extended lines and astonishing control. Pluhar’s eclectic mix of renaissance/early music, original instruments and modern jazz elements is all about musical dexterity and virtuosity. Adding the Clock Sync boards and T1 to the D1.5 and C1.2 allows that musical intricacy and expressive range full rein. In the old adage, it sounds like a better band on a better day. It’s better music and it’s more accessible. But alongside that clarity of communication and musical intent, you get greater sonic purity, focus, transparency and a more natural tonal palette. So the benefits here are both sonic and artistic. They’re also universal. This is exactly the sort of fundamental improvement that impacts every type and scale of music, bringing added intimacy and expressive nuance to voice and guitar, power, control, momentum and musical impact to rock or larger orchestral pieces. And let’s not forget jazz. Small ensemble pieces take on a new sense of immediacy and connection (both internally and to the listener) while the new boards definitely put the BIG into Big Band Basie!
Does the Clock Sync board represent a cost effective upgrade? Yes and yes!
Yes, if you own a D1.5, and/or C1.2, then adding the Clock Sync boards and the option to synchronize the clocking between the two units, or via an external clock, represents a significant step up in performance. They take what is already an impressive digital replay system up another level. But perhaps more importantly, that increase in performance arrives in terms of musical expression rather than a simple welter of extra information. For any digital system, those gains are the hardest won, making this update both significant and extremely cost effective.
