Zen-NG hook up with Rossini player and external master clock

[ARD53]

How do you set this up to take advantage of the Rossini external master clock. I see different conflicting info on line. Some saying the master clock wont engage if the Rossini is connected to the Zen?

 

[Stephen Healy]

The dCS master clock is for the benefit of their DAC, so you just wire the clock to the DAC as you normally would. It does not connect to the Innuos.

 

[ARD53]

Good Morning, thx for your response. My Rossini and clock are correctly set up. The issue I am raising is in numerous queries indeed even in ChatGPT it seems to show that when you connect a server such as innuos to pull the music files it negates the clock processing

 

[ARD53]

Clocking Scenarios in Option 2:










1. USB from Zen NG → Rossini

• The Rossini Master Clock does not function in this case.
• USB audio does not support external word clock sync.
• Zen NG acts as the clock master via USB.
• Still sounds excellent, especially since Innuos optimizes USB output deeply.
• Best path if using DSD, high-res PCM, or the Innuos PhoenixUSB tech.

 

[ARD53]

Short Answer:








Yes — the Rossini Master Clock can still perform its function in Option 2, but only if you’re using a clock-capable digital input like AES/EBU or SPDIF (not USB).





Let’s break it down:

 

[ARD53]

Just to clarify ,BTW i bought the Zen-NG and am looking forward to using it in my system. My notes relate to the information i noted above the clock not being engaged thruough USB and needs another DDC box?

 

[Stephen Healy]

Short Answer:








Yes — the Rossini Master Clock can still perform its function in Option 2, but only if you’re using a clock-capable digital input like AES/EBU or SPDIF (not USB).





Let’s break it down:

Well, there is a comment here that states the opposite:

Rossini clock questions

An external Clock only makes sense if you need to synchronise numerous digital sources simultaneously, and synchronise them to a ‘Master’. This is one of the reasons that external clocks have multiple Wordclock outputs. It makes no sense at all when using it for just a single item, such as a CD...

community.roonlabs.com

It would be best to ask dCS themselves, but the point of the Innuos as a source is that it has very good quality clock components already inside, especially on PhoenixUSB. The Rossini Master Clock has multiple outputs to in fact work with certain SPDIF-based sources.

 

[Stephen Healy]

Apologies i forgot to mention, but if you did actually want to use AES natively then you do not need a separate DDC - there is an SPDIF board module with AES on it that can output natively straight out of the ZEN Next-Gen.

 

[ARD53]

Thanks for the additional info. I researched DDC and AES there are limitations with those connections as well. I guess maybe the better way to pose the question is what is the best connection method of the options to get the highest optimized SQ performance? I’m good with any connection that achieves that, thank

 

[Stephen Healy]

From our point of view, it would be USB

 

[ARD53]

Thx, there is soooooomuch conflicting information on this subject it's unsettling. I am hoping that's the case when I hook up my Zen_NG. Nas/Minimserver has great SQ but the interface does not work for me and the file tag circus is way past annoying. So its an expensive choice but I hope the SQ is as stated so I can't set up Sense, load my music files and get off the merry-go0round on searching for optimized SQ etc