EverSolo C10 Master Clock

Overview

The EverSolo C10 is a master clock, and it is worth being precise about what that means. It carries no audio inputs and no audio outputs, and the music never passes through it. Its only job is to generate one extremely stable timing reference and hand that reference to the digital components in your system, so that your transport and your converter stop keeping time by their own separate internal oscillators and start running on a shared one.

At the centre is EverSolo’s second generation clock design: a custom ultra low noise OCXO built on an SC cut crystal. SC cut is a doubly rotated crystal cut that is markedly less sensitive to temperature change and to internal mechanical stress than the AT cut used in ordinary oscillators, and the crystal sits in a temperature controlled oven that holds it at a constant working point. The published numbers are the point of the exercise: phase noise of minus 115 dBc/Hz at a 1 Hz offset falling to minus 145 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz, a noise floor at or below minus 170 dBc/Hz, factory frequency offset inside plus or minus 0.01 ppm, and drift held under 0.003 ppm across a temperature range from minus 20 C to plus 60 C. It reaches rated performance within five minutes of switch on.

Four independently buffered BNC outputs let the C10 drive up to four components at once, with each output isolated so that what one connected device does cannot disturb the others. It is not restricted to 10 MHz either. It also delivers 25 and 100 MHz, the 44.1 kHz family at 11.2896, 22.5792 and 45.1584 MHz, and the 48 kHz family at 12.288, 24.576 and 49.152 MHz, which means it can clock a wide range of equipment directly rather than only EverSolo gear. An 8.8 inch IPS touchscreen reports warm up progress, oscillator temperature, operating status and 1PPS calibration as it runs.

Key Features

• EverSolo’s second generation clock design, built around a custom 10 MHz ultra low noise OCXO on an SC cut crystal in a temperature controlled oven
• Phase noise of minus 115 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz, minus 129 at 10 Hz, minus 139 at 100 Hz and minus 145 at 1 kHz
• Noise floor at or below minus 170 dBc/Hz
• Factory frequency offset inside plus or minus 0.01 ppm, aging under 0.002 ppm per day
• Four independently buffered BNC outputs, square wave at 1.8 Vrms into 50 ohms
• Ten selectable output frequencies covering 10, 25 and 100 MHz plus both the 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz families
• 1PPS time reference input on SMB, factory calibrated on every unit
• 8.8 inch IPS touchscreen showing warm up, oscillator temperature and calibration in real time
• Full width aluminium alloy chassis matching the EverSolo reference components
• Rated performance within five minutes of switch on

How the C10 Compares

EverSolo C10 vs Silent Angel Genesis GC 25MHz

These two sit at almost the same price and answer the same question in different ways. The Genesis GC is a focused reference built around the Silent Angel house approach to low noise design. The C10 leans on breadth: four independently buffered outputs rather than a smaller count, ten selectable output frequencies covering both sample rate families, a 1PPS input for an external time reference, and a large touchscreen that reports what the oscillator is actually doing. If you are clocking several boxes at once, or clocking gear that wants something other than 10 MHz, the C10 has more room to work. See the Silent Angel Genesis GC.

EverSolo C10 vs Silent Angel Genesis GX Reference

The Genesis GX is the serious step up, and it is priced accordingly. It is the right call when the clock is the centrepiece of a system built around Silent Angel streaming and switching, and when you want the lowest phase noise available rather than the best balance of performance and flexibility. The C10 is the more practical choice inside an EverSolo system, where it was designed to pair and where it matches the chassis. See the Silent Angel Genesis GX.

EverSolo C10 vs the clock already inside your components

This is the comparison that matters most, and it deserves an honest answer. Every EverSolo component already has a good internal clock, and the T10, DAC Z10 and DAC-R8 all run temperature controlled oscillators of their own. The C10 is not fixing something broken. It replaces several separately drifting references with one shared reference of a higher grade. That is a refinement at the top of an already resolving system, which is why it belongs near the end of an upgrade path rather than near the beginning.

Recommended System

The C10 was designed around two EverSolo systems in particular, and it behaves differently in each.

The T10 and DAC Z10 reference stack

This is the pairing the C10 was built for. The EverSolo T10 streaming transport and the EverSolo DAC Z10 are a split source: the T10 gathers music from the network and passes it on as digital, and the Z10 converts it and drives the system. Splitting a source that way creates exactly the problem a master clock solves, because the transport and the converter are two separate boxes each timing themselves. Feed both from the C10 and the handoff between them happens on a single shared reference. Two of the four outputs are used, leaving two spare.

The DMP-A8 Gen 2 and AMP-F8 system

The EverSolo DMP-A8 Gen 2 is a streamer, DAC and preamplifier in one chassis feeding the EverSolo AMP-F8 power amplifier, so the digital chain lives inside a single box and the AMP-F8 is a purely analog device with nothing to clock. The C10 is therefore a smaller proposition here than in the split T10 and Z10 stack, and we would tell you so before you bought one. Where it earns its place in this system is when you add a separate converter such as the EverSolo DAC-R8 alongside the A8, or when you grow the system toward separates later and want the clock already in place.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the EverSolo C10?
It is a master clock. It generates one extremely stable 10 MHz timing reference and distributes it to the digital components in your system, so they all run on the same clock instead of each relying on its own internal oscillator.

Is the C10 a DAC or a streamer?
No. The C10 has no audio inputs and no audio outputs. It does not touch the music signal at all. It only supplies timing, so it is always an addition to a system rather than a replacement for a component.

Which EverSolo components can use it?
Any EverSolo component with an external clock input. That includes the T10 streaming transport, the DAC Z10 and the DAC-R8. Gear from other brands with a 10 MHz or 25 MHz clock input can also be driven from it.

How many components can it clock at once?
Four. The C10 has four BNC outputs, each independently buffered, so one output feeding your transport cannot disturb the output feeding your DAC.

Does it only output 10 MHz?
No. It also outputs 25 and 100 MHz, the 44.1 kHz family at 11.2896, 22.5792 and 45.1584 MHz, and the 48 kHz family at 12.288, 24.576 and 49.152 MHz, so it can clock a wide range of equipment directly.

What kind of oscillator is inside?
EverSolo’s second generation clock design, built around a custom ultra low noise OCXO on an SC cut crystal. SC cut is a doubly rotated crystal cut that is less sensitive to temperature change and to internal mechanical stress than the more common AT cut.

Why does it need to warm up?
An OCXO holds its crystal in a temperature controlled oven. The C10 reaches its rated performance within five minutes at normal room temperature, and the front screen shows oscillator temperature and warm up status while it stabilises.

What is the 1PPS input for?
It accepts an external one pulse per second time reference, which is how laboratory and GPS disciplined references are distributed. Every C10 is factory calibrated for 1PPS timing.

Will I hear a difference?
It depends heavily on the system and on how good the internal clocks already are. A master clock is a refinement at the top of a resolving system, not a fix for a weak link further down the chain. It is the last thing to add, not the first.

Does it have a screen?
Yes, an 8.8 inch IPS touchscreen that shows warm up progress, oscillator temperature, operating status and 1PPS calibration in real time.

Available at All Elite Audio, your authorized EverSolo dealer in Timonium, Maryland. Visit our showroom or order online with free shipping.