** 0.5 page review/ 365 words **

Softjee Falcon sample clock

After a dual CD/DAT clock module on a small budget? Shiuming Lai has an answer...

Modern digital audio processing gear needs to offer CD and DAT sample rate provision, at 44.1KHz and 48KHz respectively. The Falcon derives its internal sample rates by integer division of a master clock running at 25.175MHz. Spot the problem? That's right, neither target is a denominator of the source. One could use the Falcon's DSP chip to resample on the fly, but this is a waste of good power, and for optimum quality it's still best to use a proper clock with the correct frequency. The Cubase and Jam external clock modules are either 44.1KHz or 48KHz, if you want both in one unit your previous choice was limited to the SoundPool FDI. Excellent though it is, the inclusion of S/PDIF keeps it at a price not everyone can justify, especially if you just want to hear music pulled off a CD.

Here we have the latest hardware development from Softjee, providing a solution to both of these shortcomings. It's effectively a FDI without S/PDIF, therefore is compatible with professional software such as Cubase Audio and Zero-X. Only the demo versions of SoundPool's software didn't seem to recognise an external clock, and for the really stubborn programs there is a switching CPX on the disk, along with some example programming source code.

NEWCLOCK plugs into the DSP port and a pair of built-in LEDs indicate which clock is selected. Not much use if your Falcon is in a rack - perhaps you could see them by running some optical fibre to the rear!
Good value, buy one today.

** Product box **
Name: NEWCLOCK
Manufacturer: Softjee
Price: œ39.95
Contact:
softjee@wanadoo.fr
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/softjee

UK Distributor:
Titan Designs
Requires: Falcon
Pros: No-nonsense, complements existing sample rates
Cons: Slightly crude build and finish
Score: 88%
** /product box **

** Images and captions **
** NEWCLOCK.JPG **
Without looking at the manual, which indicator is which frequency?

** CLOCKSET.GIF **
** XCONTROL.GIF **