UpTone Audio is now an official MUTEC dealer! New REF10 Nano clock in stock today — $1,799

Superdad · December 16, 2023

As we have become drawn into the world of external 10MHz reference clocks the past few years--for EtherREGEN and other devices--we have shared our knowledge, measurements, and observations here on this forum.

We have followed the offerings from our friends at Cybershaft, AfterDark, and others. And for our own consideration we have obtained OEM quotations from industrial OXCO module manufacturers. So we have a rather good sense of what it costs to produce a high quality complete clock-box. It truly is not a trivial endeavor, especially if one is to build a properly buffered/isolated multi-output unit with a really good square wave (sine wave is easier so you see those a lot; inexpensive boxes often have very poorly shaped square wave output due to techniques used).

In 2019, the German studio/pro-sound engineering firm MUTEC--headed by the brilliant Christian Peters--introduced the REF10, with 8 isolated outputs and fantastic phase-noise performance (at the outputs, not just of the OCXO module) of -145dBc/Hz (@10Hz offset). Nearly immediately it became THE standard for state-of-the-art reference clocking. But with a retail price of $5,000, it not only remained out of reach for many, but also challenging to justify unless a person had multiple components accepting an external clock. [I mean, our own $680 EtherREGEN is a bargain for what we pack in, but I never could advise someone to spend $5K on a clock just for our switch. ]

Now while MUTEC's many digital clock, distribution, reclocking, and format conversion products are quite popular for use in recording studios and other professional environments, Mr. Peters surely noticed and catered to the high-end audiophile market as well. Noticing some shifts--with increasing numbers of components accepting an external clock, and Asian firms jumping in with multiple low price offerings--MUTEC has responded with the much more affordable, 4-output REF10 Nano.

Utilizing virtually all the same refined circuits of its larger brother, the Nano delivers close to the same guaranteed phase-noise performance, and the same exceptional square waveform.

Aside from having 4 outputs instead of 8, the primary difference between the large REF10 and the new REF10 Nano is the power supply. The REF10 has a built-in full linear power supply, whereas the Nano has a built-in hybrid SMPS/linear supply. The Nano's internal power supply can be supplanted by an external +15VDC supply of ones choosing as there is a DC input jack (a non-standard jack size for which they include a solderable mating plug).

That brings me to our news today:

Since MUTEC announced the REF10 Nano, I and others have been posting about it and watching for release of units into the field.

I recently entered into discussions with the owner of MUTEC's exclusive wholesale-only importer, TransAudio, and worked out pricing and representation arrangements. For a few weeks all of MUTEC's export shipments of REF10 Nanos were stuck in German customs (odd since customs hold-ups usually occur only at the destination country), but TransAudio’s first delivery of Nanos arrived this week. I promptly purchased three units!

So not only is UpTone Audio now an authorized dealer for MUTEC, but we are the VERY first dealer in the USA to have stock!

Here are the units which just arrived today. Two with black faceplate, one with silver face.

The price for the REF 10 Nano is $1,799. These are going to sell very fast so contact me right away if you wish to order.

Our acclaimed JS-2 choke-filtered, dual-output, 5~7.4 amp linear power supply can be configured to have a 15V setting, but if you want a fine supply to power both the REF10 Nano and our EtherREGEN without defeating the EtherREGEN's active-differential isolation "moat," then you will want to wait for our forthcoming (Q1/Q2 2024) triple-regulated, isolated dual-output, 2A/4A JS-4 (est. $1,350).

If you order an in-stock JS-2 at the same time as a REF10 Nano, we will ship the 14-pound JS-2 box freight-free (the Nano's carton is light but large/long, so I doubt we can do free-freight on that).

By the way, UpTone also is authorized for all the other fine MUTEC models that TransAudio Group stocks here in the USA. Those are--at new lower pricing:

REF10 SE120 — $5,499

REF10 — $3,599

MC3+USB — $1,299

MC3+ — $949

(Black faceplate units are the most readily available.)

WHY BUY FROM UPTONE? Easy: Expertise, friendly personal consultation and service/support. I think most everyone here knows that is what we are about. Of course if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront dealer near you that carries MUTEC, then I encourage you to purchase from them.

Also, a shoutout to @Clockmeister: Aside from being a literal rocket-science engineer, he runs Coherent Systems in the UK, and they are a MUTEC dealer--probably with more stock of the REFE10 Nano than anyone in Europe right now. So if you are on that side of the 'pond' please give them a call.

——————————————————————————————————

Here are more pics and details:

Superdad · December 16, 2023

...

kennyb123 · December 16, 2023

Fantastic news!

mfaoro · December 16, 2023

Congratulations! What a Christmas present!

Superdad · December 16, 2023

15 minutes ago, mfaoro said:

Congratulations! What a Christmas present!

Happy to put one under YOUR tree! Just say the word…

The Computer Audiophile · December 16, 2023

So cool Alex. Genius move. I love it.

Christian and Mutec are salt of the Earth people. A perfect pairing with UpTone.

Audiophile Neuroscience · December 16, 2023

Hi Alex,

Congratulations and Happy Holidays

David

Johnnydev · December 16, 2023

Yes Alex, great, congratulations and very happy days.

Clockmeister · December 16, 2023

Hello Alex

Well done on securing one of the most desriable 'quality' desgined and produced clocks for audio and beyond😊

Welcome to the club sir

The Ref 10 SE-120 is also perfect for quality test instruments as well.

The Nano is proving very popular shall we say!

agladstone · December 29, 2023

Can you also provide the specs for the other Mutec products?

Superdad · December 29, 2023

5 minutes ago, agladstone said:

Can you also provide the specs for the other Mutec products?

Sure, when I am back at my desk in the morning. But all MUTEC product specifications can be easily viewed on their website:

https://www.mutec-net.com/produkte.php

By the way, sales have been going great. Already sold the first 3 units and have another 2 arriving to our offices early next week.

And we are offering a professionally terminated, ultra low-loss Belden 4794R high bandwidth 12G SDI 75-Ohm cable—your choice of length—to pair with it.

So feel free to contact me about ordering—the REF10 Nano or its big brothers—at their terrific new lower prices.

The Computer Audiophile · December 29, 2023

42 minutes ago, Superdad said:

professionally terminated, ultra low-loss Belden 4794R high bandwidth 12G SDI 75-Ohm cable

Very nice.

Superdad · December 29, 2023

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Very nice.

And a very thick 8mm diameter—so a bit stiff.

Oggo · December 29, 2023

@ Alex:

Are the outputs of the Nano truly isolated from each other or would it break any moat, if I use to drive 2 daisy-chained EtherRegens (ER1 B-side > ER2 A-side > ER2 b-side > streamer) with one Nano only?

Superdad · December 29, 2023

8 hours ago, Oggo said:

Are the outputs of the Nano truly isolated from each other...

Indeed the outputs of the REF10 Nano are fully isolated from each other. I have tested and confirm their claims. Plus I can see the tiny transformers and the buffer circuity before each output.

Unlike several other brand multi-output clocks, the MUTEC's outputs are actually isolated.

Oggo · December 30, 2023

17 hours ago, Superdad said:

Indeed the outputs of the REF10 Nano are fully isolated from each other. I have tested and confirm their claims. Plus I can see the tiny transformers and the buffer circuity before each output.

Unlike several other brand multi-output clocks, the MUTEC's outputs are actually isolated.

Thank you for your confirmation.

Happy new year!

Schafheide · January 6

My MUTEC REF10 Nano Clock and 1.5m Belden 4794R 75-Ohm clock cable have now been installed and running, for 24 hours.

Only 13 days (Mutec recommended burn-in procedure) remaining, before I would expect to hear the full benefit (many folk, who are better wordsmiths than I, have already described this sound improvement).

In any case, I am very happy with the price and advice from Alex,

Schafheide · January 6

P.S. Re the recommended burn-in time - does the temperature of the device enclosure have any effect on the burn-in time ie EtherRegen (very hot) vs Mutec Ref10 Nano (room temp) ??

Just wondering.

Superdad · January 7

17 hours ago, Schafheide said:

P.S. Re the recommended burn-in time - does the temperature of the device enclosure have any effect on the burn-in time ie EtherRegen (very hot) vs Mutec Ref10 Nano (room temp) ??

Not really. Most initial long-term change on circuit boards are due to "forming" of the capacitors. That just takes time, can be subtle, and often has some bumps (sounds good initially, then nasty for a bit, then really smooth as it settles into a final state--all in the range of first 10 hours to 200 hours).

Then for clocks, you are always just looking at measurable stability from hours of warm-up--after each power-on cycle from cold.

Schafheide · January 7

Yes, I remember that I took particular note of my expensive (silver) I2S cable. Initially it sounded horrible, then, after at least 200hrs of it's sound cycling between good then horrible, it finally did settle down and produced everything as promised.

Anyway, as you are aware, Mutec recommend 14 days (350hrs) of burn-in.

Superdad · January 9

Also bought my Mutec ref10 nano clock from Alex, did not had a chance to set it up until the new year, so it is still burning in, but I could already hear the improvement on my system. BTW, got the best service I ever had from an dealer - UpTone Audio, who would specifically ordered a clock cable for a customer from Amazon and split the shipping cost, Alex did just that, not to mention the clock cable that he recommended, probably has the best performance/cost ratio on the market.

While Mutec nano is a great product, with an option to further improve its performance with external power supply, do not understand their reasoning to use an odd size DC socket - it does comes with an average quality DC plug, but end users could not use their existing 5.5mmOD 2.1/2.5 ID DC cables without modification.

Schafheide · January 14

I am extremely happy with my EtherRegen (at present powered by a Farad Super3.

So far my new Mutec Ref10 Nano is about half- way in it's burn-in (and so far - so good!)..

Eventually I will purchase an EtherRegen Gen2, then I will go for an LPS (to power the Gen2 and the Mutec).

You mention the Js2 and the JS4 - could you please point me to info regarding the JS4 better suitability for my requirements.

Qstik · January 18

On 12/28/2023 at 9:45 PM, Superdad said:

And we are offering a professionally terminated, ultra low-loss Belden 4794R high bandwidth 12G SDI 75-Ohm cable—your choice of length—to pair with it.

I've had a very odd experience. I ordered a fairly inexpensive 2ft length of the above 8mm Belden 4794R cable from Blue Jeans Cable based on Alex's choice of that cable with the Nano he now sells. It comes with quality BNC connectors. It was intended as an experiment to see if it was better than the 3.8mm Belden 1865A 75 ohm cable as supplied by AfterDark with their Emperor Double Crown 75 Ohm sine MC into the external clock input of my Gustard R26 NOS DAC. I'm using a high quality 75/50 ohm matching pad to mate to the 50 ohm input impedance of the R26 external clock input, and yes, the matching pad makes a big improvement. With the 1865A cable, I have been exceedingly happy with the sound. I'm not sure what I was expecting with the 4794R cable; but what I hear has surprised me quite a bit. The sound field has collapsed considerably to a poorly defined center image. I don't normally consider it necessary to "burn in" cables, so I don't think that is the problem. I also didn't switch the cable around because I can't imagine that that makes a difference either. Maybe I got a poorly made cable; but that has not been my experience with BJC, which has been my go-to source for cables for a very long time. I'm really scratching my head here...

Superdad · January 18

29 minutes ago, Qstik said:

I've had a very odd experience. I ordered a fairly inexpensive 2ft length of the above 8mm Belden 4794R cable from Blue Jeans Cable based on Alex's choice of that cable with the Nano he now sells. It comes with quality BNC connectors. It was intended as an experiment to see if it was better than the 3.8mm Belden 1865A 75 ohm cable as supplied by AfterDark with their Emperor Double Crown 75 Ohm sine MC into the external clock input of my Gustard R26 NOS DAC.

The recommendation of Belden 4794R applies to square wave clocks such as the Mutec. For your sine wave clock you will be better served by a semi-rigid cable such as the one that Cybershaft offers (Cybershaft direct is less expensive but their web shop pages are down right now--so you can see their cable at AfterDark's page here:

https://www.adark.co/collections/cybershaft/products/cybershaft-50ω-bnc-cable-premium-2-version).

29 minutes ago, Qstik said:

I'm using a high quality 75/50 ohm matching pad to mate to the 50 ohm input impedance of the R26 external clock input, and yes, the matching pad makes a big improvement.

Perhaps that pad is also acting as some sort of filter as well because for sine wave clocks impedance matching does not matter at all. You would be better served by instead inserting one of the Mini-Circuits 11MHz low-pass filters (either BLP-10.7-75+ or BLP-10.7+, does not matter) at the input of whichever devices you are feeding the clock to.

Qstik · January 18

40 minutes ago, Superdad said:

for sine wave clocks impedance matching does not matter at all

Sorry Alex and John - that statement does not correlate with my listening experience, nor can I find any supporting references in Google searches. Sine wave impedance mismatches will cause reflections at the sine wave frequency while square wave impedance mismatches will cause reflections at the fundamental square wave frequency + higher harmonics of the fundamental square wave frequency. I also fail to understand why a 10 MHz sine wave benefits from an 11 MHz low pass filter, unless there is considerable noise on the sine wave. However, if a DAC, for instance, is expecting a 10 MHz sine wave external clock signal and only a square wave clock signal is available, that an 11 MHz low pass filter might filter a square wave to a passable sine wave. Please enlighten me.

UpTone Audio is now an official MUTEC dealer! New REF10 Nano clock in stock today — $1,799

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