December 2017
Analog gourmet show with digital luxury spices
The tenth annual Analog-Forum in Krefeld, Germany took place on October 21 & 22, 2017. This audiophile trade show with a family-friendly vibe has since garnered the attention of an international audience. In doing so it has shed itself from its elitist ‘analog-only’ reputation. Hence, MUTEC customer and digital audio aficionado Willem Zimpel represented the speaker brand Mundus-Naturschallwandler this year and used the MUTEC REF10 for an exquisite listening setup.
Even though the event is technically a strict analog trade show, it’s now an open secret that digital audio is here to stay - both on the recording and the playback end. As a proof of concept Mr. Zimpel included the only remaining physical digital audio medium, the CD, in his listening setup alongside a turntable and a tape player. This digital chain consisted of the high-end CD/BlueRay transport by OPPO, the Mytek Brooklyn DAC and a cascade of two MUTEC MC-3+ Smart Clock USBs and the new MUTEC REF10 reference master clock.
Two days of intense trade show listening sessions later, he concludes as follows:
"Most of the trade show visitors in Krefeld probably will not have heard such an authentic CD reproduction before. Granted a great recording, this setup reveals the full potential of just 16 Bits and 44.1 kHz playback. The highest precision of signal processing and the extremely accurate clocking by the MUTEC components made this exceptional experience possible. I was able to come to this conclusion thanks to my own long-term experience and the overwhelmingly positive feedback and comments from visitors after extended listening sessions.
I am convinced that this is just the beginning at MUTEC and that there is much more to come!"
Learn more about the MC-3+ Smart Clock USB here
Learn more about the REF10 here