This is a review and measurements of the (now discontinued) Black Lion Sparrow MKII ADC and Micro Clock external master clock. It is on kind loan from a member.
I kind of like the mechanical controls here although the writing is hard to read. The clock seems to be fixed at 96 kHz and rotate the dial did nothing.
Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard of 4 volts into XLR inputs:
Distortion is the limiting factor, placing it in the "fair" category:
Using the Micro clock made no difference:
Noise floor went up but that is because sample rate changed. I tested it with internal clock at that rate and it did the same thing.
Prior to distortion setting in, noise dominates and there, performance is excellent:
So if you can live with lower input levels, it does a lot better.
Dynamic range is such:
Frequency response is extended and flat enough:
Conclusions
As with their DAC, good work was done to keep noise down but distortion remains a major problem Avoid too hot of an input and you should be good.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I kind of like the mechanical controls here although the writing is hard to read. The clock seems to be fixed at 96 kHz and rotate the dial did nothing.
Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard of 4 volts into XLR inputs:
Distortion is the limiting factor, placing it in the "fair" category:
Using the Micro clock made no difference:
Noise floor went up but that is because sample rate changed. I tested it with internal clock at that rate and it did the same thing.
Prior to distortion setting in, noise dominates and there, performance is excellent:
So if you can live with lower input levels, it does a lot better.
Dynamic range is such:
Frequency response is extended and flat enough:
Conclusions
As with their DAC, good work was done to keep noise down but distortion remains a major problem Avoid too hot of an input and you should be good.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/