The Antelope Audio OCX HD is a master clock that makes a convincing case in professional applications - from live shows through to music and post-production for films - thanks to its extensive range of features. For high-quality productions, this master clock supports sample rates of up to 768kHz via Word Clock, and the fourth generation of the "Acoustically Focused Clocking" technology ensures perfect 64-bit clocking via DSP. What is more, the internal oven-controlled crystal oscillator provides jitter-free signals. The rear panel houses ten outputs for Word Clock signals, four AES/EBU outputs, and two S/PDIF outputs to make flexible integration into every setup possible. Multipliers allow the user to output up to five different sample rates, and the Antelope Audio OCX HD can be controlled via software and driven by an atomic Word Clock, which ensures outstanding precision.
To ensure ease of operation, the Antelope Audio OCX HD's front panel has been reduced to just a few clearly arranged controls, and the two large main rotary knobs are designed to stand out against the casing in order to allow the user to find them in a hurry. The left-hand knob is used to select the clocking source input: If "Oven" is selected, clocking is carried out via the internal oven-controlled crystal oscillator. The right-hand knob in turn features a push encoder for setting the sample rate, and the user's selection must be verified by pressing the encoder so that no values are changed accidentally. The buttons on the right-hand side of the user interface can set a European pull-up/pull-down of +/-0.1% as well as an American pull-up/pull-down of +/-4%, and presets can be loaded using buttons P1 to P3.
The Antelope Audio OCX HD is a versatile and reliable master clock that can be used to create high-quality productions in many professional applications and will ensure smooth synchronisation during live shows and for music and film productions. The ten outputs provided on the rear panel can be used to output sample rates of up to 768kHz to external hardware for synchronisation, and the four AES/EBU outputs allow sample rates of up to 192kHz to be transferred. Users can flexibly control the master clock from their PC or Mac by installing the dedicated software, which also makes additional functions available, including a "Lock Mode" which disables the user interface so that changes to the clock signal can only be made via the software. What is more, the Antelope OCX HD can also be calibrated in the software via an externally connected atomic clock.
Antelope Audio is a manufacturer of professional audio equipment that was founded by developer Igor Levin, who invented the famous AardSync clock generator with which his then-company Aardvark made waves in the world of audio engineering at the end of the 20th century. In 2005, Igor Levin went – as he himself put it – back to his roots and continued to develop the AardSync concept. The result of this development work was the “Oven Clock”, a word clock generator that is kept at a constant temperature of 64.5°C to provide increased stability and improve jitter performance. The newly founded Antelope Audio caused a similar splash in 2005 with its OCX Clock Generator. Today, Antelope Audio, which is based in Sofia, Bulgaria, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality audio interfaces and AD/DA converters and includes big names such as Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the Wu-Tang Clan among its users.
As mentioned above, dedicated software that is compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems and gives the user access to an extended range of setting options - such as adjusting the display brightness and calibrating a connected atomic clock - can be downloaded free of charge from Antelope Audio's website. Additional options include setting sample rates for the five multipliers, which can be output via the ten Word Clock outputs on the rear of the interface. Users can also save up to three presets in the software, which can be loaded directly from the user interface of the master clock via buttons P1 to P3 (provided that the Lock Mode is not active). Firmware updates can also be made using the software. In addition to these features, jitter can be removed from the chosen clock signal using the Jitter Management module in DA Mode, resulting in a clear signal.