Summary of Contents for Wells JASON
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Page 1: Owners Manual
Weiss Engineering Ltd. Florastrasse 42, 8610 Uster, Switzerland www.weiss-highend.com JASON OWNERS MANUAL... - Page 2 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT INTRODUCTION ustomer Congratulations on your purchase of the JASON CD Transport and welcome to the family of Weiss equipment owners! The JASON is the result of an intensive research and development process. Research was conducted both in analog and digital circuit design, as well as in signal processing algorithm specification.
- Page 3 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS A short history of Weiss Engineering Our mission and product philosophy Advanced digital and analog audio concepts explained Jitter Suppression, Clocking Upsampling, Oversampling and Sampling Rate Conversion in General Reconstruction Filters...
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Page 4: A Short History Of Weiss Engineering
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT A SHORT HISTORY OF WEISS ENGINEERING After studying electrical engineering, Daniel Weiss joined the Willi Studer (Studer - Revox) company in Switzerland. His work included the design of a sampling frequency converter and of digital signal processing electronics for digital audio recorders. -
Page 5: Our Mission And Product Philosophy
Our mission is to create equipment which becomes classic right from the outset; - outstanding in sonics and design. The MEDEA digital to analog converter and the Jason CD Transport are only the beginning. Expect more to come. These are some of the milestones at Weiss Engineering: 1985 Introduction of the "102 Series", a 24 bit modular digital audio processor for Mastering... -
Page 6: Advanced Digital And Analog Audio Concepts Explained
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT ADVANCED DIGITAL AND ANALOG AUDIO CONCEPTS EXPLAINED Jitter Suppression and Clocking What is jitter and how does it affect audio quality? In the audio field the term jitter designates a timing uncertainty of digital clock signals. E.g. in an Analog to Digital Converter (A/D) the analog signal is sampled (measured) at regular time intervals;... - Page 7 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT Yes, those are in essence sampling rate converters, however in a well designed system these converters employ a synchronous design, where jitter does not play any role. Of course a conversion between 96kHz and 44.1kHz as in the example above, can be done in a synchronous manner as well.
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Page 8: Upsampling, Oversampling And Sampling Rate Conversion In General
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT In the MEDEA we employ a two stage PLL circuitry which very effectively suppresses jitter. A common problem with most PLLs used in audio circuitry is that they suppress jitter only for higher frequencies. - Page 9 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT A physical law states that in order to represent any given analog signal in the digital domain, one has to sample that signal with at least twice the frequency of the highest frequency contained in the analog signal.
- Page 10 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT ringing due to the high steepness. In the early days of digital audio these side effects have been recognized as beeing one of the main culprits for digital audio to sound bad. So engineers looked for ways to enhance those filters. They can’t be eliminated because we are talking laws of physics here.
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Page 11: Reconstruction Filters
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT Reconstruction Filters Reconstruction filters have been mentioned in the "Upsampling, Oversampling and Sampling Rate Conversion in General" paragraph above. If you have read that paragraph you know what the purpose of the reconstruction filter is. The main point about this analog filter is that its frequency response should be as smooth and flat as possible in order to have a virtually linear phase response. -
Page 12: Dithering
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT Dithering You have probably not heard the term dithering in conjunction with audio. Actually it is a term widely used in the professional audio realm but not so much in the High-End Hi-Fi market. - Page 13 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT I hope these excursions into the theory and practice of audio engineering have been useful for you. If you would like to dive further into those issues I recommend to visit the website of Mr. Bob Katz, a renowned Mastering Engineer and a Weiss Engineering customer.
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Page 14: The Jason Cd Transport
CD. In that case the output wordlength can be selected to be 16 or 20 or 24 bits in order to accommodate for the wordlength of the D/A converter connected to the JASON. The wordlength reduction to 16, 20 or 24 bits is done via the POW-R dithering algorithm. POW-R is the de-facto standard in professional audio for wordlength reduction. - Page 15 This assures a glitch free power switching. Mechanical Design: The JASON employs a twin metal frame. The inner chassis is made of steel and acts as a very effective shield against electrostatic and electromagnetic radiation. The outer frame is made of massive anodized aluminium for additional shielding, resulting in optimal heat convection and beautiful looks.
- Page 16 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT Frontpanel elements: Five switches for skip backward, skip forward, stop, play/pause and lid open/close. • A high resolution graphical display. • A power switch. • Backpanel elements from left to right: USB connector for software download (for future software upgrades).
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Page 17: Operation
• A Certificate of Guarantee • The JASON should be placed horizontally on a plane surface. Make sure that there is enough space above the unit such that the lid can open freely. Mains Connection Before connecting the mains cable make sure the voltage selector switch on the back of the unit (integrated into the mains connector) is set to the appropriate voltage. - Page 18 • If you would like to operate the MEDEA at either 44.1 kHz or 88.2 kHz use the JASON output 2 or 4 to connect the MEDEA. Both balanced (XLR, output 2) or unbalanced (RCA, output 4) are fine for that purpose.
- Page 19 First time power-up After powering the unit, the JASON tries to read in a CD, but because there is no CD present it will show the message "no disc". Press the eject switch to open the lid. Now insert a CD, data surface down and press the eject switch again.
- Page 20 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT The Remote Control The JASON remote control sports the standard CD transport controls and in addition a few controls unique to the JASON CD transport. To access the functions printed below the keys first press and hold the ALT key on the lower left and then press the second key.
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Page 21: Technical Data
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT Technical Data Digital Outputs: Output Connector type Format Available sampling rate(s) Available wordlengths (2) XLR AES/EBU dual wire 88.2 / 176.4 *) 16 / 20 / 24 bits AES/EBU single wire 44.1 / 88.2 / 176.4... -
Page 22: Contact
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS JASON CD TRANSPORT CONTACT For any questions, suggestions etc. feel free to contact us at: Weiss Engineering Ltd. Florastrasse 42 8610 Uster Switzerland Phone: +41 44 940 20 06 Fax: +41 44 940 22 14 Email: info@weiss.ch...