Related Manuals for Madrigal Audio Mark Levinson 36
Summary of Contents for Madrigal Audio Mark Levinson 36
- Page 1 Operating Manual Mark Levinson ® Nº36 Digital Audio Processor Madrigal Audio Laboratories, Inc.
- Page 2 WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
- Page 3 Important Safety Instructions Please read all instructions and precautions carefully and completely before operating your Mark Levinson com- ponent. 1. ALWAYS disconnect your entire system from the AC mains before connecting or disconnecting any cables, or when cleaning any component. 2.
- Page 4 From all of us at Madrigal Audio Laboratories, thank you for choosing the Mark Levinson Nº36 Digital Audio Processor. A great deal of effort went into the design and construction of this precision device. Used properly, it will give you many years of enjoyment.
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Page 5: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Unpacking and Placement ................ 6 Send in Your Warranty Card! ................6 Unpacking the Nº36 ................... 6 Placement of the Nº36 ..................6 Operating Voltage ..................7 A Quick Start… .................... 8 Warm up/break-in period ................. 9 Special Design Features ................10 An “intelligent”... -
Page 6: Unpacking And Placement
Unpacking and Placement Send in Your Warranty Card! So far, you have only half a product. The other half is the ongoing service and support we can provide you to complement your new component and help you maximize your enjoyment of it. Unfortunately, we cannot give you this other half of the product you just purchased unless you tell us where to find you Sending in your warranty card will automatically add your name to our mailing list for our customer newsletter, and will allow us to contact you for the occa-... -
Page 7: Operating Voltage
Operating Voltage The Nº36 Digital Audio Processor is set at the factory (internally) for 100V , 120V , 200V, 230V , 220V , or 240V AC mains operation @ 50 or 60Hz. (230V/50Hz only in European Union countries, in compliance with CE regulations.) This voltage set- ting cannot be changed by the user. -
Page 8: A Quick Start
A Quick Start… We recognize that many people are understandably eager to begin listening to their new components, and that reading the manual is often done (if at all) at a later time—perhaps while listening to music through the new product itself. We strongly recommend that you read this manual thoroughly, as the Nº36 Digital Audio Processor incorporates several unusual features which enhance its opera- tion. -
Page 9: Warm Up/Break-In Period
SELECT THE INPUT YOU ARE USING BY PRESSING ITS FRONT PANEL BUT- TURN ON THE OTHER COMPONENTS; SLOWLY RAISE THE VOLUME Congratulations! Y ou should now be able to enjoy your favorite music while reading the rest of this manual. [Note that it is always a good idea to turn on your power amplifier(s) last, in case one of your other components ex- hibits a turn-on transient of some sort.] Warm up/break-in period... -
Page 10: Special Design Features
Special Design Features Congratulations on your purchase of the Nº36 Digital Audio Processor. The Madri- gal design team is confident you will enjoy the outstanding performance of the Nº36 for many years. In case you are interested in technical details, what follows is a brief outline of some of the key technologies in your new processor. -
Page 11: Superior Isolation Between Sources
to the recovered clock when the long-term data rate from the transport is ex- tremely inaccurate. (Sorry—the digital output of your CD portable will not sound as good as a fine CD transport such as the Mark Levinson Nº31.) One of the advantages of a separate digital audio processor is that you can take Superior isolation between sources the money which might have otherwise been spent on several built-in D/A con-... -
Page 12: Hdcd® Gain-Matching
® HDCD Gain-Matching Some HDCD-encoded recordings are mastered at a level which is noticeably lower (6 dB) than conventional recordings. To avoid unexpected changes in volume when going from one disc to another, the Nº36 automatically reduces the volume of all recordings to this volume level as required by Pacific Microsonics, Inc. -
Page 13: Front Panel, Nº36
MADRIGAL AUDIO LABORATORIES DIGITAL PROCESSOR aes/ebu emphasis Nº 36 polarity standby invert teach ir Front panel, Nº36 DISPLAY INTENSITY Pressing this button varies the brightness of the display . Four brightness lev- els are available. When power is first applied to the Nº36 (or when power is restored after... - Page 14 MODE BUTTON The mode button serves two functions, one in day-to-day operation and the other only during setup: • In everyday use, the button allows you to see the status of the mode and to turn it on or off. digital output •...
- Page 15 Note: The de-emphasis circuitry of the Nº36 is designed to be compatible with all known digital standards. However, it is possible for the emphasis LED to light in error when there is no disc being played. This is not a malfunction of the Nº36. Rather, it is the result of the transport generating ambiguous signals in the absence of a spinning disc to read.
- Page 16 STANDBY & STANDBY LED Pressing this button takes the Nº36 out of “standby” mode (provided the Nº36 is connected to AC power), making it fully operational. Pressing again places the Nº36 into standby mode, which turns the standby display off, turns off all outputs (including the record outputs), and disables the front-panel controls.
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Page 17: Display, Nº36
Display , Nº36 INPUT NAME This part of the Nº36’s shows the of the input selected, as display name determined during setup (see “Assigning input names” in the “Installation” section of this manual). To facilitate operation in complex, multisource systems, the Nº36 is capable of displaying a wide variety of names for each of its eight inputs. - Page 18 SAMPLING FREQUENCY This part of the Nº36’s display normally shows the sampling frequency the digital input being processed, expressed in kilohertz. One of three sam- pling frequencies will be shown, in “shorthand” form: , or , (44k is shown in the main illustration on the opposite page). After you press one of the source selection buttons (say, going from input 1 to input 5), the Nº36 will reduce the volume and the display will show: While the Nº36 is attempting to lock onto a different digital signal, the dis-...
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Page 19: Rear Panel, Nº36
DIGITAL PROCESSOR Nº36 and High Definition Compatible Digital® are registered trademarks of Pacific Microsonics, Inc. d e s i g n e d a n d m a n u f a c t u r e d i n U . S . A . MADRIGAL r i g h t a n a l o g o u t p u t s master... -
Page 20: Ir Input Tip Polarity
ST OPTICAL DIGITAL INPUT (#3) This input accepts the digital audio signal DAS) , via optical cable equipped with the ST-type optical connector (sometimes called “AT&T”) from digital sources such as a compact disc transport, laser disc transport, digital audio tape transport, digital broadcast receiver. BNC S/PDIF ELECTRICAL DIGITAL INPUT (#4) This input accepts the ) via cables equipped with... -
Page 21: Linking Connections
Master as “Slaves,” and slave out can be “daisy-chained” using their Slave In and Slave Out jacks. As the ulti- display intensity mode MADRIGAL AUDIO LABORATORIES aes/ebu emphasis COMPACT DISC DRIVE polarity Nº 37... -
Page 22: Male Xlr Output Connector (Digital)
Male XLR output connector (digital) Pin 1: Chassis ground Pin 2: non-inverting DAS Pin 3: inverting DAS Connector ground lug: chassis ground This is enabled or disabled by the button, and when digital output mode enabled makes a copy of the DAS of the currently selected input available to other components. -
Page 23: Setup And Installation
Setup and Installation Caution! For your protection, review “Important Safety Instructions” before you install your Nº36. The Nº36 allows you to assign any of a wide variety of names to each of the Nº36 Input Names eight digital inputs, shown below: NOT USED (any unused input) Digital Audio Tape... -
Page 24: Making Analog Connections
Unlike previous generations of digital audio processors, the performance of which was highly dependent on the digital interface and the digital interconnect, the technology of the Nº36 allows it to deliver optimal performance despite the in- herent limitations of interfaces such as the standard (sometimes called EIAJ “Toslink™”). -
Page 25: Making Link Connections
The Nº36 incorporates sophisticated inter-component communications capabili- Making Link Connections ties when Linked to compatible Mark Levinson components. (See “Communica- tions Ports” in ”Rear Panel.”) If you own compatible Mark Levinson digital source components or preamplifiers, connect them to the Nº36 with an eight-conductor RJ-45 cable as described on page 20. -
Page 26: Naming Your Inputs
To give an input a new name: Naming Your Inputs SELECT THE INPUT YOU WISH TO RENAME Note that the input to be renamed needs to be selected prior to naming. PRESS AND HOLD THE MODE BUTTON After a delay of approximately five seconds, the display will change to ), as shown below. - Page 27 PRESS AND HOLD THE MODE BUTTON TO THE CONFIRM CHANGE Pressing and holding the button a second time confirms that you mode would like to make this change, that it is a conscious choice (rather than an accidental change caused by an inquisitive four year old): If no change is made, the display will show: REPEAT THIS PROCESS FOR ALL INPUTS...
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Page 28: Remote Control Of The Nº36
Remote Control of the Nº36 The Nº36 includes both an infrared receiver and an infrared transmitter. With this capability, it can “teach” a learning remote control any commands that might be needed for remote operation. These include input selection, mode, polarity , etc. Specifically, the Nº36 can send all of the necessary IR commands from its display window, enabling you to teach a learning remote any or all of its pre-pro-... -
Page 29: Teaching Other Nº36 Commands
Y ou may wish to teach your remote control some of the Nº36’s special com- mands (those for which there is no corresponding front panel button); in this case, you should go directly to the next section. At some point, however, you should test all your newly “learned”... - Page 30 (If you are uncertain as to how to prepare your remote control for learning new commands, refer to the instructions provided with the remote control.) REPEAT THE PROCESS OF “TEACHING” NEW SPECIAL COMMANDS UN- TIL ALL DESIRED COMMANDS HAVE BEEN LEARNED BY YOUR REMOTE CONTROL.
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Page 31: Linked Functions
Linked functions The Nº36 has the ability to “link” several of its functions to compatible Mark Levinson components (like the Nº31 Reference CD Transport and the Nº38 or Nº38S Preamplifier, and the 30-series power amplifiers). Note: To take advantage of linked functions, you must connect the Nº36 to the other components via their communication ports. -
Page 32: Hdcd Link
The following Link is not a selectable option. Instead, it operates automatically and transparently between your transport, processor and preamplifier. HDCD link: When HDCD recordings are made, one of the encod- HDCD Link ing options chosen by the recording engineer results in a playback level that is six decibels lower than normal. -
Page 33: Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting In general, refer any service problems to your Mark Levinson dealer. Before con- tacting your dealer, however, check to see if the problem is listed here. If it is, try the suggested solutions. If none of these solves the problem, contact your Mark Levinson dealer. -
Page 34: Care And Maintenance
Care and maintenance To remove dust from the cabinet of the Nº36, use a feather duster. To remove dirt and fingerprints, we recommend isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. Caution! Always apply the isopropyl alcohol to the soft cloth and then wipe the Nº36 with the dampened cloth. -
Page 35: U.s. And Canadian Warranty
Madrigal Audio Laboratories, Inc., P . O. Box 781, Middletown, CT 06457. The extended warranty for this Mark Levinson product is five (5) years from the Five Year Extended Warranty date of purchase. -
Page 36: Obtaining Service
Obtaining Service We take great pride in our dealers. Experience, dedication, and integrity make these professionals ideally suited to assist with our customers’ service needs. If your Mark Levinson component must be serviced, please contact your dealer. Y our dealer will then decide whether the problem can be remedied locally, or whether to contact Madrigal for further service information or parts, or to obtain a Return Authorization. -
Page 37: Specifications
Specifications The correlation between published specifications and sonic quality is unreliable. A list of numbers reveals virtually nothing. All technical measurements must be sub- ject to qualitative as well as quantitative interpretation. Measurements of the Nº36 yield excellent results by any standards. However, only those specifications that apply to its actual operation are included here. -
Page 38: Dimensions
Dimensions 13.38" 34 cm 0.425" 7.68" 2.85" 1.1 cm 19.5 cm 7.24 cm 0.10" 2.00" 5.1 cm 7.34" 18.6 cm 15.55" 39.5 cm 11.55" 29.3 cm 1.19" 6.5" 0.875" 15.75" 3 cm 16.5 cm 2.2 cm 40 cm 7.34" 18.6 cm 2.00"... - Page 40 2081 South Main Street, P.O. Box 781 Middletown, Connecticut 06457 USA Telephone: (860) 346-0896 Fax: (860) 346-1540 http://www.madrigal.com/ MADRIGAL AUDIO LABORATORIES is a registered trademark of Madrigal Audio Laboratories, Inc. a Harman International company ® ® HDCD and High Definition Compatible Digital...