M2TECH EVO PHONODAC TWO User Manual

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M2TECH

EVO PHONODAC TWO

DXD-DSD A-TO-D AND D-TO-A CONVERTER

PHONO PREAMPLIFIER

USER MANUAL

M2TECH

EVO P

DAC Two

HONO

DXD-DSD A/D-D/A CONVERTER

PHONO PREAMP

CLIP

REV. P

A – 7/2016

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Summary of Contents for M2TECH EVO PHONODAC TWO

Page 1 M2TECH EVO PHONODAC TWO DXD-DSD A-TO-D AND D-TO-A CONVERTER PHONO PREAMPLIFIER USER MANUAL M2TECH EVO P DAC Two HONO DXD-DSD A/D-D/A CONVERTER PHONO PREAMP CLIP REV. P A – 7/2016...
Page 3 WARNING: the information contained in this manual are considered to be reliable and accurate. M2Tech reserves the right to change or modify the information any time, without prior advice. It’s up to the customer to ensure that the manual being consulted is the latest version.
Page 4 Dear customer, Thank you for purchasing EVO PHONODAC TWO. You’re the owner of a very high quality D- to-A and A-TO-D combo with a wealth of unique features, conceived to deliver the best performance in conjunction with your computer and audio devices.
Page 5: Table Of Contents
8.15. Menu exit (EXIT) ....................26 9. Notes on equalization ....................27 9.1. Why equalization is needed for records? ..............27 9.2. List of phono equalization curves available on the EVO PHONODAC TWO and notes on their usage ........................30 9.2.1. RIAA .........................30 9.2.2. AES ........................30 9.2.3.
Page 6 10.3.2. Windows driver uninstall .................49 10.3.3. Windows Driver Panel ..................53 10.3.4. Using the EVO PHONODAC TWO as Windows predefined audio device ..57 10.3.5. Configuring the player: FooBar and JRiver Media Center ......61 10.3.6. Connecting the EVO PHONODAC TWO to an USB 1.1 port ......67 11.
Page 7: Unpacking And Placing The Unit
NOTE: no cables are provided; the user is free to choose her/his favourite ones. Remove the EVO PHONODAC TWO from the foam enclosure and place it onto a stable base, far from heat sources. Avoid full sunlight on the unit. Allow for ample room around the unit for venting.
Page 9: Front Panel
2) Clip indicator. It lits when the input analog signal reaches the preset level (See Chap. 3) Remote control IR receiver. Aim the remote at this point to send command to the device. NOTE: the remote control provided with the EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO is the same used...
Page 11: Rear Panel
7) Input impedance matching control. Set to the value required by the source driving the EVO PHONODAC Two ’s analog input. 8) USB port. Connect to a 2.0 or 3.0 USB port of a computer. The EVO PHONODAC TWO exchanges audio data with a computer through this connection.
Page 13: Remote Control
4) OK. It selects the menu option shown on the display. When the menu is not active and the USB input is selected, this button allows to send the player running on the computer the play/pause command or, with a long press, the stop command. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 15: Connecting And Powering The Unit
Please refer to chapter 3, “Back Panel”. Connect the EVO PHONODAC TWO to a computer with a 2.0 A-B USB cable connected to the USB port (Fig. 2,8). We recommend the cable be no longer than 3m. If you also own the EVO CLOCK TWO , connect its master clock output to the EVO PHONODAC TWO external clock input (Fig.
Page 16 A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz NOTE: that the EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO is not provided with a power switch, therefore it EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO will power on as soon as a power supply is connected to it, lighting the display (Fig.
Page 17: Cleaning The Unit
6. Cleaning the Unit The EVO PHONODAC TWO should be cleaned with a soft, slightly damp cloth. Do not use alcohol or any other types of cleaning fluids as they could damage the unit. Avoid fluids from dropping or leaking inside the unit. Fluids of any type poured into the unit will void your warranty.
Page 19: Using The Evo Phonodac Two
7.1. Input selection The EVO PHONODAC TWO is provided with three inputs: one is the USB port (Fig. 2, 8), th second one is the analog input (Fig. 2, 10) and the third one is the S/PDIF input (Fig. 2, 6), which may not be available is an external clock generator is connected to the EVO PHONODAC TWO .
Page 20: Clip Indicator
7.6. External clock, auxiliary S/PDIF input The EVO PHONODAC TWO is provided with an input for an external clock (Fig. 2, 6). This input is very versatile, as it’s able to recognize the frequency of the clock applied and, when needed, synthesize the needed master clock.
Page 21: Dsd And Dxd
A low-pass (anti-hiss) filter limits the high frequency noise present in old 78rpm records and in certain FM stereo broadcasts, as well as in certain recordings on cassette tape. Figure 4 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 22 REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz The MPX filter eliminates the 19kHz FM stereo sub-carrier from FM broadcasts which is perceived by certain people as a thin whistle or a unease sensation. Figure 5 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 23: Configuring The Evo Phonodac Two
• S/PDIF IN: set the external clock input as an S/PDIF input for the DAC; • AUTO: sets the EVO PHONODAC TWO to use any valid external clock present on the external clock input, otherwise the internal oscillators are used;...
Page 24: Output Signal Phase (Phase)
DXD-DSD A-TO-D AND D-TO-A CONVERTER – PHONO PREAMP REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz • MUTED: at power on, the EVO PHONODAC TWO S/PDIF sets the output volume to zero (complete mute). 8.4. Output signal phase (PHASE) This item also relates to 3 values: •...
Page 25: Phono Equalization (Eq Phono)
• 20 bit: analog input signal will be quantized to 20 bits; • 16 bit: analog input signal will be quantized to 16 bits;. 8.11. ADC sampling frequency (ADC FS) NOTE: this item is only relevant with the EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO operates in EVO PHONODAC TWO...
Page 26: Adc Clip Indicator Reference Level (Adc Clip)
• NO: keep present values; • YES: restore factory defaults. 8.15. Menu exit (EXIT) The menu is terminated when this item is selected. As already stated, the menu automatically exits after a few seconds idle. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 27: Notes On Equalization
Presently, all records are cut using the RIAA curve (Figure 6), which has been proposed as a standard back in 1954. Both low frequencies amplification and high frequencies attenuation for playback are clearly visible. RIAA playback curve Figure 6 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 28 Older curves were thought for playback systems in which the low frequency limit was relatively high (50- 80Hz) and for recordings with poor low frequency content, setups in which the turntable rumble was not a problem. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 29 Figure 8 shows the relative level versus frequency of the music on a Decca FFRR record when it is played through a RIAA phono input of a modern amplifier. Equalization of the signal of a Decca FFRR record being amplified by a RIAA phono stage Figure 8 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 30: List Of Phono Equalization Curves Available On The Evo Phonodac Two And Notes On Their Usage
RIAA. The EVO PHONODAC TWO has not a specific RIAA/IEC curve, but it can be obtained by selecting RIAA and the high-pass filter at 16Hz (see Section 8.7).
Page 31: Angel (Ang)
Most of the great recordings of the stereo era (after 1954) were also produced in mono and used to make the mono LP’s cut using the FFRR curve. 9.2.9. MGM The famous entertainment company also produced LP’s during the mono era using her proprietary curve. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 32: Nab
LP’s after losing the format war against Columbia, so it’s difficult to say which curve was used for a certain record. The EVO PHONODAC TWO offers three choices, based on record’s year of cutting. RCA1 is the oldest. The newest, RCA Orthophonic, is the one on which the “New Orthopohonic”...
Page 33: Decca Ffrr 78Rpm (Dec)
Same thing can be done with the EVO PHONODAC TWO , connecting the playback head of a tape recorder to its analog inputs (eventually via an impedance adaptor), adjusting the gain as required and selecting the appropriate equalization curve for the tape being played back.
Page 34: Ccir/Iec For 9.5Cm/S And 19Cm/S (3¾ Ips And 7½ Ips) And Ccir/Iec For 38Cm/S (15 Ips) (Iec1 And Iec3)
9.5. Interfacing a cartridge or a tape head The EVO PHONODAC TWO has an input impedance which can be set to any value between 10 Ohms and 50,000 Ohms by means of a knob on the back panel. This value range...
Page 35: Recording Programs
9.6. Recording programs When acquiring on a computer with the EVO PHONODAC TWO , a suitable program of application needs to be used. Several different programs of packages are available for Windows, Mac and Linux, some of them are freeware, others need to be purchased.
Page 37: Using A Computer As Digital Source And/Or Sink
Apple OSX since the 10.6.4 release, without the need for any driver: It is sufficient to connect the EVO PHONODAC TWO to own Mac with an USB cable (not in stock) to have it recognized by the Mac, which will then include it in the audio devices list, as shown in Fig.
Page 38 REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz Figure 9 To send the computer audio to the EVO PHONODAC TWO it is necessary to select it in the “Sound” window as shown in Fig. 9. Figure 10 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 39: Dsd Files Playback With Mac
The EVO PHONODAC TWO is able to transfer music files recorded with the DSD format. A player able to send DSD data to the EVO PHONODAC TWO in a standard format handled by the DAC must be used. As an example, the configuration of Audirvana necessary for DSD files playback is shown in Fig.
Page 40: Plug'n'play Operation With Linux
USB Audio Device Class support. When in doubt, ask the creator of your Linux distribution for more information. As with Apple OSX, with Linux it is necessary to choose the EVO PHONODAC TWO as the output device. This can be done accessing the audio management window and setting the various parameters as shown in Fig.
Page 41 Depending on the chosen player, it is necessary to configure it to use the EVO PHONODAC TWO . Obviously, each player has its configuration parameters. As an example, the configuration panel of Audacious, a widely used player, is shown in Fig. 14. Figure 14 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 42: Dsd Files Playback With Linux
10.3.1. Installing the Windows driver First, it is necessary to download the driver from the M2Tech website at (http://www.m2tech.biz/it/evoPhonoDAC.html) Here you’ll find the compressed folder containing all installation files. It’s a self-extracting file: automatic extraction is launched by double-clocking on its icon, as shown in Fig.
Page 43 After reading messages, close the application by clicking on the “close button”. Figure 16 Once the files are extracted, open the temporary folder or the folder you have designated and run the setup application by double-clicking on “setup.exe” (Fig. 17). Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 44 M2Tech EVO PHONODAC TWO DXD-DSD A-TO-D AND D-TO-A CONVERTER – PHONO PREAMP REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz Figure 17 Once setup is launched, the window shown in Fig. 18 appears. Figure 18 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 45 “OK” button to let the setup program free to proceed. It may be that an older version of the M2Tech driver is already installed in your PC. In this case, the installer will ask you permission to uninstall it with the windows in Fig. 19.
Page 48 NOT complete with setup end. In fact, at first connection, the operating system will recognize a new USB device (the EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO , of course) and will begin a search for the best EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO driver (which is the one just installed) to create an instantiation associated to the Copyright ©...
Page 49: Windows Driver Uninstall
At this point only, will the EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO be correctly recognized and can be used to listen to EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO music files.
Page 50 REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz Figure 26 It’s sufficient to click on the “Uninstall” button to start uninstall. A windows appears that shows the uninstall progress, like as shown in Fig. 27. Figure 27 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 51 Fig. 28. Figure 28 Click on the “Next” button to confirm uninstall completion and to close the uninstall utility. One last window will appear as shown in Fig. 29. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 52 Clock on the “Finish” button to close the application. At this point if the user launched uninstall from the Control Panel, it is possible to verify that the driver has really been uninstalled by checking for its absence from the applications list, as shown in Fig. 30. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 53: Windows Driver Panel
Windows bar or in the peripherals window, depending on the operating system version installed on your computer. When the EVO PHONODAC TWO or any other M2Tech device is not connected to the computer, the window shown in Fig. 31 will appear.
Page 54 Figure 31 Figure 32 Of main interest is the driver version, as users may visit the M2Tech website from time to time to check for availability of more recent driver versions and eventually go for an update to download and install (Fig. 33).
Page 55 As a general rule, a small buffer is to be preferred when low latency is required (e.g. when the EVO PHONODAC TWO is used to listen to a movie’s audio). In any event, a small buffer needs frequent data transfers, which may result in “holes” in the audio stream when the CPU is heavily loaded or when one of the active drivers doesn’t comply with the...
Page 56 The XMOS-based system used in the EVO PHONODAC TWO allows for digital volume setting. Anyway, we suggest not to use this feature as its operation will reduce the sonic performance, even more so for low volume settings.
Page 57: Using The Evo Phonodac Two As Windows Predefined Audio Device
When using certain players, such as Windows Media Player, or when listening to streaming music from the Internet, it is necessary to set the EVO PHONODAC TWO as the predefined audio output device. To this purpose it is necessary to access the Audio Configuration utility.
Page 58 DXD-DSD A-TO-D AND D-TO-A CONVERTER – PHONO PREAMP REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz Figure 38 By clicking on the item, the Audio management window will pop up, as shown in Fig. 39. Figure 39 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 59 It is also possible to tell the operating system which sampling frequency and resolution are to be used to operate the EVO PHONODAC TWO . To this purpose, it is sufficient to click on the “Properties” button, thus opening the window shown in Fig. 40.
Page 60 A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz Figure 41 A double click on the item will allow user to access the property window, which allows to set the recording settings for the EVO PHONODAC TWO (Fig. 42). Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 61: Configuring The Player: Foobar And Jriver Media Center
Kernel Streaming, WASAPI or ASIO, all are “bit-perfect” modes as they ensure that no signal changes occur during the transfer from the player to the EVO PHONODAC TWO . 10.3.5. Configuring the player: FooBar and JRiver Media Center...
Page 62 Select “ASIO: MUSBAudio ASIO Driver” in the dropdown menu called “Device”. FooBar is then ready to use the EVO PHONODAC TWO as the output device in ASIO mode, to play bit- perfect PCM audio up to 384kHz and 32 bit.
Page 63 ASIO compliant driver, like the EVO PHONODAC TWO . After installing DLL and proxy, in the “ASIO” section of “Output” two ASIO objects will appear (Fig. 44): the M2Tech driver and the proxy (“foo_dsd_asio”). Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 64 Figure 45 Configure the parameters as in the figure: FooBar is now ready to send DSD streams from DSD files to the EVO PHONODAC TWO . The second player used as an example is JRiver Media Center (www.jriver.com). JRiver is a commercial player, a “closet”...
Page 65 Figure 47 At this point, JRiver recognizes the capability to handle DSD in DoP (DSD over PCM) format. From the dropdown menu which is selected by clicking on “Bitstreaming”, select “Custom…” as shown in Fig. 48. Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 66 REVISION P A – JULY 2016 www.m2tech.biz Figure 48 A window will automatically appear in which the user can manually set the bitstream configuration parameters (Fig. 49). Set parameters as shown in figure. Figure 49 Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...
Page 67: Connecting The Evo Phonodac Two To An Usb 1.1 Port
EVO PHONODAC TWO to an USB 1.1 port EVO PHONODAC TWO It is possible to connect the EVO PHONODAC TWO to an USB 1.1 port under Windows. In this case, the driver will scale the DAC’s performance to comply with USB Audio Device Class 1 specifications.
Page 69: Updating The Evo Phonodac Two
EVO PHONODAC TWO EVO PHONODAC TWO The user can update the firmware of the EVO PHONODAC TWO straight from her/his Windows PC. To this purpose it is necessary to download the latest firmware from M2Tech website and use the app named "MUSBAudioDfu.exe" which can be found in the "C:\Program Files\M2Tech\M2TECH_USBAudio_Driver"...
Page 70 Figure 52 Click on the “Browse” button to select the file previously downloaded from M2Tech website, which contains the new firmware. Then, click on “Start” button to launch the update procedure. Wait for the update completion, which will be indicated by the control panel showing a new firmware version.
Page 71: Using A Power Supply Different From The Standard One
EVO PHONODAC TWO , the EVO SUPPLY TWO (http://www.m2tech.biz/it/evosupplytwo.html It is the best choice to push the EVO PHONODAC TWO performance to the highest level possible. We advice users that using a different power supply than the one included in the package...
Page 73: Specifications
Supply voltage: ......... 7.5-15V Current requirement:......400mA Size:..........110x55x100mm (w x h x d) Weight..........0.5kg (device only) 0.8kg (packaging) * not on S/PDIF ** on USB only *** up to 24 bits on S/PDIF Copyright © 2016, M2Tech Srl...

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