MSB Technology Platinum Studio ADC User Manual page 7

Global Menu Options
The high level menu options have to do with global settings. They are settings that impact directly all the conversion parameters and all
the output channels. Parameters that impact individual output channels are in the next section. See the Menu tree for details.
Presets - Two basic presets are provided. Details are in the quick start section at the beginning of the manual. A preset is not really a
menu setting, but a shortcut which just sets all the other menus to a predetermined setting. From there you can change parameters.
Selecting the preset again just resets all the parameters again.
Sample Rate - Any output sampling rate can be directly selected. This selection is applied to the sampling of all the analog inputs and
is the sample rate of all the digital outputs. The best sample rate to use is generally defined by the output media for the final use of
the material. If a CD is going to be prepared, then sample at 44.1 kHz. This will sound MUCH better than sampling at 192 kHz and
then downsampling with your sound processing software to 44.1 kHz. We do a MUCH better job in creating a perfect 44.1 master
than your sound processing software.
Clock Source - There are five options for clock source. In most cases, the best results can be achieved with our amazing 5 ppm accurate
internal 512 times clocks. Resist the temptation to use the studio clock unless you must. Even better consider using our clock output
as the studio master clock. See the details of the clock calculations in the clock interface box above.
Individual Channel or Global Menu Options
The second level menu options can either be set up globally or can be set for each input pair, or output channel. See the Menu tree for
details.
Input Ground - This setting literally connects the ground pins of the analog input XLR to the ADC ground or it keeps it completely
disconnected (equivalent to clipping the pin). The ADC will work perfectly with the ground disconnected if the balanced signals are
within the common mode specs. It's used to get rid of ground loops. There are other uses as well. You must be aware that without
the ground connected you are relying on the 28 volt common mode range of the input (+/- 14 volts). If the inputs exceed it by a small
amount, there is no risk in damaging the ADC, if they exceed it by a lot, you risk damaging the ADC.
Input DC Offset Mode - This feature determines how the ADC handles DC offset on the inputs. The DC offset is removed by a very slow
high-pass filter. It assumes the signal on average should be zero and is a negative feedback loop and slowly steps to keep the average
at 0. It takes about 30 seconds to remove the DC offset of the ADC on power up, so they are all very very slow.
Setting
1
2
Input Filter Select - Two filters are provided with a different rolloff rate. Each is optimized for a different range on sample rates.
Setting
1
2
Output Dither Offset - Adjustable from 0 to 32. MSB uses a triangular probability density function to add dither. By default, the dither
setting matches the bit depth setting. In special cases, such as when signal post processing is expected you may want to add more dither,
knowing you will be truncating the output later. For example if you are recording for a 16 bit CD but have a post processing step in
mind, you would set the bit depth to 24 bits and the dither to +8. You will get better post processing results with the extra resolution
but the dither is correct for your final 16 bit output.
Output Bit Depth - Normally this should be set just as sampling frequency would, for the output media. So for CDs, set to 16 bits, etc.
Individual Output Channel and Mixing Menu Options - 8 Channel ADC
The third level menu options are setup for each output channel. See the Menu tree for details. Each digital output channel can be set up
to be any combination of any of the input channels at any level. This very powerful mixing funtion is done at high resolution and can
never be accomplished at this quality level again. So for each digital output channel, you scroll through all 8 analog inputs and set:
Output Level - This analog input is adjusted from +24 to -181 dB in 0.1 dB steps.
Downmix - Downmix or do not downmix this input.
Individual Output Channel and Mixing Menu Options - Stereo Channel ADC
The third level menu options are setup for each output channel. See the Menu tree for details. Each digital output channel can be set
up to be any combination of any of the input channels at any level. This very powerful mixing funtion is done at high resolution and
Outcome
Slow - removes less than one LSB and does not effect output resolution
Medium - removes more than one LSB per sample
Outcome
Best for sample rates of 44.1 and 48 kHz and below
Best for sample rates over 48 kHz
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