Related Manuals for WEISS MEDEA
Summary of Contents for WEISS MEDEA
-
Page 1: Owners Manual
Weiss Engineering Ltd. Florastrasse 42, 8610 Uster, Switzerland www.weiss-highend.com MEDEA OWNERS MANUAL... - Page 2 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER INTRODUCTION ustomer Congratulations on your purchase of the MEDEA D/A Converter and welcome to the family of Weiss equipment owners! The MEDEA 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: Table Of Contents
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER 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... -
Page 4: A Short History Of Weiss Engineering
Our list of clients includes big names, like SONY, BMG, EMI, Warner, Hit Factory, Abbey Road, Teldec, Telarc, Unitel, Gateway Mastering (Bob Ludwig), Bernie Grundman Mastering, Masterdisk, Sterling Sound, Whitfield Street, Metropolis and hundreds more. For a more comprehensive list you are invited to visit our pro audio website at www.weiss.ch. Page: Date: 12/01... -
Page 5: Our Mission And Product Philosophy
1993 Introduction of the "Gambit" Series of digital audio processors, which employ 40 bit floating point processing and sport an extremely ergonomic user interface 1995 First 96kHz sampling rate capable products delivered 2001 Introduction of the MEDEA, our High-End Hi-Fi D/A converter and the first product in our High-End Series Page:... -
Page 6: Advanced Digital And Analog Audio Concepts Explained
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER 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 (e.g. CD player) and the D/A converter unit or by the same mechanisms as described above except for the motors of course. In the case of a stand-alone D/A converter (as the MEDEA), one has to take two different jitter contamination pathes into account.
-
Page 8: Upsampling, Oversampling And Sampling Rate Conversion In General
This means that the MEDEA is virtually immune to the quality of the audio source regarding jitter. For a CD player as a source this means that as long as the data is read off the CD in a correct manner (i.e. - Page 9 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER 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 D/A chip. This gives the High-End Hi-Fi designer yet another degree of freedom to optimize the sonic quality of the product. For the MEDEA we have decided to do part of the upsampling (the most critical part in fact) in the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) chip external to the D/A chip.
-
Page 11: Reconstruction Filters
MEDEA is running at 352.8kHz (or 384kHz) sampling frequency. Analog Output Stages The MEDEA employs class A output stages with a virtually zero ohm output impedance. Class A inherently guarantees very low distortion figures even when operating the amplifier in open loop, i.e. -
Page 12: Dithering
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER 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 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. He publishes articles on Dithering and Jitter and many other topics at http://www.digido.com/...
-
Page 14: The Medea D/A Converter
192 kHz sampling frequency, inputs # 1 and # 2 are used for the dual wire scheme of transferring 176.4 / 192 kHz data. Synchronization: Several signal reclocking schemes are combined for extremely high jitter attenuation, making the MEDEA virtually immune to jitter over a very wide bandwidth. - Page 15 Mechanical Design: The MEDEA 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: Operation
• A Certificate of Guarantee • The MEDEA should be placed horizontally on a plane surface. Avoid putting any other equipment or any other material on top of the MEDEA as not to compromise the MEDEA’s heat convection system. 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 17 LEDs of input #1 and #2 are lit. The MEDEA automatically synchronizes to the incoming signal. If the sampling rate of the signal is not within a range of +- 80ppm of one of the nominal sampling rates (44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 172.4, 192kHz) then the blue LED of the active input is blinking.
- Page 18 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER Output Level and Output Connection Connect your preamplifier to the output connectors of the MEDEA. Use either the symmetrical (balanced) lines (XLR) or the asymmetrical (unbalanced) lines (RCA). Symmetrical is preferred, provided your preamplifier supports symmetrical connection.
-
Page 19: Technical Data
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER Technical Data Digital Inputs: (3) XLR connectors, (1) Toslink connector (optical) (4) RCA connectors All inputs accept professional or consumer standard , i.e. accept AES/EBU or S/PDIF signals Sampling Frequencies: 44.1, 48.0, 88.2 or 96.0 kHz on any of the four inputs Sampling Frequencies: 176.4 and 192kHz on inputs 1 and 2 (dual-wire scheme) - Page 20 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER Converters: Oversampling converters MRCS (Mutual Relation Correlation System) technology Synchronization: Synchronized via input signal Extremely efficient Jitter attenuation down to subsonic frequencies Sampling Frequencies: 44.1 kHz, 48.0 kHz, 88.2kHz or 96.0kHz, 176.4 and 192kHz...
- Page 21 OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER Measurements: The measurements below have been taken at the following conditions (unless noted otherwise): +27dBu output level, 44.1kHz sampling frequency (fs), 22kHz measurement bandwidth. Frequency Response: Signal To Noise Ratio (SNR) @ -40dBFS input: @ fs = 44.1kHz: 0Hz ...
-
Page 22: Contact
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDEA D/A CONVERTER CONTACT For any questions, suggestions etc. feel free to contact Daniel Weiss at: Weiss Engineering Ltd. Attn. Mr. Daniel Weiss Florastrasse 42 8610 Uster Switzerland Phone: +41 1 940 20 06 Fax: +41 1 940 22 14 Email: weiss@weiss.ch...