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Blue Smoke THE BLACK BOX User Manual

Entertainment systems
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Blue Smoke
ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS
TH E B L ACK B OX
™
USER'S GUIDE
D E E R F I E L D , I L
6 0 0 1 5
8 4 7 - 9 7 7 - 0 2 2 0
W W W . B L U E S M O K E S Y S T E M S . C O M

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  • Page 1 Blue Smoke ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS TH E B L ACK B OX ™ USER'S GUIDE D E E R F I E L D , I L 6 0 0 1 5 8 4 7 - 9 7 7 - 0 2 2 0...

  • Page 2: Before You Begin

    If you have purchased a Touch-Screen, NAS or other accessory directly from Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems, then it has also been installed and configured for you. If you have purchased accessories from another vendor, you...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Getting to know The Black Box™ ............................7 Setting Up Your System – Hardware Connections ..................... 8 Step 1: Connect The Black Box™ to all peripheral components ................. 8 Step 2: Connect your Black Box™ to your network ....................9 Step 3: Connect The Black Box™...
  • Page 4 P a g e Additional Media Formats Supported by Media Center ..................28 Backing Up Your Black Box™ ............................29 Contact Information ................................30...
  • Page 5 At Blue Smoke Entertainment, we are true music lovers. Music is our passion, so it is our joy to share this innovative new product with you. So let’s install your system so that you may sit...

  • Page 6: Getting Started

    P a g e ETTING TARTED N THE BOX The Black Box™ Audiophile PC  Power Supply  Proprietary Black Box™ digital cable  User Guide (this document)  Windows™ Operating System DVD (installed)  Wireless keyboard/Mouse Controller  THER REQUIRED SYSTEM COMPONENTS Music Storage (e.g., Network-Attached Storage [NAS])

  • Page 7: Preparing For Setup: Know Your Nas

    To prepare for setup of The Black Box™, insert one end of an Ethernet cable in an available port on the router (or an attached hub or switch). Run the cable so that the other end will be available to plug directly into The Black Box™.

  • Page 8: Getting To Know The Black Box

    CD/DVD Slot Drive NOTE: Please take the time now to study the rear panel of The Black Box™. Even though you are not connecting anything to The Black Box™ yet, you will see that there are Ethernet jacks available for connection to the router discussed in this section.

  • Page 9: Setting Up Your System - Hardware Connections

    ONNECTIONS IMPORTANT: The Black Box™ should be placed so that there is a 4-inch space on both sides and on top for proper airflow. The Black Box™ includes no fans or moving parts (other than the DVD drive while ripping), so it needs airflow over its heat sinks (sides of chassis) to avoid overheating.

  • Page 10: Step 2: Connect Your Black Box™ To Your Network

    The Ethernet cable that runs directly to your router should be inserted into one of the two Ethernet jacks on the back of The Black Box™. We assume that if you plan to use a NAS for your music storage, it is already connected to the same network.

  • Page 11: Step 4: Set The Hardware Upsampling Toggle Switch

    P a g e | 10 Proprietary Black Box™ output with digital cable: With The Black Box™, you received a proprietary cable, which allows for two different output options. Plug the primary RJ-45 connector (the end of the digital cable with only one plug) into the proprietary Black Box™...

  • Page 12: Setting Up Your System - Software Configurations

    After completing all hardware connections, turn on The Black Box™ by pressing the Power button on the front left panel. Once The Black Box™ is fully booted, you will be asked for your password. Type "audio" and then press "return." The following default information has already been established for your Black Box™.

  • Page 13: Step 2: Rip Music And Create Your Music Library On The Server

    | 12 IP MUSIC AND CREATE YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY ON THE SERVER BitPerfect Ripper™ is the software ripping program used in The Black Box™. It boasts BitPerfect transcription of your CDs in addition to batch ripping, advanced error correction, multi-codec output file options and high-quality metadata retrieval (album art, track information, etc) all in one solution.

  • Page 14: Set The Correct Output Path

    P a g e | 13 ET THE CORRECT OUTPUT PATH In the main screen, click the New Batch icon. The Batch Properties dialog box will open. You will see that the default Output Path is C:\Local Audio. Change this to the folder where you are storing your music files.

  • Page 15: Listening To Your Music

    P a g e | 14 ISTENING TO USIC UILD YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY You can use either Media Center or Media Player to specify which folders on your computer or on your local network contain digital media files. When you do so, the digital media files in these folders are added to the music library for you to play.

  • Page 16: Using Media Center To Build Your Library

    P a g e | 15 SING EDIA ENTER TO BUILD YOUR LIBRARY 1. Launch Windows Media Center by clicking on the icon in the lower left tray. 2. The first time you launch Media Center, choose "Express Setup". 3. On the Start screen, scroll to “Tasks” and then click “Settings”. 4.

  • Page 17: Use Media Player To Build Your Library

    P a g e | 16 8. When you have checked all the appropriate folders, click “Next” and then “Finish”. EDIA LAYER TO BUILD YOUR LIBRARY 1. Launch Media Player by clicking on the icon in the lower left tray. 2.

  • Page 18: Step 2: Choose The Sample Rate For Playback

    HOOSE THE SAMPLE RATE ON YOUR LACK The Black Box™ has a default software sample rate of 44.1 kHz. However, there may be a need to change the sample rate, depending upon the settings on your DAC and/or the sample rate of your music file.

  • Page 19: Hardware Upsampling

    ARDWARE UPSAMPLING The Black Box™ is unique in that it is the first "computer-based" digital audio reproduction system featuring its own proprietary hardware upsampling feature. While this feature is common in DACs, it is not generally user-configurable. By moving the upsampling of the audio processing inside The Black Box™...
  • Page 20 Additionally, if you play back high-resolution audio at sampling rates above 44.1kHz, be assured that when set properly, the upsampling of The Black Box™ will automatically disengage to provide you with native, unaltered high-resolution output. Simply make sure that the switch is in the correct position for the sample rate you are playing.

  • Page 21: Software Upsampling

    P a g e | 20 OFTWARE UPSAMPLING To upsample music files with our software option, you will use The Black Box™ Sample Rate Selector tool, which can be found in the lower right tray on your desktop: Sample Rate Selector Tool In the picture above, the green box with “44”...
  • Page 22 These settings will be used when:  Using an external word clock, synchronized via the S/PDIF input. Use of an external word clock may, or may not improve sonic performance as the clocking system within the Black Box is extremely accurate. ...
  • Page 23 | 22 Black Box to connect the MSB device to your Black Box. Capturing data from these sources requires the Black Box to synchronize with their internal clocks. Preferences . The Sample Rate Selector Tools allows you to set your preferred default sample rate.

  • Page 24: Step 3: Using The Bitperfect™ Volume Lock

    DAC or pre- amplifier. When you receive The Black Box™, the BitPerfect™ volume lock functions are disabled. To enable these functions (i.e. to lock the volume), follow this two-step procedure: 1.

  • Page 25: Step 4: Listening To Your Music Files

    P a g e | 24 ISTENING TO YOUR MUSIC FILES As noted above, you may use either Media Center or Media Player to listen to your music. What follows are instructions on using these applications. EDIA ENTER TO PLAY YOUR MUSIC 1.

  • Page 26: Use Media Player To Play Your Music

    P a g e | 25 5. Make your selection, and click “Play Album” or “Play Song”. 6. (Optional) To see what songs will play next, click “View Queue”. EDIA LAYER TO PLAY YOUR MUSIC Launch Media Player by clicking on the icon in the lower left tray.
  • Page 27 P a g e | 26 2. Do one of the following:  If the List pane is not visible, click the “Show List Pane” button near the Search box.  If the List pane already contains other items, you can clear the contents by clicking the “Clear List Pane”...
  • Page 28 P a g e | 27  To build a Playlist, drag an item to the List pane. You can drag individual items (such as one or more songs) or collections of items (such as one or more albums, artists, genres, years, or ratings) to the List pane.

  • Page 29: Playing High-Resolution Music Files

    While these files come in a variety of formats, all can be converted, losslessly, to the FLAC format for playback on The Black Box™ by using a free utility called Xrecode which is readily available at (http://www.xrecode.com/).
  • Page 30 The Black Box™. There are several options: 1. The Black Box™ has an internal storage capacity of about 32gb and will fit on most external drives. This is often a good option and many external drives now come with their own backup solution.
  • Page 31 | 30 ONTACT NFORMATION If you have questions or concerns about The Black Box™ Audiophile PC, please feel free to contact us. You may reach us by email: info@bluesmokesystems.com When communicating to us by email, it is imperative that you state the question or concern you are...

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