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Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual

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  • Page 3 Titan Operation Manual by Ian Dennis This manual is also available as 'on-line help' from the Titan Control Panel app. You can access the on-line help from the 'Help' button in the top right-hand corner of the app.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Part 1 General information Part 2 Introduction to Titan Features ..........................6 System requirements ..........................7 About this manual ..........................7 Part 3 Quick start guides Quick start for Mac ..........................10 Quick start for Windows ..........................10...
  • Page 5 Titan Control Panel app ..........................34 Unit settings ............................... Inputs tab ............................... Outputs tab ............................... Mixer tabs ............................... Titan drivers ..........................39 Part 7 Technical topics Stability and latency ..........................42 Clocking and jitter ..........................43 Dither and noise-shaping ..........................45 Analogue interconnections ..........................
  • Page 7 Part General information...

  • Page 8: General Information

    Email: tech.support@prismsound.com Web: http://www.prismsound.com Or contact your local Prism Sound distributor as detailed on the website. WARNING! TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK HAZARD DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. DO NOT REMOVE THE COVER. NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
  • Page 9 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 Statements of conformity This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against interference in a residential area.
  • Page 11 Part Introduction to Titan...

  • Page 12: Introduction To Titan

    Revision 1.00 Introduction to Titan Titan is a USB multi-channel audio interface for Windows PC and Mac. As well as eight analogue line inputs and outputs, Titan provides four high-quality microphone preamplifiers, two high-impedance instrument inputs, as well as a host of advanced synchronization and monitoring facilities.

  • Page 13: System Requirements

    System requirements Titan will work with any modern host PC or Mac with a suitable operating system and USB 2.0 or 3.0 port. Macs must be Intel platform and must be running OS X 10.5 Leopard or later; PCs must be running Windows Vista, 7, 8 or later (32-bit or 64-bit).
  • Page 15 Part Quick start guides...

  • Page 16: Quick Start Guides

    USB 3.0 port. You must have OS X 10.5 Leopard, or later. · Connect your Titan to the mains supply and to a USB port on your Mac with the cables provided. · Insert the installation disc into a DVD-ROM drive on your Mac, or else locate the folder containing the downloaded package.
  • Page 17 Part Installation procedures...

  • Page 18: Installation Procedures

    The full installation procedure is as follows: · Connect your Titan to the mains supply and to a USB port on your Mac with the cables provided. · Insert the installation disc into a DVD-ROM drive on your Mac, or else locate the folder containing the downloaded package.
  • Page 19 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 · A copy of the EULA will appear, which you should read: · Agree to the EULA by clicking 'Continue'. · Having selected an install destination if required, click 'Install' to perform the installation: ·...

  • Page 20: Windows Installation

    USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port. · Connect your Titan to the mains supply and to a USB port on your PC with the cables provided. · Insert the installation disc into a DVD-ROM drive on your PC, or else locate the folder containing the downloaded installation files.
  • Page 21 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 · A welcome screen announces that installation is abut to begin. If you wish to proceed, click 'Next': · You will be asked to agree to the EULA - if you agree, click 'Yes': ©...
  • Page 22 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 · Confirm your user name and organisation, and click 'Next': · Choose 'Complete' to perform a default installation. To change the installation location or which components will be installed, you can choose 'Custom' (not recommended). Click 'Next': ©...
  • Page 23 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 · Final check. To proceed with installation, click 'Next': · Installation will then proceed: © 2013 Prism Media Products Ltd 1.17...
  • Page 24 USB audio driver itself and one for the WDM driver. · Installation will then complete, click 'Finish': The Titan device's ports should now be visible to Windows and any applications as both ASIO and WDM audio ports. · Remember to register your Titan at http://www.prismsound.com/register.

  • Page 25: Operating Multiple Units

    It is possible that this feature may become available in future software releases. Software and firmware updates From time to time, new versions of the Titan Control Panel app, the Windows driver, or the Titan firmware itself will be made available. To view the latest versions available, please visit www.
  • Page 27 Part Titan hardware...

  • Page 28: Titan Hardware

    The figure above is a simplified block diagram of the Titan audio signal paths. Titan is basically a sound card, with all inputs made available to the host computer via the USB host bus, and all outputs likewise driven from the USB host bus. However, Titan's signal paths contain a range of enhanced processing and mixing functions, which are described in the following sections.

  • Page 29: Overkiller

    Note that there is no explicit stereo width control provided in the matrix; however width can be adjusted by balancing the gains of the mid and side inputs - the gain steps of the Titan microphone preamplifiers are fine and precise. In line input mode, no fine gain adjustment is available, so if the Titan MS matrix is used with external preamplifiers, these must have fine and accurate gain control if width adjustment is required.

  • Page 30: Sample-Rate Converter

    In normal operation, the analogue outputs are fed directly with individual signals from the host PC or Mac; however, it is possible to feed the outputs from local digital mixers within the Titan hardware if desired - this is described in the Output mixers section below.

  • Page 31: Digital Outputs

    In normal operation, the S/PDIF digital outputs are fed directly with individual signals from the host PC or Mac; however, it is possible to feed the outputs from local digital mixers within the Titan hardware if desired - this is described in the Output mixers section.

  • Page 32: Word-Length

    Word-length It is possible to control the word-length of the S/PDIF output using the word-length control, uppermost in the DO1/2 strip in the Outputs tab of the Titan Control Panel app. The control operates as follows: Setting Action 24 bit All 24 bits sent to the digital output are transmitted from the S/PDIF or AES3 output.

  • Page 33: Assignable Level Control

    The output mixers are primarily intended to provide low-latency foldback or monitor mixes incorporating Titan's audio inputs in conjunction with feeds from the DAW software - since the mix is performed locally, the delay involved in passing live audio up to the host computer and back is removed.

  • Page 34: Mdio Expansion Slot

    Titan incorporates Prism Sound's new MDIO expansion slot. This allows an optional expansion module to be added, enabling Titan to connect to a host device using a different interface format from its default USB. MDIO modules of various formats will become available in the future.

  • Page 35: Synchronization

    Titan's digital input or output. In the former case, the SRC simply converts any incoming digital signal of whatever sample rate to the sample rate of the Titan unit. If the SRC is in the digital output, it is necessary to specify what the output sample rate must be; furthermore, it may be necessary to lock the output rate to an arbitrary external reference.
  • Page 36 · Standby button: puts the unit into a low-power standby state. Note that the USB interface is still active in standby mode, so the Titan unit can still be recognised by the host, although its inputs and outputs are inactive. The LED in the standby button flashes to identify the unit in multi-unit setups when the 'Identify' button in the Control Panel app is clicked.

  • Page 37: Rear Panel

    S/PDIF output (when the meters are in output mode). Rear panel Titan's rear panel contains all Titan's connections, except for the instrument inputs and headphone output, which are on the front panel. From left to right (viewed from rear): ·...

  • Page 38: Fuses And Ratings

    Stand-alone operation It is possible to operate Titan without a connection to a host computer. This is done by setting up the unit as required using the Titan Control Panel app whilst it is connected to a host computer via its USB interface, then placing the unit in standby by pressing the standby button, before disconnecting the unit from the host and power source.
  • Page 39 Part Titan software...

  • Page 40: Titan Software

    Accessing the Titan Control Panel app The Titan Control Panel app can be run directly like any other Mac or Windows program, or it can be accessed from the operating system itself, from the "Sound and Audio devices" dialogue in the ©...

  • Page 41: Unit Settings

    Titan configurations, and for accessing on-line help. The Titan model and serial number are displayed at the top of the Unit settings area. Note that the currently-installed firmware version of the Titan unit can be displayed by hovering the mouse cursor over this text.
  • Page 42 Synchronization section. The LED Level control allows the brightness of the LEDs on Titan's front panel to be adjusted to suit ambient lighting conditions. In Windows ASIO systems, the audio delay through the input and output buffers can be controlled with the Buffer control.

  • Page 43: Inputs Tab

    ULOK (unlock) is lit when no S/PDIF carrier is detected at the selected input; ASNC (asynchronous) is lit when the incoming carrier is not locked to Titan's selected sync source. In ADAT modes, ULOK and ASNC indicators are also provided for the ADAT/SMUX inputs.

  • Page 44: Outputs Tab

    There is also a mute button (whose function is also available by pressing the volume knob on the Titan front panel) and a numerical readout/setting box. Note that changes to the assignment of the level control can be prevented by engaging the lock button (marked with a key symbol) just above the level control.

  • Page 45: Mixer Tabs

    It is not necessary to run the Titan Control Panel app for applications to be able to use Titan; however, the app is needed if any but the most basic control of Titan's functions is required.
  • Page 46 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 © 2013 Prism Media Products Ltd 1.40...
  • Page 47 Part Technical topics...

  • Page 48: Technical Topics

    Technical topics The following sections contain detailed discussions of various relevant technical issues. The content of these sections is not required to operate Titan, but is provided merely as background information. Stability and latency Ever since audio production has found its way inside the computer, new problems concerning issues of stability and latency have arisen.

  • Page 49: Clocking And Jitter

    Operation Manual Revision 1.00 In the case of Titan, problems of latency and stability are improved by a couple of useful features: First of all, the operator can control the buffer delays within the Mac and Windows drivers directly, irrespective of what buffering is employed by the user's particular audio software. It is generally recommended that these buffer delays are set long, in order to provide best stability.
  • Page 50 AES3 or S/PDIF receiving chip, without any further jitter filtering. Remember that none of these side-tones is present in the digital audio signal - they are caused only by jitter. The lower trace shows almost complete jitter rejection across the band by the CleverClox process in Titan. Listening experience In practice, it seems that the benefits of careful clock design are very apparent in listening tests.

  • Page 51: Dither And Noise-Shaping

    Titan and CleverClox Titan is designed to source clocks which are as stable and accurate as possible, and also with the aim of being insensitive to the quality of incoming clocks. It is designed to remove jitter from any selected reference sync source before it is used as a conversion timebase, so as to eliminate any audible effects of sampling jitter, whatever sync source is used.
  • Page 52 Titan provides a comprehensive choice of dithering and noise-shaping processes. These comprise ‘ flat’ dithering, plus a selection of four Prism Sound ‘SNS’ (‘Super Noise Shaping’) algorithms. All produce high-quality 16 bit output: the choice of which one to use is purely subjective. The four SNS algorithms are designated SNS1 to SNS4, in increasing order of the degree of shaping.
  • Page 53 SNS2 is a good starting point for most situations. The Prism Sound SNS logo shown above is found on many of the world’s finest CDs, and is recognised as a standard of technical excellence. The logo, and accompanying sleeve note, is available by contacting sales@prismsound.com.

  • Page 54: Analogue Interconnections

    Operation Manual Revision 1.00 Analogue interconnections To maintain the high sound quality of Titan, it is important to follow some basic guidelines when making analogue connections to the unit. This section discusses some things to watch out for. Cable quality Use of good-quality, heavy duty audio cables is recommended.
  • Page 55 A solution to this is the use of external 'sound cards', such as Titan, with their own enclosures and power supplies allowing adequate space, power and electromagnetic peace and quiet for the well-being of studio-quality analogue circuits.

  • Page 56: Digital Interconnections

    (the outer of the instrument input jacks, or pin 1 of the mic input XLRs). Since no dedicated terminal exists on Titan, it is usually easiest to connect the wire to the outer of one of the deck's unbalanced output connectors. In some situations, a direct connection to local mains ground may work better.
  • Page 57 Even though Titan is insensitive to incoming clock jitter, and even though it transmits very low jitter at its digital audio and clock outputs, the question of cable quality may still be relevant if Titan is transmitting to equipment which itself has poor jitter rejection capabilities.
  • Page 58 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 digital audio use, especially at high sample rates. Prefer also the shortest cable, since (all other things being equal) loss of bandwidth is proportional to length. Maximising cable bandwidth is important in optimising AES3 and S/PDIF data integrity at high sample rates such as 192kHz, and in optimising conversion quality in systems which include poor-quality converters.
  • Page 59 Part Specifications...

  • Page 60: Specifications

    Windows Vista, 7, 8 or later (32 or 64 bit) Core Audio device Mac audio driver: Windows audio driver: ASIO or WDM device Control Panel app: Graphical user interface for control of Titan unit under Mac OS X or Windows © 2013 Prism Media Products Ltd 1.54...
  • Page 61 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 Analog Line Inputs Electronically balanced, with fully-balanced analog signal path Configuration: Input sensitivity: Switchable ‘+4dBu’ (0dBFS=+18dBu) or ‘-10dBV’ (0dBFS=+6dBu) 14.5kR Input impedance: Unbalanced mode: Automatic -117dB (0.00014%, -0.1dBFS) Total harmonic distortion: THD+n: -111dB (0.00028%, -0.1dBFS)
  • Page 62 Full implementation, Consumer (S/PDIF) or Professional (AES3) Channel Status: Word-length: 24 bits, or reduction to 16 bits using flat TPDF dither or Prism Sound SNS (Super Noise-Shaping - four alternative shapes available) Via S/PDIF RCA, using RCA-XLR adapter (supplied) AES3 operation: Selectable at S/PDIF output;...
  • Page 63 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 Synchronization 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz or 192kHz System sample rates: Synchronization sources: Master: Local Slave: Wordclock, DI (S/PDIF input) or ADAT +/-50ppm Local clock accuracy: Jitter rejection: 60dB/decade above 100Hz Internal mixer delay: 44.1k: 0.57ms;...
  • Page 64 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 © 2013 Prism Media Products Ltd 1.58...
  • Page 65 Prism Sound Titan Operation Manual Revision 1.00 Except where otherwise stated, audio performance data are typical, RMS, unweighted, 20Hz..20kHz figures, measured at 997Hz, using fs=96kHz and '+4dBu' sensitivity settings. In keeping with our policy of continual development, specifications are subject to amendment without notice.

  • Page 66: Index

    Core Audio 12, 39 Index - D - Delay - - - Device Manager DI inputs -20dB mic pads DI synchronization Digital inputs 23, 37 - 2 - Digital interconnections Digital outputs 25, 38 256x clock Dither 26, 45 DO synchronization - A - Driver updates Drivers...
  • Page 67 Phase-reverse Manual Phono cartridges 23, 48 Master indicator Prism Sound, CleverClox MDIO expansion slot 28, 29, 31 Prism Sound, SNS (Super Noise-Shaping) Meter panel Meters - Q - Mic input pads Mic inputs 22, 37 Quick start guide, Mac Mic pads...
  • Page 68 Specifications 24, 25, 29 SRC control Stability Stand-alone operation 26, 32 Switched-mode power supplies 48, 50 Sync Source control Synchronization 24, 26, 29 Synchronization source System requirements - T - Technical topics Titan Control Panel app TOSLINK TPDF 26, 45...

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