User manual APOGEE DA-16

[. . . ] DA-16 24-bit 16-channel D/A Converter Owner's Manual v1. 0 ­ September 2001 Apogee DA-16 User's Guide Written by David Kimm and Julio Alvarez. Production, editing and running round in circles by Richard Elen, with valuable assistance from Seth Reinhart. Apogee is a Registered Trademark of Apogee Electronics Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders. [. . . ] Refer to it whenever you call an authorized Apogee Electronics repair facility or the manufacturer. Please be sure to return your completed warranty card immediately! DA-16 Serial No. ________________ Purchase Date __________________ Factory Firmware Revision ________________ Dealer____________________________________________________ Phone ____________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________ User's Installation Notes Space left blank for user tracking of factory modifications, option installations, software upgrades, manual revisions/ addenda, internal settings. Page 7 Apogee DA-16 User's Guide About This Manual This manual was written to help you to use this product to its fullest potential. Although the DA-16 is inherently simple to operate, it may contain features that may not be obvious from the front panel. Therefore, reading this manual is recommended to unlock the full value of this product. This manual was also written to prevent misuse of this product. Should you run into a problem when operating the DA-16, the solution is hopefully contained in the following pages. You have just purchased a powerful and flexible multichannel digital-to-analog converter that renders an accurate soundstage and pristine audio quality in the tradition of Apogee's award-winning converters. While the DA-16 is simple in operation, you should take a moment to read over this manual in order to get acquainted with the DA-16's features and operation. Designed for the latest hard-disk recording systems, the DA-16 "IntelliDAC" offers 16 channels of Apogee quality at an exceptionally affordable price, handling 24-bit D/A conversion at sample rates up to 96 kHz. The converters can source their digital input from either AES/EBU, ADAT optical or TDIF sources, and the unit can then sync to word clock or a specified input. ADAT and TDIF inputs are organized into two groups of eight, and channels 1-8 and 9-16 can have different sources. In addition, the light-pipe inputs accept the Sonorus S/MUX protocol for sample-splitting high-resolution signals into optical interfaces, allowing access to all 16 channels ­ the first time this protocol has been included on an Apogee converter. The input sample rate is detected automatically, and a two-level "Lock" indicator shows "wide" (up to ±150 degrees) and "narrow" (5 degrees) lock. LEDs indicate signal status on each channel, with the LED intensity modulated by the signal level to give an "analog-like" display. The balanced analog outputs are supplied in groups of eight channels on 25-pin D connectors, in keeping with other Apogee D/A conversion systems using these connectors (the pinout is the same as on Tascam systems). The subtitle "IntelliDAC" relates to the converter's unique "intelligent" two-stage re-clocking system, a first for Apogee. Apogee converters have traditionally excelled at removing jitter from the incoming clock signal, but for extremely jittery input sources, more control is needed. The DA-16 solves this problem by utilizing two clocks. A fast-responding "read" clock, with a wide locking range, fills a dedicated FIFO buffer, while an ultralow-jitter 'write' clock writes the data out of the buffer, and is used to clock the converters. The advantage of this configuration is that both incoming clock and data are de-jittered. In addition, the system is less sensitive to phase errors between synchronous digital sources. [. . . ] D/A MALE DB25 1 14 2 15 3 16 4 17 5 18 6 19 7 20 8 21 9 22 10 23 11 24 12 25 13 CH8+ CH8CH8G CH7+ CH7CH7G CH6+ CH6CH6G CH5+ CH5CH5G CH4+ CH4CH4G CH3+ CH3CH3G CH2+ CH2CH2G CH1+ CH1CH1G OPEN Page 14 Apogee DA-16 User's Guide Calibration Mode When the DA-16 is powered up, enter Global Calibration Mode by pressing and holding the CH SET button until the 16 channel LEDs start to flash. With all channels flashing, press the UP and DOWN buttons to adjust the level on all channels at once. NOTE: individually-adjusted offsets on different channels are maintained and adjusted together in global calibration mode. By pressing the CH SET button again, a single LED will flash representing the individual channel that is now ready to be calibrated. [. . . ]