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Unlike previous generations of digital audio processors, the performance of which
was highly dependent on the digital interface and the digital interconnect, the
technology of the Nº36 allows it to deliver optimal performance despite the in-
herent limitations of interfaces such as the
EIAJ
standard (sometimes called
“Toslink™”). As a consequence, you can feel free to use whichever interconnec-
tion standard is convenient, given the provisions of your various digital sources.
For electrical digital interconnection, we recommend Madrigal MDC cable. MDC-1
is designed for 110
Ω
AES/EBU
interconnection (via XLR connectors); MDC-2 is
designed for 75
Ω
S/PDIF
interconnection (via either RCA or BNC connectors).
Both cables are available in various lengths from your Mark Levinson dealer.
Using appropriate cables, connect all your digital source components to suitable
inputs on the rear panel of the Nº36 processor. If you have several such compo-
nents, you might want to make a note of which component is plugged into
which input on a piece of scrap paper. (You will rename the various inputs in the
Nº36 shortly, making it easier to remember which input goes with which trans-
port once the installation is complete.)
If you have several digital sources which have only
S/PDIF
(RCA or BNC) outputs,
it is possible to use an RCA-to-XLR cable for connection to one of the Nº36’s
XLR-type digital inputs. For the best performance in these circumstances, we rec-
ommend using a high-bandwidth (300 MHz), three conductor, 110
Ω
cable such as
Madrigal MDC-1 (available from your Mark Levinson dealer). You may also fash-
ion one according to the diagram below.
3
Male RCA
(connect to source)
Male XLR
(connect to Nº36)
2
1
Shield
Making Analog Connections
The Nº36 includes one set of balanced and one set of single-ended analog out-
puts. The balanced outputs are generally preferred for their superior immunity to
noise. All outputs operate at a line level.
Note: the standard line level for balanced interconnection is six
decibels higher than for single-ended interconnections.
For analog audio interconnection, we recommend Madrigal HPC Interconnect
Cable. HPC is available from your Mark Levinson dealer, in various lengths and
terminated with RCA, XLR, and/or Camac connectors.
Using high quality cable, connect the appropriate output of the Nº36 to an input
of your preamplifier. The output impedance of the Nº36 is extremely low, which
allows you to use more than one output simultaneously without degrading per-
formance, should you have any reason to do so. For example, you might supply a
multi-room system with the signal of the Nº36 as well as your main music sys-
tem. Note, however, that only one digital source may be converted to analog at a
time.
