MSB Technology Platinum DAC III User Manual Download Page 6

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source and the analog audio. You will not normally notice this delay unless video is synchronized to the audio. For this reason the 48 kHz
sampling rate (which is 99% video) only operates in Low Latency Mode with no clock replacement. While using the on-board clock some
very long musical performances greater than one hour with no silences, pauses or track skips may cause a buffer overflow when using
a standard transport. This will sound like a small CD skip. You will probably never encounter this case but if you do MSB can install a
special ultra high accuracy clock in your transport or other audio source to totally eliminate this possibility.

Switch 2, Dither Mode - Switch 2 ON = Dither On, Switch 2 Off = Dither Off.  Switch 2 allows you to enable the on-board dither generator.

With the dither activated the MSB 16x Digital Filter continuously adds a tiny amount (-110db) of random ultrasonic dither to the Output.
We have found through extensive listening tests that this tiny amount of dither greatly increases the perceived resolution of the audio
without harming the music in any way. The dither is added separately in common mode to the positive and negative DACs in the Platinum
and mostly cancels itself on playback helping to linearize the DACs. The dither is generated by a highly random, non-repeating white
noise generator and is then digitally filtered to remove all dither content close to the audio band. All of the dither between 0 Hz and 40 kHz
is removed. Unlike some noise shaping algorithms like DSD the very low level of the ultrasonic dither involved should never cause
system high frequency related problems. MSB highly recommends that you keep the dither enabled.

Switch 3, Reserved - Switch 3 ON = Future Upgrade Feature On, Switch 3 Off = Future Upgrade Feature Off.  Switch 3 is reserved for future

upgrades. Please keep this switch off.

Switch 4, Mute Mode - Switch 4 ON = Play any Source, Switch 4 Off = Mute Data Sources.  Switch 4 allows your Platinum to play audio

marked as data. If the digital source marks the audio as data, as sometimes happens, and this switch is off no sound will be produced by
the Platinum. Turning this switch off will allow the Platinum to mute unwanted data such as Dolby Digital data. Turning this switch on
will allow the Platinum to play audio from any source.

Switch 5, Balanced Mode - Switch 5 ON = Normal Balanced and SE Mode, Switch 5 Off = Special Single Ended Only Mode.  Switch 4 allows

manipulation of the individual data streaming to each DAC. If the switch is ON, the Platinum operates normally with both the balanced
and single ended outputs active. If this switch is OFF, the Platinum reverts to a special mode in which all four DACs in the Platinum
reproduce the same analog phase.  This allows some interesting custom analog outputs from the Platinum. Each phase on the balanced
XLR connector is the same allowing the connection of a Platinum to three single ended components. This mode also gives MSB the
ability to custom modify your Platinum to sum together each pair of DACs. This upgrade increases the sound quality of the single ended
RCA output while disabling the balanced XLR jack. If you are interested in this custom upgrade contact MSB for details.

Switch 6, Mother Board Revision - Switch 6 ON = Motherboard Revision 6.0 or Higher, Switch 6 Off = Motherboard Revision 5.9 or Lower.

Motherboard Revisions 5.x and below require this switch to be OFF. Motherboard revisions 6.x and higher require this switch to be ON.
You may read the motherboard revision at the lower right corner of the motherboard or as the second digit from the right in you Platinums
serial number. The serial number is located on the lower right rear corner of the Platinums jack panel.

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A custom digital filter will allow you to tailor the sound of your Platinum. Any form of custom FIR filter may be loaded into the MSB 16x
Digital Filter. You may select a custom filter from our library, you may have MSB design a filter to your specifications or you may send
MSB a list of Fir Filter coefficients that we can format into a CD loadable file for you. You cannot permanently damage your 16x Digital
Filter Board by loading a Temporary Custom Filter, it is only active until you toggle the Filter Option Button, Power down the Platinum
or play an audio track containing the Special Cancellation Code. Contact MSB Technology for details on custom filters.

Step One, Verify Your Equipment Compatibility - To successfully load your custom filter you must have your Platinum connected to a

transport that will not change the Data. Almost all CD players are acceptable, however there are some important exceptions.  Upsampling
CD transports will not work; this includes the drive internal to the Platinum Reference CD Player and Platinum Reference CD Station II.
To load a filter to these machines you will have to connect your Platinum to another source to load the custom filter file. The Upsampling
drives are fine for playing audio after the upload however. DVD players should work fine when they are configured in a mode that does
not affect the Data such as CD pass-through mode.

Step Two, Burn the CD - When burning a CD containing the custom filter you must burn the WAVE audio file directly to a CD without first

converting it to another audio format such as MP3. Converting the WAVE file to another format will destroy the careful formatting which
allows DSP to load filters directly from a CD. You may however burn other audio to the CD as separate tracks. This allows you to create
a CD with a custom sound that differs from the rest of your collection. A suggestion is to place a track containing the Custom Filter on
the CD as track 1 and place the Special Filter Cancellation Code as the last track. This will allow a CD to play through with a custom filter
leaving your Platinum in the normal filter mode at the end of the CD.

Step Three, Play the CD - To ensure a proper load of the filter you must remember to disable any digital processing before the 16x Digital

Filter. This includes turning off processing in DVD players, Upsampling in CD Players and Upsampling in the Platinum itself. If the Filter
Load Fails because the equipment is not compatible or the track is not played trough the MSB 16x Digital Filter the track containing the
Custom Filter will play a short very quiet noise burst followed by a Filter Update Failed message. A successful load will just be a short,
five-second silence.

Step Four, Cancel the Filter - A custom loaded filter in a MSB 16x Digital Filter will remain the dominant filter of the DSP until some action

is taken by the user to cancel it. Toggling the Filter Option Button, powering down the unit, playing a CD track with the Special Filter
Cancellation Code or loading a new Temporary Custom Filter will immediately cancel the filter.

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Loading custom 16x Digital Filter Firmware will permanently change the operation of your DSP. MSB Technology can configure custom
software for your DSP to meet virtually any requirement. Playing a CD track containing the new firmware will erase the current software
in your 16x Digital Filter and replace it with the contents of the update file. This is just as safe as loading a Custom Digital Filter if one

Summary of Contents for Platinum DAC III

Page 1: ...TPUT 7 5VRMS 20Vpp VOLUME CONTROL OPTIONAL 2 dB STEPPED ATTENUATOR 32 STEPS SAMPLING FREQUENCY 32 KHZ TO 384KHZ DIGITAL FILTER 16 TIMES OVERSAMPLING SLEW RATE 1000 V MICROSECOND SETTLING TIME 90 NANOS...

Page 2: ...m with a preamp with many analog inputs attach the outputs of your preamp to the input on the DAC III Shift any digital sources over to digital inputs on the DAC III and again you will achieve optimum...

Page 3: ...negative DACs directly drive the balanced outputs with no analog output stage at all Another major difference in the Platinum is the type of output Essentially all ladder DACs produce a current output...

Page 4: ...s Instruments DF1704 Digital Filter had served us well in the past it had became the bottleneck once we started using our new Second Generation DAC modules After a thorough search of all the available...

Page 5: ...reduction schemes rely on Phase Locked Loops or Asynchronous Sample Rate Converters The Phase Locked Loop is able to reduce jitter to a significant degree but not eliminate it because the output cloc...

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Page 7: ...fore the 16x Digital Filter This includes turning off any processing in DVD players Upsampling in CD players and Upsampling in the Platinum itself If the Filter Load Fails the equipment is not compati...

Page 8: ...nding systems Toggling the Filter Option Button will cancel any externally loaded Temporary Custom Filter which may be active Phase Invert Toggling the Phase Invert button will change the absolute pha...

Page 9: ...nector It is a clock interface that allows multiple Platinum products to be synchronized allows the Platinum Clock to be output and allows an external clock to be input to the Platinum See Clock Inter...

Page 10: ...e AC power connector is an auxiliary output not an input MSB will supply a DIN to DIN cable upon request Voltage Conversion and Changing Fuses The Platinum can be configured for 120 V or 240 V operati...

Page 11: ...same time and by selecting Channel 2 will receive and decode the rear channels The 3rd channel is for the front and sub channels if you want to use them The 4th channel is for future formats which may...

Page 12: ...eshooting No Source indicated on LEDs Check for bad cable or cable plugged into the wrong output on the transport No sound Check that source is valid audio source Change to a standard CD just to be su...

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