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IPS-3 User Manual

3

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

Read and follow these instructions and keep this manual in a safe place.

Do not use this apparatus near water.

Clean only with dry cloth.

Do not block any ventilation openings.

Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heaters, or other apparatus

(including pre-amplifiers and amplifiers) that produce heat.

Do not install this apparatus in a confined space such as book cases or closed

cabinets.

Unplug this apparatus from the mains during lightning storms or when unused for

long periods of time.

CAUTION

!

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC

SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER

SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING

TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended

to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the

product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of

electric shock to persons.

!

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to

the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing)instructions in the

literature accompanying the appliance.

INFORMATION TO THE USER

Alteration or modification carried out without appropriate approval may invalidate the user’s

right to operate the equipment.

Summary of Contents for IPS-3

Page 1: ...Version 1 1 IPS 3 Integrated Playback System USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ......

Page 3: ...TION TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage within the product s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock ...

Page 4: ...customers must deal with their local dealer or distributor For all warranty claims a copy of the original invoice must accompany the product Opening the product or modifying it in any way by the owner including but not limited to cryogenic treatment will void any warranty Please contact Playback Designs for a RA Return Authorization number and shipping instructions before shipping any product to P...

Page 5: ...nstallation The AC voltage supplied to the unit should match the voltage rating indicated on the rear panel Do not place the IPS 3 on any other equipment that generates heat As the IPS 3 may become warm during operation always leave sufficient space around it for ventilation Always allow adequate air circulation around the system FRONT PANEL FUNCTIONS Buttons Adjust volume down Adjust volume up Ea...

Page 6: ...ed to connect to other Playback Designs equipment such as the OpBox player This connection supports multiple audio formats PC USB connection to computer based audio systems System Control RESET Used in connection with firmware update procedure see appendix A Power Before connecting the IPS 3 to the AC mains please make sure that the rated voltage is set correctly as indicated on the rear panel Ope...

Page 7: ...cts the USB input from PC Selects analog input 1 Selects analog input 2 Selects analog input 3 The first time this buttons is pressed the alpha numeric display indicates the absolute phase for the digital inputs If it is pressed again within 5 seconds the absolute phase is toggled Toggles upper display on off and dims lower volume display Press and hold this button to enter the setup menu and to d...

Page 8: ...ide of remote AAA Batteries The remote operates with 2 AAA size batteries In order to change them the back cover needs to be removed as shown in picture on the left Make sure that replacement batteries are inserted with their polarities as indicated in the picture The screws can be opened with a 3 32 hex or Allen key ...

Page 9: ...n not a real time system It is designed to allow certain processes to take time away from real time processes such as playing audio This can result in audible dropouts sometimes very short but sometimes also quite long Some PCs are pre configured with drivers and processes by the manufacturer that cause such dropouts and others are user installed with additional software that do not allow flawless...

Page 10: ...r will show up as AKDesign USB Audio under the Sound Video and Game Controllers tab It will not be listed in the Sound Control panel on the Mac in the Sound Control panel below where the IPS 3 should be listed as an audio output device 9 For PC users only Configure your player software to send audio data to the ASIO interface Depending on your player software this may be identified as AKDesign USB...

Page 11: ...te in the Audio MIDI Setup utility to correspond with the native sample rate of the song as shown in picture but this can be a tedious process if your library contains songs with more than 1 sample rate Alternatively 3 rd party plug ins for iTunes exist that automate this process and always select the correct sample rate for bit perfect playback Check our website www playbackdesigns com for an upd...

Page 12: ...do not seem to work The IPS 3 is a hardware device with very little software inside and if it doesn t show any signs of malfunctioning in other playback modes it is relatively safe to assume that the problem is either with the USB link or the computer Generally you should look for any signs of trouble on your computer first and don t assume that because your computer may work with someone else s U...

Page 13: ...he next menu item Each programmable menu item may be toggled between 2 settings by pressing the play button IMPORTANT Do not attempt to change any settings while the IPS 3 is connected to any PLINK or USB X devices Always disconnect any optical cables The following options are available in sequence 1 Serial number This option is not user programmable 2 PLINK Input format This is currently fixed to...

Page 14: ...tle bit but can still sound a bit brittle 3 150 350 Hours Midrange will start smoothing out and clarity will increase but highs might continue to remain recessed At this point there probably will not be much change in the bass You will probably wonder how the Playback Designs system will ever sound like others have described but we assure you that you will start to hear substantial changes within ...

Page 15: ...llows to change the fuse 1 Locate fuse compartment on power connector on rear panel 2 Use a small screw driver to pry open the fuse holder 3 The fuse holder contains 2 fuses The top one is a spare and can replace the blown one at the bottom 4 Replace fuse holder into power connector by making sure that good fuse is at bottom Replacement fuses should be rated 6 3A 230V slow blow 20mm for 110V opera...

Page 16: ...the PC input on the rear panel 3 Load the wave file with the update firmware into your player software on your computer 4 Play the file 5 The front panel will indicate WRITING FLASH It is important that at this point you no longer touch the system nor your PC nor the remote don t change the input don t turn the power off Go have a cup of tea because it will take about 2 minutes for this to finish ...

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