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MPD-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: 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.

WARRANTY

Playback Designs warrants this product against defects in material and workmanship under

normal use and service for a period of time specified by the product’s serial number from

the date of first delivery to the owner. The warranty time period is for 30 days. If within the

first 30 days of ownership you register your Playback Designs product, by sending us a

copy of your sales receipt, your name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number, email

address and your dealer’s store name, we will extend the warranty to 3 years for all parts.

This warranty is limited to the original owner.

Playback Designs will pay for return shipping charges (domestically) back to the owner

when the product is sent to Playback Designs within the first 30 days after purchase and

the fault can be confirmed by Playback Designs. Otherwise, owner will be responsible for

Summary of Contents for MPD-3

Page 1: ...Version 1 1 MPD 3 Music Playback System USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...MPD 3 User Manual 2 ...

Page 3: ...int 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 WARRANTY Playback Designs warrants this product against defects...

Page 4: ...er you for the warranty If this product has been shipped to you directly from Playback Designs you are automatically registered BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT What is in the box MPD 3 playback system Remote control unit with mounted batteries USB cable Power cord 110V versions only User manual Registration If you purchased this product from a dealer please take a moment and send us an email to support p...

Page 5: ...but S PDIF formatted on RCA connector PC Direct USB connection to Windows and Apple based computers for sample rates up to 24bits 384kHz for PCM and 5 6448MHz for DSD Power Before connecting the converter to the AC mains please make sure that the rated voltage for the MPD 3 is set correctly as indicated on the rear panel Operating the converter at the wrong voltage will damage the unit The voltage...

Page 6: ...ts the USB input from PC No function No function No function The first time this buttons is pressed the alpha numeric display indicates the absolute phase for the analog outputs If it is pressed again within 5 seconds the absolute phase is toggled Dims display on front panel Pressing and holding this button will display the serial number for about 5 seconds Pressing it again while the serial numbe...

Page 7: ...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 8: ...sses 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 real time playback of audio Fortunately there is a free utility software that allows you to test your PC...

Page 9: ...anager below where the driver 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 MPS 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 b...

Page 10: ...graded performance You can manually select the sample rate 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 playb...

Page 11: ...ter When things do not seem to work The MPD 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 ...

Page 12: ...ll ever sound like others have described but we assure you that you will start to hear substantial changes within another week of play 4 350 500 Hours The magic will be starting Highs will be open and airy Midrange will appear much more full bodied and natural Soundstage will be huge and the image presentation will start appearing very holographic Bass will be incredibly deep and tight with textur...

Page 13: ...proceed as follows 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 Fuse Compartment Prying open with a small screw driver 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 Repla...

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