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USB-XIII User Manual

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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 install near any heat sources such as radiators, heaters, or other apparatus (including pre-

amplifiers and amplifiers) that produce heat.

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.

WARRANTY

Playback Designs warrants the USB-XIII 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 USB-XIII 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. 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 all shipping charges to and from Playback Designs.

International 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 with a clear trouble report and for shipping instructions before shipping any

product to Playback Designs.

Playback Designs products are sold worldwide through authorized dealers with restricted territories. If any

Playback Designs product is purchased from non-authorized dealers or from a dealer selling outside his / her

authorized territory all warranties will be void.

Summary of Contents for USB-XIII

Page 1: ...Version 1 0 USB XIII Audio Interface USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ... 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 USB XIII 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 This warranty is limi...

Page 3: ...ou need to replace this cable or use additional ones only use ST ST 62 5 125 multimode fiber optical cable types User manual Registration If you purchased this product from a dealer please take a moment and send us an email to info playbackdesigns com so we can register you for the warranty Installation The AC voltage supplied to the power supply should match the voltage rating indicated on it Do ...

Page 4: ... format down USB operates in stereo mode 2 up optical PLink output format is Sonoma down optical PLink output format is classic 3 up DSD is encoded in DoP for AES output limited to DSD1x down DSD is encoded in proprietary format for 3 series products 4 not used yet POWER Power input 8V 12V DC USB USB audio input and output AUX Not used yet LED This LED can have 3 colors with the following meaning ...

Page 5: ...DSD There are many different interfaces but none support universally all the high resolution formats Therefore unsupported sample rates need to be converted in order to fit through a standard digital interface In order to not compromise quality through unnecessary conversion algorithms Playback Designs has developed a proprietary optical interface to not only support all PCM and DSD formats but to...

Page 6: ... performed This 2 step process is the same as if the entire process was performed inside the DAC SR L R C LFE PLINK OUT FR L R PLINK IN COAX DoP Out AES DoP OUT Playback Designs USB XIII USB POWER GREEN NORMAL OPERATION AMBER PROGRAMMING RED ERROR LOCK INPUT MODE RST AUX 1 4 Playback Designs USB XIII optical PLink cable USB cable Front Back MPS 5 MPD 5 to computer or server Settings for USB XIII S...

Page 7: ...g Settings for USB XIII Settings for MPS 5 INPUT up position during recording middle position during playback Firmware version 029 or higher MODE 1 down for stereo operation PLINK OUT PLink MODE 2 down for classic PLink output PLINK IN PLink this sets it to classic MODE 3 not used MODE 4 not used NOTE after changing the MODE switches it is important to either press the reset button or to turn powe...

Page 8: ...SB XIII USB POWER GREEN NORMAL OPERATION AMBER PROGRAMMING RED ERROR LOCK INPUT MODE RST AUX 1 4 Playback Designs USB XIII optical PLink cable USB cable Front Back Oppo103 with OpBox Modification to computer for recording Settings for USB XIII Settings for OpBox INPUT down position PLINK OUT Select Sonoma format MODE 1 down for stereo operation MODE 2 not used MODE 3 not used MODE 4 not used NOTE ...

Page 9: ...second step is performed Single rate DSD is transmitted to the 3 series product via the DoP mechanism which is not a conversion simply a bit perfect packing scheme SR L R C LFE PLINK OUT FR L R PLINK IN COAX DoP Out AES DoP OUT Playback Designs USB XIII USB POWER GREEN NORMAL OPERATION AMBER PROGRAMMING RED ERROR LOCK INPUT MODE RST AUX 1 4 Playback Designs USB XIII AES cable USB cable Front Back ...

Page 10: ...ut Front Back Merlot Surround channels Merlot Front channels Merlot Center LFE channels to computer or server ANALOG OUT DIGITAL IN OUT R L R L PLAYLINK IN OUT SERVER COAX IN AUX AES IN ANALOG OUT DIGITAL IN OUT R L R L PLAYLINK IN OUT SERVER COAX IN AUX AES IN ANALOG OUT DIGITAL IN OUT R L R L PLAYLINK IN OUT SERVER COAX IN AUX AES IN optical PLink cables Settings for USB XIII Settings for Merlot...

Page 11: ...channels Merlot Center LFE channels ANALOG OUT DIGITAL IN OUT R L R L PLAYLINK IN OUT SERVER COAX IN AUX AES IN ANALOG OUT DIGITAL IN OUT R L R L PLAYLINK IN OUT SERVER COAX IN AUX AES IN ANALOG OUT DIGITAL IN OUT R L R L PLAYLINK IN OUT SERVER COAX IN AUX AES IN optical PLink cables Settings for USB XIII Settings for OpBox INPUT down position PLINK OUT Select Sonoma format MODE 1 up for 6 channel...

Page 12: ...r AES or Coax output If the connected DAC does not support DSD via DoP then silence will be heard SR L R C LFE PLINK OUT FR L R PLINK IN COAX DoP Out AES DoP OUT Playback Designs USB XIII USB POWER GREEN NORMAL OPERATION AMBER PROGRAMMING RED ERROR LOCK INPUT MODE RST AUX 1 4 Playback Designs USB XIII Use either AES or Coax cable USB cable Front Back DAC Brand xyz AES input or Coax input to comput...

Page 13: ...s a playback software that can implement DoP Driver software installation and first time connection 1 Do not connect the USB XIII to the computer yet 2 Turn on your computer 3 Windows PC users only Launch your favorite internet browser and navigate to the Support Product Drivers page on our website www playbackdesigns com Click on USB Windows Driver to download the latest driver akdesigndrv zip fo...

Page 14: ...ecording software to receive and send audio data from and to the ASIO interface Depending on your software this may be identified as AKDesign USB ASIO or simply as ASIO 9 For best performance and bit perfect reproduction make sure to set all volume controls in the computer software Windows OSX control panel to exactly 0db wide open turn off all operating systems sounds effects or equalizer that mi...

Page 15: ... touch the system nor your PC don t change the input don t turn the power off Go have a glass of Playback Designs wine because it will take about 2 minutes for this to finish 6 Once playback has finished the front panel LED will return to green indicating a successful update or it will turn red indicating a failure A failure can happen when you didn t follow the instructions in the previous steps ...

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