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MPS-5 User Manual

18

EXTERNAL CLOCK

A unique feature of the MPS-5 is its elaborate and sophisticated clock generator which does not require to be

locked to an external source. It completely shields any incoming digital audio stream from its sensitive internal

clock circuitry through various stages of buffering with unique control algorithms. This removes any incoming

jitter from external sources so well that no complicated setup with master – slave clocking configurations are

needed, as is often the case with other equipment. In fact, the MPS-5 performs equally well with jittery

sources as with higher quality ones. For this reason the MPS-5 does not require an external clock nor does it

require to be set up as a clock master.

BREAKING IN THE MPS-5

Breaking in the Playback Designs MPS-5 is time consuming but well worth the effort. It would be a mistake to

pre-judge the player based on what you might hear at first listen. This is what you can expect to hear at

different intervals during break-in:

1. Out of the box: The player will have good clarity, but the highs can be recessed. Bass might appear to

be a bit muddy and lacking punch. Soundstage might sound closed in.

2. 50 - 150 Hours: The sound will open up a little 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 converter will 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 texture and detail galore.

5. Over 500 Hours: The player will continue to change subtly over the upcoming month of usage, but

you should be recognizing a very life-like and natural sound.

During break-in when you do not listen to music it is best to feed an external digital audio signal into any of

the digital inputs of the MPS-5, rather than loading a disc and setting the drive into REPEAT mode.

SPECIFICATIONS

Power Supply

North America model………AC 120V, 60Hz

Europe model……………….AC 230V, 50Hz

Consumption…………………………...100W

Analog Audio Outputs:

XLR: 4Vrms @ 1kHz full level, pin 2 Hot

RCA: 2Vrms @ 1kHz full level

BNC: 50Ω, 2Vrms @ 1kHz full level

Weight…………………………………….. 13kg / 29 lb

Operating Temperature………………+5°C to +30°C

Ext. dimensions (W x H x D)

43.5 x 9.8 x 42.3cm

17.1 x 3.5 x 16.7 inches

Operating Humidity………………………. 5% to 85%

Batteries for remote control unit……………….2x AAA Mains fuse: 1.6A / 250V slow blow, 20mm

Summary of Contents for MPS-3

Page 1: ...Version 2 5 MPS 5 Music Playback System USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ......

Page 3: ...emitted inside this product is completely confined in the protective housings Use of controls or adjustments or performance of procedures other than those specified herein may result in hazardous radiation exposure The use of optical instruments with this product will increase eye hazard CAUTION TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE REFER SERVICI...

Page 4: ...thin 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 includ...

Page 5: ...disc or the player When moving the player make sure to remove the disc and close the disc tray Then turn off the power and disconnect the power cord Types of discs CDDA 12cm or 8cm discs 16bit 44 1kHz PCM digital audio SACD Single layer dual layer or Hybrid discs 12cm or 8cm discs DSD digital audio CD R RW discs recorded in Audio CD format and finalized correctly are playable But depending on the ...

Page 6: ...er Playback Designs equipment such as the MPD 5 D A converter or USB X interface This connection supports multiple audio formats and multi channel configurations PC Direct USB connection to Windows based computers for sample rates up to 48kHz Before connecting to PC make sure that PC input is selected on MPS 5 and the PC is turned on so that the PC can enumerate the link Subsequent changes of sele...

Page 7: ...mmediately start playback Stop playback from disc Hold this button and press NEXT TRACK to change the default layer on SACD discs multi channel stereo and to enable disable multi channel playback from SACD Factory default is set to stereo Previous track Next track Alphanumeric status display Time display during disc playback ...

Page 8: ...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 If these buttons are pressed for less than 1 second they allow you to jump tracks in sequential order If during normal playback they are held for more than 1 second the player enters Scan M...

Page 9: ...l indicate the currently selected state without changing it If during the next 5 seconds the button is pressed again it will toggle to the next state This toggles through 2 Repeat modes Repeat currently playing track Repeat entire disc Normal playback Numeric buttons Pressing any numeric button with a single digit will locate the transport to the beginning of the chosen track and start playback un...

Page 10: ...INTERFACE Again the MPS 5 is equipped with an internal USB port that only supports PCM in 16bits and 44 1 48kHz In order to guarantee the best sonic performance of the MPS 5 when playing from other sources connected to other inputs or from its internal transport the USB port is disabled This makes it necessary that when a PC is booted the USB PC input is selected on the MPS 5 BEFORE connecting the...

Page 11: ...gured 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 for real time capability 1 Go to http www resplendence com latencymon and download the utility program LatencyMon There is also a good ...

Page 12: ...e instructions on your screen This will install the driver necessary to communicate with the Playback Designs products via USB 4 Once your computer is properly configured power on the MPS 5 and connect the USB cable that was included with the MPS 5 between USB X and your computer Since the USB X interface is powered by your computer but receives the clock signal from the MPS 5 you must always powe...

Page 13: ...SIO Some players may need a plug in for ASIO compatible playback 8 For Mac users only launch iTunes 9 For best performance and bit perfect reproduction make sure to set all volume controls in the computer playback software Windows OSX control panel to exactly 0db wide open turn off all operating systems sounds effects or equalizer that might be running in your playback software or Windows OSX Cont...

Page 14: ... driver software and MPS 5 hardware are designed to support playback of DSD files at 2 sample rates the standard 2 8224MHz as used on all SA CDs and the double rate 5 6448MHz as supported by some professional recording equipment You will need a playback software running on your computer that can read DSD files and play them to the USB driver On the Mac platform you will have to use a playback soft...

Page 15: ...ed by the computer via the USB cable but the clock signal is coming from the MPS 5 So every time you turn off the MPS 5 you will have to unplug the USB cable from the computer and plug it back in once the MPS 5 is powered up again 2 Make sure that the driver is properly installed PC only See step 6 under driver installation above for instructions for how to check successful installation and connec...

Page 16: ...put Format the optical data output supports PLINK or SONOMA formats PLINK is a proprietary format used to link to other Playback Designs products for multi channel or multi room setups SONOMA is used to connect to professional recording equipment This function is only programmable for the MPS 5 5 Optical All Channels when using PLINK output format set this off for multi channel configuration or on...

Page 17: ...ereo by first pressing and holding the STOP key and then pressing the NEXT key on the front panel Each time this key combination is pressed the modes are toggled between stereo and multi channel In stereo mode the player will automatically select the stereo program each time a SACD is put in Likewise in multi channel mode the player will automatically select the multi channel program each time a S...

Page 18: ...urs 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 converter will 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...

Page 19: ...oceed 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 Replace...

Page 20: ... 1 track nxt Go to next track fsc Toggles through forward scan modes rsc Toggles through reverse scan modes lyr Toggles between CD SACD stereo and SACD multichannel layers of a SACD disc The player needs to be in stop mode before the layers can be switched rpt Toggles between no repeat repeat track repeat all tme Toggles through various time display modes phs Toggles phase inversion on and off mte...

Page 21: ...splay 2 total disc time display 3 total remaining disc time display Byte2 Track number in binary code Byte 3 Hours in binary code Byte 4 Minutes in binary code Byte 5 Seconds in binary code Byte 6 bit 2 0 0 transport selected for playback 1 AES input selected 2 RCA input selected 3 TosLink input selected 4 PlayLink input selected 5 USB PC input selected 6 Aux input selected bit 6 3 1 44 1kHz detec...

Page 22: ...yet to the PC 2 Launch the supplied application PDSetup exe on your PC and closely follow instructions on the screen Connect your MPS 5 to the PC only when told so But before then hitting the NEXT button wait until Windows confirms that the driver is fully installed and operational Only then hit NEXT 3 When you reach the following screen make sure to point the field File to Transfer to the file su...

Page 23: ...e the above screen directly 4 Proceed from here as for the first time installation IMPORTANT NOTE THE ENTIRE UPDATE PROCEDURE CAN TAKE SEVERAL MINUTES IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT INTERRUPT POWER TO THE MPS 5 NOR DISCONNECT THE USB CABLE NOR TURN OFF THE PC DURING PROGRAMMING OR ELSE YOUR MPS 5 WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BOOT NORMALLY In case the programming has been interrupted accidentally please fo...

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