Playback Designs Merlot, Руководство пользователя

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Merlot User Manual
7
CONNECTING THE MERLOT TO THE SYRAH MUSIC SERVER
The Merlot is designed as a companion product for the Playback Designs music server "Syrah". Only a
standard 2.0 compatible USB cable is required (supplied with Merlot) to connect the Syrah to the Merlot via its
Server input connector. Select USB input on the Merlot. No other configuration is necessary.
CONNECTING THE MERLOT TO A WINDOWS BASED PC or APPLE MAC
Supported PCM audio resolutions: all sample rates up to 384kHz and word lengths up to 24 bits.
Supported DSD audio resolutions: 2.8224MHz (as on SA-CD), 5.6448MHz (double) and 11.2896MHz
(quad).
Connection protocol and method:
USB 2.0 / Audio class 2.0 compliant, asynchronous mode where
Merlot generates high precision clock master and computer is clock
slaved.
PC requirements: Windows 7 or later
ASIO compatible player software such as JRiver, Foobar,
MediaMonkey etc.
Internet connection for downloading software from
www.playbackdesigns.com
.
In order for your computer to communicate with the Merlot and to
exchange audio data a custom driver software needs to be installed
before you can connect it to the Merlot.
Mac requirements: OS X (10.6.6 or later)
iTunes with or without plug-in to automate sample rate switching.
No driver software is required. OSX supports DSD playback only via
the DoP protocol which only supports single and double DSD rates.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR WINDOWS PC USERS:
The Windows operating system is by design 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 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 description of the program and some more technical background on the same
website.
2. Run LatencyMon, leave it running for 10-15 minutes and the software will tell you if you PC is suitable
for playing audio without dropouts.
If you are considering purchasing a new PC, this utility program is small enough and doesn’t require any
installation which allows you to load it onto a flash stick and test it on the PC you are thinking about buying.
Most computer stores will allow this test.
Driver software installation and first time connection:
1. Do not connect the Merlot to the computer yet.
2. Turn on your computer.