Playback Designs Merlot, Руководство пользователя

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Merlot User Manual
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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 ASIO” or simply as
“ASIO”. Some players may need a plug-in for ASIO compatible playback.
10. For Mac users only: launch iTunes.
11. 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. Control the volume only with your analog pre-amp.
12. Your system is now ready for high resolution playback.
Re-connection after system has been previously configured:
1. Power on both computer and Merlot. Select SERVER input.
2. Connect USB cable.
3. Enumeration should be quick. The front panel should indicate the detected sample rate.
4. 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. Control the volume only with your analog pre-amp.
5. Your system is now ready for high resolution playback.
During playback with PC
When changing songs from within your computer player software the USB protocol automatically
communicates all necessary sample rate changes to the Merlot. The front panel of the Merlot always
indicates the true sample rate during file playback. This system will never perform any sample rate conversion
or any signal processing that could adversely affect the sonic performance, but rather use the exact bits from
your file and convert them directly to analog.
During playback with Mac
The native OSX operating system and iTunes do not
understand the needs of audiophile consumers and
insist on sample rate conversion. When connecting
the Merlot OSX will automatically select the highest
possible sample rate (384kHz) and convert all your
songs to this rate before playing them out through
USB. This will result in degraded 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 playback.
Playback of DSD files
The driver software and Merlot hardware are designed to support playback of DSD files at 3 sample rates: the
standard 2.8224MHz as used on all SA-CDs, the double rate 5.6448MHz and the quad rate of 11.2896MHz