OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS MEDUS D/A CONVERTER
Bit Transparency Check
In order to test the bit transparency of the player software on the computer the enclosed WAV
files (see driver CD) have to be ripped to the computer and played from the player program. The
MEDUS then looks for specific bit patterns coming from the Firewire source. To check for bit
transparency proceed as follows:
Play the appropriate test file, there are a total of 12 files supplied. One set for 16 bit and one set
for 24 bit transparency checking. One set includes all supported sampling rates, namely 44.1,
48.0, 88.2, 96.0, 176.4, 192.0 kHz. This allows to make sure the player is bit transparent for all
sampling rates. We suggest to check first with the 24 bit files. If those yield a bit transparent
result then it is not necessary to check with the 16 bit files.
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For the single wire version: press and hold the input # 3 selection button. If the LED starts to
flash, the player software is indeed bit transparent. If the LED stays lit, the player is not bit
transparent.
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For the dual wire version: select input # 1 (independent of the sampling rate you are testing
at) and wait until the MEDUS locks. Then press and hold the input # 1 selection button. If the
LEDs start to flash, the player software is indeed bit transparent. If the LEDs stay lit, the
player is not bit transparent.
During the test the output of the MEDUS is muted.
If the player does not seem to be bit transparent then this can have several causes, like:
- a volume control not at 0dB gain
- a equalizer
- a sampling rate conversion
- a “sound enhancer” feature and more
Make sure all those processing elements are bypassed. Particularly the sampling rate conversion
can creep in “unnoticed”. I.e. the sampling rate in the Weiss Firewire IO window has to match the
sampling rate of the file played, else a conversion is going on in the operating system. For iTunes
there is another thing to know: Whenever the sampling rate is changed in the AudioMidi setup or
the Weiss Firewire IO window, the iTunes program has to be restarted to achieve bit transparency
