Ow ner’s Manual
Nº390S
CD
Processor
Important Safety Instructions
Please read all in struction s an d precaution s carefully an d com pletely before operatin g your Mark
Levin son pream plifier.
1. ALWAYS discon n ect your en tire system from th e AC m ain s before con n ectin g
or discon n ectin g an y cables, or wh en clean in g an y com pon en t.
2. Th is product m ust be term in ated with a th ree-con ductor AC m ain s power cord
th at in cludes an earth groun d con n ection . To preven t sh ock h azard, all th ree
con n ection s m ust ALWAYS be used.
3. AC exten sion cords are n ot recom m en ded for use with th is product.
4. NEVER use flam m able or com bustible chem icals for cleaning audio com ponents.
5. NEVER operate th is product with an y covers rem oved.
6. NEVER wet th e in side of th is product with an y liquid.
7. NEVER pour or spill liquids directly on to th is un it.
8. NEVER block airflow th rough ven tilation slots or h eat sin ks.
9. NEVER bypass an y fuse.
10. NEVER replace an y fuse with a value or type oth er th an th ose specified.
11. NEVER attem pt to repair th is product. If a problem occurs, con tact your Mark
Levin son retailer.
12. NEVER expose th is product to extrem ely h igh or low tem peratures.
13. NEVER operate th is product in an explosive atm osph ere.
14. ALWAYS keep electrical equipm en t out of th e reach of ch ildren .
15. ALWAYS un plug sen sitive electron ic equipm en t durin g ligh tn in g storm s.
From all of us at Mark Levinson, thank you for choosing the Mark
Levinson Nº390S CD Processor.
A great deal of effort went into the design and construction of this
precision device. Used properly, it will give you many years of enjoyment.
4
“Mark Levin son ” an d th e Mark Levin son logo are registered tradem arks of
Harm an International Industries. U.S. patent num bers and other worldwide
paten ts issued an d pen din g.
3 O ak Park
Bedford, MA 01730-1413 USA
Telephone:
Fax:
781-280-0300
781-280-0490
“Madrigal Audio Laboratories” an d th e Madrigal Audio Laboratories logo
are registered tradem arks of Harm an In tern ation al In dustries. U.S. paten t
n um bers an d oth er worldwide paten ts issued an d pen din g.
C ust om e r Suppor t
Telephone:
Sales Fax:
781-280-0300
781-280-0495
Service Fax: 781-280-0499
©2004 Harm an Specialty Group. All righ ts reserved.
P roduct Shipm e nt s
16 Progress Road
Th is docum en t sh ould n ot be con strued as a com m itm en t on th e part of
Harm an Specialty Group. Th e in form ation it con tain s is subject to ch an ge
with out n otice. Harm an Specialty Group assum es n o respon sibility for
errors th at m ay appear with in th is docum en t.
Billerica, MA 01821-5730 USA
Part No. 070-630457 | Rev 1 | 04/04
Table of Contents
Unpacking and Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Unpacking the Nº390S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Remove the Transport Screw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Placement of the Nº390S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Operating Voltage & Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
A Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Break-in Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Special Design Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
A New Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Digital Servo Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Digital Input/Output Versatility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Industrial Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Convenience Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Communications Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Fully Balanced Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Advanced Digital Filter Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Digital to Analog Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Balanced Analog Volume Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
State-of-the-Art Output Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
5
Front Panel, Nº390S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Extended Pause Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Sleep Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Rear Panel, Nº390S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
AC Power Cord Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
IR Input Tip Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Linking Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Standard Link Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Amplifier Link Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Remote Control, Nº390S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Random Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Analog Input Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Conditions that Affect IR Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Optimum IR Reception Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Setup and Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Connecting AC Mains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Connecting Digital Audio Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Connecting the Digital Audio Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Making Link Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Connecting Analog Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Basic Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Loading a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Playing a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Random Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Navigating the Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Direct Time Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Pause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Repeat Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Repeat Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
A-B Repeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Programming the Nº390S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Introduction to Play Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Assembling a Play List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Programming by Omission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Saving a Play List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Reviewing a Play List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Deleting a Track from a Play List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Adding a Track to a Play List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Overriding a Play List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Erasing Play Lists from Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Why Polarity Programming? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Whole-Disc Polarity Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Track-by-Track Polarity Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Overriding a Polarity Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6
Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
SOUND Menu Items: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Fixed/Variable Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Silent/Audible Cueing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Balance Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Mute Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Locked Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
LINK Menu Items: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Standby Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Name Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Play Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Display Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
AUX IN’s Menu Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Changing Link Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Sleep Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Using Learning Remote Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Teaching Nº390S Front Panel Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Teaching Other Nº390S Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Special Commands Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Care and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Installation Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
7
Unpacking and Placement
Unpacking the Nº390S
Un pack your Nº390S CD Processor an d rem ove all accessories
from th e carton .
Important!
Keep all packing materials for future transport of your Nº390S.
Shipping your new component in anything other than its
purpose-designed packing material may result in damage that is
not covered by the w arranty.
In cluded with your n ew Mark Levin son CD processor is a pair of
kn it, wh ite gloves design ed to assist you in th e in itial un packin g
an d placem en t of your n ew purch ase. Please accept th em as a
token of our appreciation for h avin g purch ased on e of our
products.
Remove the Transport
Screw
Place th e Nº390S CD Processor upside-down on a soft, clean
surface. Rem ove th e tran sport screw from th e bottom of th e un it
an d save it with th e packin g m aterials for future use.
8
Warning!
The transport screw must be removed before operating the
Nº390S, since it immobilizes the transport mechanism during
shipping to prevent damage. This screw must also be replaced
before shipping the unit.
Placement of the
Nº390S
Th e Nº390S sh ould be placed close to your digital audio processor,
th us keepin g in tercon n ect cablin g reason ably sh ort. It m ay be
placed on a sh elf or in a cabin et wh ere it is con ven ien t to operate,
but sh ould n ot be rack m oun ted, so as to leave access to th e rear
pan el power switch .
Th e Nº390S is design ed for con tin uous operation —h en ce th e
stan dby button on th e fron t pan el rath er th an a power button .
However, a rear panel power switch is provided for your convenience
sh ould you wan t to discon n ect th e un it from th e AC m ain s (as
wh en takin g a vacation , for exam ple).
Drawin gs are in cluded in th is m an ual to facilitate special
in stallation s an d custom cabin etry (see Dimensions on page 61).
Operating Voltage &
Frequency
Th e Nº390S CD Processor is set at th e factory (in tern ally) for 100V,
120V, 200V, 220V, or 240V AC m ain s operation as appropriate for
th e coun try in wh ich it is to be sold. Make sure th at th e label on
th e rear of th e Nº390S (adjacen t to th e power cord) in dicates th e
correct AC operatin g voltage for your location , as attem ptin g to
operate th e Nº390S at an in correct voltage can dam age th e un it.
Th e Nº390S CD Processor is also set at th e factory for operation
on eith er 50 or 60 Hz AC lin e frequen cies, as appropriate for th e
coun try in wh ich it is to be sold. It will n ot operate if it sen ses an
in correct lin e frequen cy.
9
Warning!
Neither the voltage nor the line frequency setting may be
changed by the user. There are no user serviceable parts inside
the Nº390S. Only qualified, authorized service personnel may
open the Nº390S CD Processor, as hazardous voltages exist
w ithin the unit.
If th e AC m ain s voltage or frequen cy in dicated on your Nº390S is
in correct, please con tact your local, auth orized Mark Levin son
dealer or distributor.
Th e Nº390S can easily be powered by a n orm al 15-am pere AC
m ain s lin e. If oth er devices are also powered from th e sam e AC
lin e, th eir addition al power con sum ption sh ould be taken in to
accoun t.
A Quick Start . . .
We recogn ize th at m an y people are un derstan dably eager to begin
listen in g to th eir n ew com pon en ts, an d th at readin g th e m an ual
is often don e (if at all) at a later tim e—perh aps wh ile listen in g to
m usic with th e n ew product itself. We stron gly recom m en d th at
you read th is m an ual th orough ly, as th e Nº390S CD Processor
in corporates m an y un usual features th at en h an ce its operation .
Fortun ately, we can h elp you get som e m usic up an d run n in g on
your system quickly, so th at you m ay begin en joyin g your n ew
CD player wh ile readin g m ore about it. Th e goal h ere is sim ply to
m ake som e m usic as quickly as possible. Th e followin g procedure
assum es th at you h ave a relatively con ven tion al system an d it is
already con n ected with th e exception of th e Nº390S (e.g.,
pream plifier to power am plifier, to speakers, etc.).
1. Turn off your associated components.
Th is m in im izes th e opportun ity for a m om en tary electrical
surge disturbin g your system wh ile m akin g con n ection s. If
you h ave a large power am plifier, allow its power supply to
fully disch arge before proceedin g (wh ich m ay take as lon g as
several m in utes, depen din g on its design ).
10
2. Remove the transport screw from the bottom of the Nº390S.
If you h ave n ot don e so already, rem ove th e kn urled tran sport
screw from th e bottom of th e Nº390S n ow. Be sure to save it
an d all packin g m aterial for possible future use. (Shipping the
Nº390S without proper packing material and without the transport
screw in its proper position may cause damage to the unit that
would not be covered by the warranty.)
3. Connect the Nº390S to AC pow er.
Con n ect th e AC cord to th e Nº390S at th e receptacle on th e
rear pan el, an d th en to your AC outlet. Th en turn on th e
power switch just above th e AC power receptacle. (Th e
in tern ation al sym bol for “on ” is a sin gle vertical lin e: |. “Off”
is sym bolized by a circle: O.) Th e Nº390S will take a few
m om en ts to in itialize an d will th en be ready to use.
4. Connect either the XLR or the RCA analog outputs on the
Nº390S to an appropriate input of your preamplifier.
Wh en properly im plem en ted, balan ced in tercon n ection via
XLR connectors and high quality balanced cables offers superior
perform an ce, an d is preferred to sin gle-en ded RCA
in tercon n ection . Both sets of outputs on your Nº390S h ave
been optim ized to en sure m axim um com patibility in a wide
ran ge of system s. (Note that you should never connect a line-level
component such as a CD player to a phono input on a preamplifier.
Although no damage is likely to result to either CD player or
preamplifier, the sound will be badly distorted and the volume may
be much louder than you expect.)
4a. If going direct from the Nº390S to an amplifier!
See Special Functions setup on page 47 to set th e Nº390S to
variable output m ode.
5. Power up the rest of the system, leaving the power amplifiers
for last.
Always turn th e power am plifier(s) off first, an d on last. Th is
good h abit m in im izes th e opportun ity for un expected tran -
sien ts to be passed to your loudspeakers. An oth er good h abit
is to reduce th e volum e on your pream plifier to m in im um
value before you restore power to th e system . Wh en th e
Nº390S is in its variable pream p m ode, it powers up at a low
volum e to m in im ize sudden ch an ges in volum e.
6. Load a disc in the draw er and press Play; slow ly raise the
volume on your preamplifier.
Con gratulation s! You sh ould n ow be able to en joy your
favorite m usic wh ile readin g th e rest of th is m an ual. (Please,
do read the rest of this manual.)
11
Break-in Period
Alth ough your Mark Levin son Nº390S CD Processor delivers
outstan din g perform an ce straigh t out of th e box, you sh ould
expect to h ear it con tin ue to im prove as it reach es its n orm al
operatin g tem peratures an d its various com pon en ts “break-in .” It
h as been our experien ce th at th e greatest ch an ges occur with in
th e first 300 h ours, as th e Nº390S reach es th erm al equilibrium
an d capacitors becom e fully form ed. After th is in itial break-in , its
perform an ce will rem ain quite con stan t.
Th e on ly exception to th is rule is if power is rem oved from th e
un it for m ore th an a few m in utes, allowin g it to cool down .
Depen din g on th e degree of coolin g in volved, you sh ould expect
a brief warm -up period before th e Nº390S’s soun d quality is at its
best. Un less your Nº390S was allowed to becom e quite ch illed,
subsequen t th erm al re-stabilization sh ould n ot take lon g.
Special Design Features
Con gratulation s on your purch ase of th e Nº390S CD Processor.
Th e design team is con fiden t you will en joy th e outstan din g
perform an ce of th e Nº390S for m an y years. In case you are
in terested in tech n ical details, wh at follows is a brief outlin e of
som e of th e key tech n ologies in your n ew CD player.
A New Generation
Th e task of a CD player is easy to defin e: it m ust recover th e
correct data from th e disc an d con vert th at data to a series of
an alog voltages with n eith er am plitude n or tim in g errors
(som etim es called “jitter”). As sim ple as th is soun ds, ach ievin g it
in reality h as been extrem ely difficult—as eviden ced by th e
sign ifican t son ic differen ces between various CD players.
Con ven tion al CD player design depen ds h eavily on th e quality of
th e oscillator used to con trol th e rate at wh ich th e disc spin s. Th is
oscillator exists in an extrem ely “n oisy” electrical en viron m en t
close to th e m otor th at spin s th e disc. Th e electrical n oise
in troduces tim in g errors in th e delivery of th e digital sign al th at
h ave com e to be kn own as “jitter.” Subsequen t h an dlin g of th e
digital audio sign al in tradition al CD player design s can n ot
im prove upon th is “jittery” sign al, lackin g a better referen ce. To
th e con trary, th e various stages of sign al processin g between th e
laser pickup an d th e actual con version to an alog can on ly
con tribute addition al jitter of th eir own .
12
Th e Mark Levin son Nº390S leaps beyon d con ven tion al digital
audio tech n ology by em ployin g a proprietary, closed-loop jitter-
reduction system in con jun ction with a double speed CD-ROM
drive. Usin g a custom -m ade crystal oscillator with better th an five
part-per-m illion accuracy, the digital signal is re-clocked im m ediately
before its con version to an alog, elim in atin g tran sport-related jitter
from th e digital audio sign al. Th is sam e crystal oscillator con trols
th e all-digital servo used to con trol th e rate at wh ich th e disc
spin s, an d th e digital to an alog con version process.
In effect, th e design of th e Nº390S turn s th e accepted status quo on
its h ead. By placin g th e all-im portan t referen ce clock im m ediately
prior to digital to analog conversion, and slaving all the m echanical
sub-assem blies to it rath er th an th e oth er way aroun d, th e sign al
presen ted to th e outputs of th e Nº390S is un con tam in ated by
electrically- or m ech an ically-in duced jitter. Th e son ic advan tages
of th is design are im m ediately apparen t in th e clarity, warm th an d
stun n in g dyn am ic con trasts exh ibited by th e Nº390S.
Digital Servo Control
Th e laser m ech an ism used in th e Nº390S uses all digital servo
con trols of its operation s. Critical fun ction s such as focus an d
trackin g are h an dled com pletely in th e digital dom ain with
m ath em atical precision . A digital servo rem ain s stable over tim e,
n ever n eedin g readjustm en t un der n orm al con dition s.
Digital Input/Output
Versatility
Th e Nº390S CD player in corporates two digital in puts, allowin g
two extern al digital sources such as a laser disc player an d digital
cable radio to ben efit from th e excellen t digital processor
in corporated with in . Th e two m ost com m on digital in terfaces are
supported for th e widest com patibility: EIAJ (som etim es called
“TosLin k™”) an d S/PDIF coaxial, via an RCA con n ector.
Two h igh quality digital output con figuration s are also supported
in th e Nº390S. A n ew com plem en tary driver for th e balan ced
AES/EBU electrical output delivers outstan din g perform an ce to th e
h igh quality XLR con n ector. A sin gle-en ded S/PDIF electrical
output is also provided via an RCA con n ector. Th ese digital
outputs m ay be used to feed th e in put of digital recorders or an
outboard digital processor, an d th ey both ben efit from th e closed-
loop jitter reduction circuitry described above. (In effect, th ey
duplicate th e fun ction ality an d perform an ce of th e correspon din g
outputs on a Mark Levin son Nº37 CD tran sport.)
All digital in terfaces h ave been carefully optim ized to deliver th e
fin est perform an ce each in terface stan dard allows. As a direct
result, th e Nº390S perform s optim ally with an y digital processor,
with out h avin g to resort to tech n iques wh ich would lim it its
com patibility with oth er products.
13
Industrial Design
Th e Nº390S sh ares th e h an dsom e in dustrial design of oth er Mark
Levin son com pon en ts such as th e Nº380 pream plifier. Th e
com bin ation of th e h an d-brush ed, black-an odized alum in um
faceplate an d bead-blasted custom -m ach in ed button s m ake
operatin g th e Nº390S a tactile as well as a son ic pleasure.
A large, easily read display provides in form ation as to th e
operation al status of th e Nº390S from across th e room , m akin g
th e supplied rem ote con trol m ore gen uin ely useful th an on
products lackin g such a display.
In keepin g with its soph isticated design , th e Nº390S also
in corporates a Mark Levin son -design ed loadin g m ech an ism .
Con trastin g stron gly with th e bulky, plastic drawers com m on ly
used, th e slim 1⁄8 in ch drawer is m ach in ed from a solid piece of
alum in um an d rides on h igh ly polish ed bearin gs. Its variable-
speed design open s an d closes quickly, but with out jarrin g th e
disc con tain ed with in , n or riskin g a jam from dislodgin g it.
Convenience Features
Too often, high performance CD players have eschewed convenience
in th e h opes of seem in g m ore “perform an ce-orien ted.” Wh ile th ere
were good argum en ts for such a “m in im alist” design in th e days
of an alog turn tables, th e tim e is lon g gon e wh en th e audioph ile
needed to give up operational convenience for m usical perform ance.
After all, con ven ien ce features in a digital product are largely a
m atter of writin g appropriate software, an d h ave n o affect on th e
quality of th e digital data itself.
Th e Nº390S supports a variety of custom program m in g option s,
in cludin g “delete program m in g” wh erein selected tracks are
om itted from th e play list. Th is allows th e user to skip th e on e or
two son gs on an oth erwise good disc th at h ave been overplayed
ad nauseam. Th e Nº390S will rem em ber such program s for
th ousan ds of discs, sh ould you wan t to save th at m an y program s.
Communications Links
As with all Mark Levin son 30-series com pon en ts, th e Nº390S
in corporates a soph isticated in ter-com pon en t com m un ication s
bus. Un ique am on g h igh perform an ce audio system s, Mark
Levin son 30-series com pon en ts offer a degree of system in tegration
th at m akes even com plex system s a pleasure to use.
For exam ple, brin gin g th e Nº390S CD Processor out of stan dby
will also brin g th e Lin ked pream plifier an d power am plifier(s) out
of stan dby, an d select th e appropriate in puts on th e pream plifier
so th at a CD can be en joyed. Even a soph isticated system with
m an y com pon en ts can th us offer on e-button sim plicity of
operation .
14
In sh ort, th e Mark Levin son Nº390S establish es a n ew stan dard for
perform an ce an d practicality am on g h igh en d CD players an d
sh ould be audition ed by an yon e wh o desires th e fin est in digital
audio.
Fully Balanced Design
Th e Nº390S is fully balan ced in both th e an alog an d digital
dom ain s. In form ation from th e disc an d sin gle-en ded digital
in puts are im m ediately con verted to balan ced sign als an d routed
to balan ced DACs by way of an LVDS (Low Voltage Differen tial
Sign al) tran sm ission lin e. Th is design tech n ique, borrowed from
separate Mark Levin son digital processors, preserves th e faultless
tim in g of th e digital audio sign al m ade possible by our Closed
Loop Jitter Reduction (CLJR) system m en tion ed earlier in th is
m an ual.
An Arlon 25N® prin ted circuit board provides th e foun dation for
th e critical an alog audio circuit. First used in th e Nº32 Referen ce
Pream plifier, this superior m aterial offers superb dielectric properties
an d h elps th e Nº390S ach ieve rem arkable perform an ce with
com plex audio sign als.
Design of th e fully balan ced DAC/an alog output m odule follows
th e Mark Levin son tradition of rigorous com pon en t selection . An
un usual h ybrid design approach in corporatin g both advan ced
Surface-Moun t an d “th rough -h ole” tech n ologies, allows us to
utilize th e optimum part at each location in th e circuit, with out
th e con strain ts on parts selection n orm ally associated with
tradition al PCB assem bly practices. Every active device h as been
pain stakin gly selected for top tech n ical perform an ce, with fin al
selection s of top perform in g devices determ in ed by n um erous,
con trolled son ic evaluation s.
Advanced Digital Filter
Techniques
Just as with Mark Levin son separate Digital Audio Processors, such
as our Nº30.6 Referen ce, th e Nº390S in corporates advan ced digital
filter techniques carefully chosen to optim ize the sonic perform ance
of its on-board digital processor. Whether playing a CD, or decoding
a digital sign al received th rough an auxiliary in put, sam ple depth
is in creased to 24 bits an d sam ple rate in creased to 352.8kHZ or
384kHz (in put rate depen den t) prior to con version to an an alog
sign al. Th is soph isticated “processin g” of th e digital sign al before
con version (referred to variously as “un con version ”, “upsam plin g”,
or “oversam plin g”) is a fun dam en tal con tributor to th e excellen t
soun d ach ieved by all Mark Levin son digital processors. Th e
Nº390S con firm s its in tern al con version rate on its fron t pan el
display each tim e a disc is loaded, or an auxiliary in put is ch osen
an d locked.
15
Th e Nº390S also in corporates High Defin ition Com patible
Digital® decodin g to take full advan tage of th e resolution avail-
able from HDCD en coded 16-bit CDs. Th e HDCD form at retain s
m ore of th e resolution in h eren t in m odern h igh resolution record-
in gs th an can be accom m odated by th e n orm al CD stan dard by
en codin g in form ation m ore efficien tly with in th e 16-bit space
available on th e disc.
Digital to Analog
Conversion
Digital to an alog con version with in th e Nº390S is perform ed at an
extraordin arily h igh level an d features a Mark Levin son -developed,
balan ced im plem en tation of th e An alog Devices AD1853—a n ew
class of m ulti-bit Sigm a/Delta DAC devices deliverin g superb
tech n ical perform an ce. In addition to its un usual m ulti-bit
arch itecture an d un like typical Sigm a/Delta devices, th e AD-1853
h as a differen tial curren t output stage, wh ich allows us to optim ize
th e critical curren t-to-voltage(I/V) con version stage with dedicated
operational amplifiers possessing superlative rise time and bandwidth
ch aracteristics. Followin g th is, a n ew active an alog filter circuit,
im plem en ted in a differen tial am plifier, sum s both h alves of th e
balanced signal and provides superb com m on m ode noise rejection
in addition to its outstan din g filter ch aracteristics.
This approach to the Digital-to-Analog circuit block yields distortion
and noise levels that are extraordinarily low and contributes greatly
to th e n atural soun d of th e Nº390S.
Balanced Analog
Volume Control
Rath er th an use th e digital atten uator on -board th e DAC, th e
Nº390S incorporates a fully balanced analog volum e control sim ilar
to th at foun d in Mark Levin son separate pream plifiers. Wh en
activated (by turn in g on th e variable output fun ction un der
setup: sound), th e output of th e Nº390S m ay be atten uated in
precise 0.1dB steps th rough m ost of th e ran ge. Sign ifican tly, th e
Nº390S m ain tain s th e full perform an ce of its rem arkable DACs at
all volum e levels—som eth in g im possible with digital volum e
con trols, regardless of wh at tech n iques m ay be em ployed to m ask
th e son ic con sequen ces of th is design approach .
State-of-the-Art
Output Buffer
Th e balan ced discrete output buffer circuitry used in th e Nº390S
em ploys th e sam e topology used in th e rem arkable Mark Levin son
Nº32 Referen ce Pream plifier. A h allm ark of Mark Levin son
pream plifier an d digital processor design , th is circuit h as proven
itself tim e an d tim e again to be both son ically tran sparen t an d
exception ally im m un e to adverse in teraction s with in tercon n ectin g
cables an d un usual in put im pedan ce ch aracteristics of power
am plifiers or pream plifiers. Th e Nº390S features a n ew, ultra
com pact, im plem en tation of th e Mark Levin son output buffer
circuit push in g n oise couplin g an d parasitic effects to van ish in gly
sm all levels. Th is exception ally robust output stage allows th e
Nº390S to m ake th e m ost of wh at wh atever com bin ation of
pream plifier, power am plifier, or cables you ch oose to use.
16
Front Panel, Nº390S
1. display intensity
Pressin g th is button varies th e brigh tn ess of th e display. Four
brigh tn ess levels are available, in cludin g “display off.” All
oth er fron t pan el LEDs ch an ge th eir brigh tn ess levels
appropriately, except th at th ey rem ain at th e dim m est level
wh en th e display itself is off.
Wh en power is first applied to th e Nº390S (or wh en power is
restored after an in terruption ), th e display is autom atically set
to its h igh est level.
Pressin g th e display intensity button on ce dim s th e display
on e level; pressin g it again turn s th e display off; pressin g
display intensity on ce m ore return s th e display to its brigh test
level; pressin g it a fourth tim e will return it to m edium . (If
oth er Mark Levin son com pon en ts in th e system are “Lin ked”
to th e Nº390S, all display in ten sities can ch an ge in un ison .
See Special Functions for m ore in form ation .)
If th e display is set to “off,” pressin g an y key will cause it to
ligh t at m edium in ten sity for approxim ately four secon ds in
order to display th e action of th e key press.
2. Infrared Transceiver (w ithin display)
In frared com m an ds tran sm itted from th e rem ote con trol are
received by a receiver beh in d th is section of th e display.
Rem ote con trol of th e Nº390S m ay be un reliable if th ere is n ot
a clear lin e of sigh t between th e rem ote con trol an d th e
receiver (if th e rem ote is far off-axis, or if th e Nº390S is with in
a cabin et, for exam ple). In such a case con sider usin g a th ird-
party IR repeater to route th e sign al to th e IR in put jack on
th e rear pan el (see Rear Panel, Nº390S).
17
In addition to receivin g IR com m an ds, th e Nº390S h as th e
ability to teach a learn in g rem ote con trol its own com m an ds
from an IR tran sm itter located in th is sam e area. (See Using
Learning Remote Controls for m ore in form ation .)
3. Special Mode Indicator
Th e first ch aracter in th e display is reserved for in dication of
special m odes of operation . For exam ple, a P is displayed in
th is space to in dicate a Program (a special sequen ce of tracks)
is bein g played: A an d B altern ate wh ile an A-B loop is bein g
repeated. Sim ilarly, an R is displayed to den ote random play,
an d ꢀ is displayed to den ote pause.
4. Track Indicator
Th e n ext two ch aracters are used to in dicate th e n um ber of
th e track bein g played. Wh en a com pact disc is loaded but th e
tran sport is in th e stop m ode, th is sam e space in dicates th e
total n um ber of tracks on th e disc (or in th e program for th e
curren t disc, if program m ed).
5. Time Indicator
Th e tim e section of th e display can be set to display an y of
th e followin g four in dication s of tim e in m in utes an d secon ds:
•
•
•
•
time elapsed in track (n eith er LED lit)
time elapsed on disc (time on disc LED lit)
time remaining on track (time remaining LED lit)
time remaining on disc (time on disc an d time remaining
LEDs lit)
In effect, th e Nº390S assum es you will be m ost in terested
seein g elapsed tim e on th e curren t track; on ly departures from
th at assum ption are den oted by LEDs. Th e Nº390S will
rem em ber th e last display m ode selected an d con tin ue to
display th at in form ation un til you ch an ge it, except in stop
(wh en it always defaults to sh owin g th e tim e rem ain in g on
disc, or in th e disc’s play list if it h as been program m ed). On ce
in stop, th e tim e in dication m ay be ch an ged to sh ow an y of
th e oth er display m odes (if desired).
Th ese four option s are accessed by pressin g th e mode button
to th e righ t of th e display un til TIMES is sh own in th e display
(see 6, below). Th en , use th e mode + or mode – keys to cycle
th rough th e four m odes of tim e display, usin g th e time on
disc an d time remaining LEDs to in dicate wh ich m ode is
ch osen at an y m om en t.
18
6. mode button
Th e mode button beside th e display cycles th rough th e four
fun ction s th at can be con trolled by th e mode + an d mode –
button s (eith er on th e fron t pan el or th e rem ote con trol).
Th ese four m odes are:
•
•
•
•
*
PROGRAM (for creatin g custom play lists)
INPUTS (for selectin g a digital source)
TIMES (for selectin g a tim e in dication )
VOLUME* (for con trollin g th e volum e of th e Nº390S*)
(Note th at th e volume con trol is on ly m ade available if
th e Nº390S’s variable output m ode is en gaged; see Special
Functions for m ore in form ation .)
Any of these four m odes (three m odes if using the fixed output)
m ay be accessed by repeatedly pressin g th e mode button ,
th ereby cyclin g th rough th e option s.
Once a particular m ode is chosen, pressing the mode + and
mode – button s “in creases” or “decreases” th at particular
fun ction . For exam ple, mode + would eith er: add a track to a
play list; select th e n ext digital in put; advan ce to th e n ext
tim e in dication ; or raise th e volum e.
Alon g with mode + an d mode –, th e mode button is also used
to ch an ge th e option settin gs. (See Special Functions.)
7. Repeat button
You m ay ch oose to eith er repeat th e en tire disc (in cludin g an y
program s you m igh t h ave en tered for th at particular disc) or
an in dividual track by pressin g th e repeat button . From
n orm al operation , th e first press of th e repeat button will
ligh t th e disc repeat LED below th e display (n um ber 11 in th e
fron t pan el illustration ). Pressin g th e repeat button again will
ligh t th e track repeat LED (n um ber 13 in th e fron t pan el
illustration ). Pressin g it a th ird tim e will cycle out of an y
repeatin g m ode, as will pressin g stop/draw er at an y tim e. In
eith er case, both repeat LEDs will be extin guish ed to in dicate
th e absen ce of an y repeat m ode.
8. Draw er
Th e Nº390S em ploys an elegan t, slim drawer th at is m ach in ed
from a solid piece of alum in um . It is n orm ally open ed an d
closed by pressin g th e stop/draw er button (n um ber 15 in th e
fron t pan el illustration ). If open ed, it m ay also be closed
sim ply by gen tly push in g th e fron t edge in ward (as th ough
you were goin g to close it m an ually). Th e Nº390S will in terpret
th is as a request to close th e drawer an d take over for you,
sm ooth ly closin g th e drawer.
19
If th e Nº390S sen ses an obstruction durin g open in g of th e
drawer m ech an ism , it will attem pt to re-close. If successful, it
will read th e disc’s table of con ten ts an d display th e disc’s
n um ber of tracks an d total tim e (followed by th e play list’s
track an d tim e in form ation , if on e exists). If for an y reason
th e drawer does n ot close fully, th e display will sh ow DRAWER
to in dicate th e problem . After rem ovin g th e obstruction , press
th e stop/draw er button again to close th e drawer n orm ally.
Sim ilarly, if th e Nº390S sen ses an obstruction durin g th e
closin g of its drawer, it is design ed to stop im m ediately an d
will attem pt to reopen . If th e n ature of th e obstruction
preven ts th is also, it will stop wh ere it is an d wait for your
in terven tion , displayin g STOPPED! to in dicate th e problem .
After rem ovin g th e obstruction , press th e stop/drawer button
again to close th e drawer.
9. HDCD® indicator
Th is LED will illum in ate wh en th e Nº390S is playin g HDCD-
en coded m aterial, wh eth er from th e CD tran sport or from an
extern al digital source.
10. mode – and mode + buttons
Using these two buttons in conjunction with the mode button,
an y of four differen t Nº390S fun ction s can be con trolled from
th e fron t pan el:
•
•
•
•
*
PROGRAM (for creatin g custom play lists)
INPUTS (for selectin g a digital source)
TIMES (for selectin g a tim e in dication )
VOLUME* (for con trollin g th e volum e of th e Nº390S*)
(Note th at th e volume con trol is on ly m ade available if
th e Nº390S’s variable output m ode is en gaged; see Special
Functions for m ore in form ation .)
Any of these four m odes (three m odes if using the fixed output)
m ay be accessed by repeatedly pressin g th e mode button ,
th ereby cyclin g th rough th e option s.
On ce a particular m ode is ch osen , pressin g th e mode + an d
mode – button s “in creases” or “decreases” th at particular
fun ction . For exam ple, mode + would eith er: add a track to a
play list; select th e n ext digital in put; advan ce to th e n ext
tim e in dication ; or raise th e volum e.
Alon g with mode + an d mode –, th e mode button is also used
to ch an ge th e option settin gs. (See Special Functions.)
20
For detailed in form ation on program m in g th e Nº390S, see
Programming the Nº390S later in th is m an ual.
11. disc repeat LED
Th is LED is lit wh en th e Nº390S is set to repeat a disc (or a
disc’s program , if it h as on e) en dlessly. Th is feature is accessed
usin g th e repeat button (see n um ber 7, page 19).
12. prev/rew button
Pressin g th is button momentarily will return you to th e begin -
n in g of th e previous track. Pressing and holding th is button will
in stead perform a reverse scan of th e m usic, rem in iscen t of
th e rew ind fun ction foun d on m an y tape decks. Th is scan n in g
m ode m ay be eith er audible or silen t (accordin g to your
ch oice in th e setup: sound m en u; see Special Functions), an d it
allows you to quickly fin d a particular poin t with in a track.
(In ciden tally, if you wish to listen to th e current track over
again from th e begin n in g, sim ply press play wh ile th e track is
playin g.)
13. track repeat LED
Th is LED is lit wh en th e Nº390S is set to repeat a sin gle track
en dlessly. Th is feature is accessed usin g th e repeat button (see
n um ber 7, page 19).
14. next/f.fw d button
Pressin g th is button momentarily will advan ce th e Nº390S to
th e begin n in g of th e next track. Pressing and holding th is
button will in stead perform a fast forward scan of th e m usic,
rem in iscen t of th e fast forw ard fun ction foun d on m an y tape
decks. Th is scan n in g m ode m ay be eith er audible or silen t
(accordin g to your ch oice in th e setup: sound m en u; see
Special Functions), an d it allows you to quickly fin d a particular
poin t with in a track.
15. stop/draw er
Pressin g th is button on ce wh ile a disc is playin g will stop th e
disc, resultin g in th e total n um ber of tracks an d th e total tim e
on th e disc bein g displayed. (Both th e time on disc an d th e
time remaining LEDs are lit to clarify th e m ean in g of th e
in form ation bein g displayed at th is poin t.) Pressin g th is button
once the disc has stopped, or if there is no disc in the transport,
will cause th e draw er to open .
Pressin g th e stop/draw er button will cause an open drawer to
close. If it sen ses a disc in th e drawer, th e Nº390S will con firm
its in tern al con version rate on th e display (24-bit, 352kHz)
an d th en read th e disc’s table of con ten ts so th at it m ay
display th e total n um ber of tracks an d th e total tim e on th e
disc for your in form ation . If a custom play list exists for th e
disc, th e total n um ber of tracks an d th e total tim e of th e play
list is displayed in stead.
21
16. time on disc and time remaining LED indicators
Th ese LEDs are used to in dicate wh ich of th e four available
display m odes th e Nº390S is in . Th e four in dication s of tim e
th at can be displayed are:
•
•
•
•
time elapsed in track (n eith er LED lit)
time elapsed on disc (time on disc LED lit)
time remaining on track (time remaining LED lit)
time remaining on disc (time on disc and time remaining
LEDs lit)
Th ese four option s are accessed by selectin g th e TIMES m ode
(usin g th e mode button ) an d repeatedly pressin g th e mode +
or mode – button s, wh ich cycle forward or backward th rough
th e four m odes, respectively.
17. play button
As you m igh t guess, press th is button in order to play a disc. If
a program m ed sequen ce of tracks exists for th at particular
disc, th e program will be played from its begin n in g. Also, as
you m igh t expect, you m ay press th e play button im m ediately
after placin g a disc in th e Nº390S’s drawer; th e drawer will
close an d th e Nº390S will en ter th e play m ode as soon as it
h as con firm ed its in tern al con version rate (24-bit, 352kHz),
h as read th e disc’s table of con ten ts an d ch ecked to see if a
program exists th at ough t to be played.
Th e play button h as an oth er im portan t fun ction : if you wish
to return to th e begin n in g of th e track curren tly playin g,
sim ply press play to restart at th e begin n in g of th at sam e
track. If th e Nº390S is in pause, pressin g play will re-cue th e
disc at th e begin n in g of th e curren t track.
18. pause button
Pressin g th is button on ce durin g play will pause th e Nº390S
at th at poin t with in th e track; th e display will sh ow double
bars (ꢀ) as a rem in der th at you are in th e pause m ode.
Pressin g th e pause button a secon d tim e will resum e play.
The Extended Pause Mode
After two m in utes in pause, th e Nº390S will go in to an
“exten ded pause” m ode. Extended pause stops th e disc an d
turn s off th e laser again st th e possibility th at you h ave been
called away an d m ay n ot return for som e tim e. Th e Nº390S
will slowly flash th e double bars (ꢀ) to in dicate th at you are
in th e extended pause m ode rath er th an n orm al pause.
22
You m ay force th e Nº390S in to extended pause m ode by
pressing and holding th e pause button (on eith er th e fron t
pan el or th e rem ote con trol) un til th e double bars begin to
blin k.
In effect, extended pause is m uch like stop, with th e
exception th at pressin g pause will return you to th e poin t on
th e disc wh ere you h ad left off listen in g after on ly a
m om en tary h esitation to spin th e disc back up to speed an d
scan to th e appropriate poin t.
19. Standby & Standby LED
Assum in g th at th e Nº390S is con n ected to AC power an d th e
main pow er switch on th e rear pan el is in th e “|” position (see
Rear Panel, Nº390S), pressin g th is button takes th e Nº390S out
of standby m ode an d en ables th e fron t-pan el con trols.
Wh en th e Nº390S’s main pow er switch is first turn ed on (or
wh en power is restored after an in terruption ), th e Nº390S will
go th rough a brief in itialization an d th en be ready to operate
(th at is, it won ’t be in stan dby m ode).
Pressin g stan dby again places th e Nº390S in to standby m ode,
wh ich turn s th e display off, turn s off all digital outputs, an d
disables th e fron t-pan el con trols. Th e in tern al circuitry
rem ain s powered up in order to m ain tain its th erm al stability
an d optim um perform an ce at all tim es.
Pressin g standby, draw er, or play will brin g th e Nº390S out of
stan dby, en ablin g th e fron t pan el con trols, an d activatin g th e
display an d outputs.
Wh ile th e Nº390S is in standby, th e LED above th e stan dby
button flash es approxim ately every five secon ds. (Wh en th e
Nº390S is Lin ked to oth er Mark Levin son com pon en ts, all
th eir stan dby ligh ts will blin k in un ison .) Wh en th e Nº390S is
ready to operate (th at is, wh en it is n ot in stan dby m ode), th is
LED rem ain s lit con tin uously.
23
Sleep Timer
As sh ipped from th e factory, th e Nº390S will rem ain on un til
you deliberately place it in stan dby. If you prefer for it to
autom atically en ter stan dby after a particular period of tim e,
press an d h old th e standby button un til th e display reads
MANUAL. Pressin g th e next/f.fw d button will advan ce it in
on e m in ute in crem en ts to a m axim um of 120 minutes.
Pressin g th e prev/rew button will decrease th e sleep tim er by
on e m in ute in crem en ts. Reducin g th e tim er settin g below 1
minute will return it to n orm al, MANUAL operation .
Th ese option s represen t th e len gth of tim e th e Nº390S before
it will autom atically go in to stan dby. Havin g m ade your
selection , sim ply allow th e Nº390S to tim e out (wh en th e
display reverts to its n orm al operation , in dicatin g disc
in form ation ). You m ay ch an ge your Nº390S back to m an ual
stan dby m ode before it en ters stan dby by reversin g th is
process.
Th e sleep tim er will autom atically reset itself to MANUAL after
h avin g been activated. In th is fash ion , you can set it an d forget
it with out h avin g a subsequen t listen in g session in terrupted
un expectedly.
Rear Panel, Nº390S
1. AC pow er input and sw itch
Th is in put accepts AC power from th e AC m ain s (via th e sup-
plied AC cable).
Warning!
The Nº390S is set internally for 100, 120, 200, 220, or 240VAC
mains operation at either 50 or 60Hz. Make sure that the label
on the bottom of the unit indicates the correct AC operating
voltage and frequency for your location before connecting it to
AC mains.
24
Con n ect th e fem ale en d of th is cable to th e Nº390S. Con n ect th e
m ale en d of th is cable to wall outlet or to an “un switch ed”
con ven ien ce outlet like th ose foun d on som e audio com pon en ts.
AC Power Cord Polarity
Turn on th e power by pressin g th e top of th e power switch above
th e power cord receptacle (it h as a solid vertical lin e to in dicate
“on ”: |).
Caution:
Do not sw itch pow er off and on rapidly, as this interrupts the
normal pow er-up sequence. We advise w aiting at least five
seconds betw een pow er cycles.
2. Digital Outputs
Th ese outputs provide digital audio signal (DAS) via cables
equipped with eith er XLR-type or RCA-type con n ectors to a
digital audio processor.
Th e XLR output con form s to th e Audio En gin eerin g Society/
European Broadcast Un ion (AES/EBU) profession al digital
audio stan dard, wh ich calls for a 110Ω tran sm ission of th e
DAS. Use a digital in tercon n ectin g cable specifically design ed
for th e 110Ω AES/EBU stan dard when using this input, with
pin assignm ents as indicated below:
Pin 1: Sign al groun d
Pin 2: Sign al + (n on -in vertin g)
Pin 3: Sign al – (in vertin g)
Con n ector groun d lug: ch assis groun d
25
It h as been Mark Levin son ’s experien ce th at th e AES/EBU
in tercon n ection stan dard offers th e best quality of all digital
tran sm ission in terfaces wh en fully optim ized, an d we
recom m en d its use wh erever possible between Mark Levin son
com pon en ts.
However, optim izin g an y electrical digital in terface com pletely
represen ts a sign ifican t en gin eerin g ch allen ge. It is en tirely
possible th at a differen t type of in put m ay actually outperform
a less-th an optim ized AES/EBU im plem en tation on som e
bran ds of digital com pon en ts. For th is reason , we h ave gon e
to great len gth s to fully optim ize both of th e digital outputs
on th e Nº390S. If you are usin g your Nº390S with a differen t
brand of processor, we recom m end experim enting to determ ine
wh ich type of in put on th at com pon en t results in th e best
audible perform an ce.
Th e RCA output provides digital audio signal (DAS) via cables
equipped with RCA-type con n ectors to th e digital processor. It
con form s to th e Son y/Ph illips Digital In terface Stan dard
(S/PDIF), wh ich calls for a 75Ω tran sm ission of th e DAS. Use a
digital in tercon n ectin g cable specifically design ed for th e 75Ω
S/PDIF stan dard wh en usin g th is output.
3. digital inputs
Th ese in puts accept digital audio signal (DAS) via cables
equipped with eith er EIAJ optical or RCA (S/PDIF) coaxial
con n ectors from digital sources such as a com pact disc
tran sport, laser disc tran sport, digital audio tape tran sport, or
digital broadcast receiver.
Th e EIAJ in put accepts digital audio signal (DAS) via optical
cable equipped with th e EIAJ optical con n ector (som etim es
called “Toslin k™”) from digital sources such as a com pact disc
tran sport, laser disc tran sport, digital audio tape tran sport, or
digital broadcast receiver.
Th e RCA in put accepts digital audio signal (DAS) via cables
equipped with RCA-type con n ectors from digital sources such
as a com pact disc tran sport, laser disc tran sport, digital audio
tape tran sport, or digital broadcast receiver.
Th e RCA in put con form s to th e Son y/Ph illips Digital In terface
Stan dard (S/PDIF), wh ich calls for a 75Ω tran sm ission of th e
DAS. Use a digital in tercon n ectin g cable specifically design ed
for th e 75Ω S/PDIF stan dard wh en usin g th is in put.
4. balanced analog outputs
These outputs norm ally provide balanced line-level analog audio
(via cables equipped with XLR-type connectors) to a preamplifier,
in tegrated am plifier, or receiver equipped with balan ced in puts
(see “Setup and Installation”). Th e pin assign m en ts used are
AES-stan dard, as sh own below:
26
Pin 1: Sign al groun d
Pin 2: Sign al + (n on -in vertin g)
Pin 3: Sign al – (in vertin g)
Con n ector groun d lug: ch assis groun d
Alternatively, you m ay elect to use the variable output capability
of th e Nº390S as a volum e con trol, drivin g th e power am plifier
in your system directly. For a digital-on ly system , th e Nº390S
is an excellen t pream plifier.
Sin ce m an y people h ave at least on e an alog source, th ey will
be better off h avin g a full pream plifier to coordin ate th e
operation of th e en tire system —digital an d an alog. In th is
case, you would leave th e Nº390S in its factory-default settin g
of h avin g a fixed (lin e level) output.
5. single-ended analog outputs
Th ese outputs provide sin gle-en ded lin e-level an alog audio
(via cables equipped with RCA-type connectors) to a preamplifier,
in tegrated am plifier, or receiver.
Alternatively, you m ay elect to use the variable output capability
of th e Nº390S as a volum e con trol, drivin g th e power am plifier
in your system directly. Of course, th is approach is on ly
appropriate in relatively sim ple system s lackin g an y an alog
sources.
Sin ce m an y people h ave at least on e an alog source, th ey will
be better off h avin g a full pream plifier to coordin ate th e
operation of th e en tire system —digital an d an alog. In th is
case, you would leave th e Nº390S in its factory-default settin g
of h avin g a fixed (lin e level) output.
6. external IR input
Th e Nº390S in corporates an in frared repeater in put to facilitate
a wide ran ge of in stallation option s. If desired, th e Nº390S
m ay be placed in side a cabin et or outside th e n orm al lin e-of-
sigh t in th e listen in g area, with th e con trollin g IR sign al bein g
relayed to th e Nº390S by an y of a n um ber of com m ercially-
available IR repeaters.
27
Th e specification s for th is IR in put call for a triggerin g voltage
of 5-12 volts at n o m ore th an 100 m illiam peres of curren t,
with th e tip of th e 1⁄8" m in i-plug h avin g positive polarity, as
below:
IR Input Tip Polarity
If you would like m ore in form ation on th e possibility of usin g an
in frared repeater with your Nº390S, please con tact your Mark
Levin son dealer.
7. communication ports
Th ese com m un ication s ports allow th e Nº390S to “lin k” to
certain com patible Mark Levin son com pon en ts. (See “Special
Functions.”)
Linking Connections
The Mark Levinson Linking system provides for inter-component
com m un ication s. Norm ally, th e digital processor in th e system
would serve as th e “m aster” of th is com m un ication s system ,
wh ile oth er com pon en ts in cludin g th e tran sport would be
“slaves” to th at m aster. (Th e m aster acts as a cen tral clearin g-
h ouse for th at in form ation —sort of like th e Post Office, but
quite a bit faster.) Sin ce th e Nº390S is both a digital tran sport
an d a digital processor in on e com pon en t, it autom atically
configures itself as either a m aster or a slave, based on the needs
of th e rest of th e system . (Tech n ically, if th e Nº390S sen ses
an oth er m aster on th e com m un ication s bus, it autom atically
con figures itself as a slave.)
Th e m ost com m on con figuration for system s in corporatin g
th e Nº390S is illustrated at left. Th e Nº390S’s master out port
n orm ally sits at th e begin n in g of th e ch ain , an d is con n ected
to th e slave port of a Mark Levin son pream plifier usin g a
“straigh t-th rough ” eigh t con ductor m odular cable. Th e
pream plifier, in turn , serves as th e “m aster” for th e power
am plifier(s) with wh ich it is used. (See diagram at left for
clarification.)
28
Altern atively, if you elect to use th e variable output feature of
th e Nº390S to drive a power am plifier directly, it m ay serve as
th e power am plifier’s “m aster” usin g a special eigh t-to-six
con ductor Lin k cable described below. Usin g th is cable
autom atically con figures th e Nº390S as th ough it were a Mark
Levin son pream plifier in order to con trol th e Mark Levin son
power am plifier. (See diagram at left for clarification.)
Fin ally, if at som e poin t you en d up usin g your Nº390S as a
tran sport in con jun ction with a separate Mark Levin son digital
processor, sim ply in sert it between th e processor an d th e
pream plifier (connecting the processor’s master port to the
Nº390S’s slave in port, and the Nº390S’s slave out port to the
preamplifier’s slave port) to keep th e daisy ch ain goin g. Sen sin g
an oth er “m aster” on th e com m un ication s bus, th e Nº390S will
autom atically con figure itself as a slave to th at m aster (h en ce
th e master/slave out n om en clature on th e rear pan el jack).
(See illustration on page 24 for clarification.)
Important:
If a compatible Mark Levinson preamplifier (i.e., the Nº380 or
Nº380S) is Linked, it must be the last of the line-level components
in the daisy chain. (Technically, it serves to terminate the
communications bus used by the source components.)
Electrically, th e Lin k con n ection between th e pream plifier an d
th e power am plifier(s) in th e system is in depen den t of an d
distin ct from th e com m un ication s Lin ks between various
source com pon en ts an d th e pream plifier. Th e reason for th is is
sim ple: th e power am plifiers, lackin g an y m icroprocessor of
their own, are dependent on the intelligence of the pream plifier
for th eir Lin ked fun ction ality. Th is rem ain s true even wh en
you em ploy th e Nº390S as your “pream plifier.”
Th e m odular cable n eeded for th e Lin k con n ection between
th e Nº390S an d oth er Lin k com pon en ts m ay be purch ased
from your Mark Levin son dealer. It m ay also be easily m ade to
len gth usin g two m odular con n ectors an d th e appropriate
len gth (up to 100 feet/30 m eters) of flat, eigh t con ductor
cable.
Modular cables an d con n ectors are used th rough out th e world
for both telecom m un ication s an d com puters, an d are widely
available. Th e con n ectors are crim ped on to th e en ds of th e
cable such th at pin 1 at on e en d is con n ected to pin 1 at th e
oth er en d. Such a “straigh t-th rough ” con n ection is m ade
(coun ter-in tuitively) by in troducin g a 180° twist in th e cable
between th e two en ds, as sh own below.
Standard Link Cables
29
A differen t Lin k cable con figuration is used wh en con n ectin g
the Nº390S to a power am plifier as though it were a pream plifier.
It uses six-con ductor cable (rath er th an eigh t), with a six-
con ductor m odular plug at on e en d an d an eigh t-con ductor
m odular con n ector at th e oth er en d (usin g pin s 1 th rough 6
of th e latter), as sh own below:
Amplifier Link Cables
(Note th at th e pin s are n um bered 1 th rough 8 from left to righ t
wh en th e lockin g tab is down an d th e m etal con tacts are poin tin g
away from you.)
Remote Control, Nº390S
1. IR Transmitter w indow
Th e Nº390S’s Rem ote Con trol sen ds in frared (IR) com m an ds
th rough its projection len s, an d th e Nº390S receives IR
com m an ds th rough its Rem ote sen sor win dow. (See “Front
Panel, Nº390S”). If eith er of th ese len ses is obstructed, n o IR
com m an ds can be received by th e Nº390S. If you n otice IR
perform an ce deterioratin g, you m ay wan t to clean th ese len ses
with a soft cloth an d som e glass clean er. (Spray th e clean er on
th e cloth first, an d th en wipe th e len s with th e m oisten ed
cloth . Do n ot spray th e clean er directly on eith er len s, as th is
m ay allow m oisture to m igrate in to th e electron ics beh in d th e
len s assem blies.)
2. Transport Buttons
Th e button s used for routin e operation of tran sport fun ction s
on th e Nº390S are grouped at th e top of th e rem ote con trol.
Th ey in clude:
•
rew ( )
Wh en clicked, th is will take you to th e begin n in g of th e
previous track. ( is th e in tern ation al sym bol for previous).
Wh en pressed and held (den oted by th e bold dot •), th e
Nº390S will en ter a reverse scan n in g m ode sim ilar to th e
fam iliar rewind fun ction of m an y tape decks, allowin g a
precise location with in a track to be foun d. Th is scan m ay
be silen t or audible, depen din g on your setup: sound
preferen ces. (See Special Functions.)
30
•
f.fw d ( )
Wh en clicked, th is will take you to th e begin n in g of th e
next track. ( is th e in tern ation al sym bol for next). Wh en
pressed and held (den oted by th e bold dot •), th e Nº390S
will en ter a fast forward scan n in g m ode sim ilar to th e
fam iliar fast forward fun ction of m an y tape decks, allowin g
a precise location with in a track to be foun d. Th is scan
m ay be silen t or audible, depen din g on your setup: sound
preferen ces. (See Special Functions.)
•
play ( )
Press to en ter th e play m ode from eith er stop or standby,
or to restart play at th e begin n in g of th e track curren tly
playin g. If th ere is n o disc in side th e Nº390S, pressin g play
will open th e drawer so you m ay add a disc.
•
•
stop/dw r (ꢁ)
Press to stop play. The sam e button will operate the drawer
if stoppin g th e disc h as n o relevan ce (e.g., if it is already
stopped, or if th ere is n o disc in side th e Nº390S).
pause (ꢀ)
Press to pause play in th e curren t location . If left in pause
m ode for m ore th an two m in utes, th e Nº390S will en ter
extended pause m ode, sh uttin g down both th e laser an d
th e drive m otors to en h an ce lon gevity an d reliability.
Upon pressin g pause a secon d tim e, th e disc will spin up
an d begin playin g from th e location wh ere it h ad been
paused.
3. A/B repeat button
Th e Nº390S m ay be set to repeat an y con tiguous segm en t of a
disc. Press on ce to establish a begin n in g poin t (poin t A) for an
en dless playback loop. Th e display will flash th e letter B to
in dicate th at it is ready to accept your design ated en din g
poin t (poin t B). (Note th at A m ust precede B on th e disc.)
On ce th is h as been don e, th e Nº390S will repeat th e segm en t
of th e disc between poin ts A an d B un til you press stop or A-B
again .
31
4. mode buttons
Usin g th ese th ree button s, eith er of two Nº390S fun ction s can
be con trolled from th e rem ote con trol:
•
•
PROGRAM (for creatin g custom play lists)
TIMES (for selectin g a tim e in dication )
Eith er of th ese m odes m ay be accessed by repeatedly pressin g
th e mode button , th ereby togglin g back an d forth between
th e option s.
On ce a particular m ode is ch osen , pressin g th e mode + an d
mode – button s “in creases” or “decreases” th at particular
fun ction . For exam ple, mode + would eith er: add a track to a
play list; or advan ce to th e n ext tim e in dication .
Alon g with mode + an d mode –, th e mode button is also used
to ch an ge th e option settin gs. (See Special Functions.)
For detailed in form ation on program m in g th e Nº390S, see
Programming the Nº390S later in th is m an ual.
5. Numeric Keypad
Th e n um bers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, an d 9 m ay be used to
directly access in dividual track n um bers of discs played by th e
Nº390S. For exam ple, to go directly to track 13, press 1
followed by 3, an d th en press play. You do n ot h ave to add a
0 before a sin gle-digit track n um ber: 7, followed by play, will
take you directly to track n um ber 7. (In fact, if th e Nº390S is
already in play, sim ply pressin g th e n um ber button will be
sufficien t.)
Th e Nº390S displays a certain am oun t of in telligen ce with
respect to direct track access. If th e first n um ber en tered
iden tifies a particular track un am biguously (such as 2 on a
12-track disc), th e Nº390S is “sm art” en ough to im m ediately
m ove to th at track. If th e first n um ber en tered could be th e
first of two digits (such as 1 on a 12-track disc), th e Nº390S
will wait for a m om en t to determ in e wh eth er you wish to
en ter a secon d n um ber. If n ot, it will th en go to th e sin gle-
digit track you selected.
Random Play
In ciden tally, if you press 0 followed by play, th e Nº390S will
en ter a random play m ode in wh ich th e order of th e curren t
disc’s play list is scram bled, and then played. The first character
of th e display (th at sh ows a P wh en playin g a custom program )
will sh ow R to in dicate random play. Moreover, placin g th e
Nº390S in to random play m ode wh ile th e disc repeat fun ction
is en gaged will cause it to play th e various tracks on th e disc
ran dom ly in defin itely (un til you stop it). Th is can be a great
way to provide backgroun d m usic durin g a din n er party, for
exam ple.
32
Th ese n um bers m ay also be used in con jun ction with oth er
features, such as program m in g an d direct access by tim e. For
exam ple, wh en in th e stop m ode, you m ay press 5 an d press
th e positive com m an d for program – (see Special Commands
table, page 55) to delete track 5 from your play list. In th is case,
th e Nº390S would play th at particular disc n orm ally, except
th at it would autom atically skip from track 4 to track 6.
Selectin g a particular track does n ot affect th e operatin g m ode.
Th at is to say, pressin g 7 wh ile in play begin s playin g track 7;
pressin g 4 wh ile in pause leaves you paused at th e begin n in g
of track 4.
6. Other Operational Buttons
•
time
Pressin g th is button (followed by appropriate n um bers
from th e n um eric keypad) allows direct access to an y
particular tim e on a disc. Note th at th is is a con text-sen si-
tive con trol—th e tim e accessed will be accordin g to th e
curren tly selected tim e display m ode, e.g., 30:00 with th e
time remaining an d time on disc LEDs lit will take you to
th at poin t wh ere th irty m in utes rem ain s to th e en d of th e
disc.
•
polarity
Pressin g th is button on th e Nº390S rem ote con trol will
tran sparen tly an d autom atically in vert th e polarity of both
ch an n els. Som e recordin gs soun d better with on e polarity
th an th e oth er; on m an y, th e differen ce is subtle. In an y
case, th e best place to judge th e better polarity for an y
given recordin g is from th e listen in g position (h en ce th e
placem en t of th is feature on th e rem ote con trol).
•
•
rpt disc/trk
Press on ce to en ter disc repeat m ode (repeatin g th e en tire
disc, or an en tire play list if on e is en tered). Th is action
will illum in ate th e disc repeat LED. Press a secon d tim e to
en ter th e track repeat m ode (repeatin g a sin gle track ad
n auseam ). A th ird press will cycle you back to n orm al
operation , as will pressin g stop.
33
mute
Pressin g th is button will en gage th e mute fun ction of a
com patible Mark Levin son pream plifier with out stoppin g
th e tran sport. Pressin g it a secon d tim e will restore th e
volum e to its previous settin g. Sin ce th is fun ction depen ds
on th e ability of th e Nº390S to pass th e in struction to th e
Nº380 (for exam ple), th e two com pon en ts m ust be
con n ected by a Lin k cable, an d operate with in a system
wh ich h as a “m aster” digital processor. (See Special
Functions for m ore in form ation .) If you are usin g th e
Nº390S’s pream p (variable output) feature, th e Nº390S will
en gage its own m ute circuitry in stead.
•
intensity/ꢁstandby
Pressin g th is button m om en tarily cycles th e Nº390S (an d
an y Lin ked Mark Levin son com pon en ts) th rough th eir
four levels of display intensity (brigh t, m edium , dim , off).
Wh en pressed an d h eld (den oted by th e bold dot •), th is
button will place th e Nº390S in to standby. Wh en pressed
an d released, th is button will take th e Nº390S out of
stan dby.
•
•
•
(+) volume
Pressin g th is button on th e Nº390S rem ote con trol will
tran sparen tly an d autom atically raise th e volum e of a
Lin ked Mark Levin son pream plifier, m in im izin g th e n eed
to juggle m ultiple rem otes. Sin ce th is fun ction depen ds on
th e ability of th e Nº390S to pass th e in struction to th e
Nº380 (for exam ple), th e two com pon en ts m ust be
con n ected by a Lin k cable. (See Special Functions for m ore
in form ation .) Altern atively, th e Nº390S m ay be con figured
to use its own, internal volum e control in all-digital system s
lackin g a pream plifier. (See Setup Options.)
(–) volume
Pressin g th is button on th e Nº390S rem ote con trol will
tran sparen tly an d autom atically lower th e volum e of a
Lin ked Mark Levin son pream plifier, m in im izin g th e n eed
to juggle m ultiple rem otes. Sin ce th is fun ction depen ds on
th e ability of th e Nº390S to pass th e in struction to th e
Nº380 (for exam ple), th e two com pon en ts m ust be
con n ected by a Lin k cable. (See Special Functions for m ore
in form ation .) Altern atively, th e Nº390S m ay be con figured
to use its own, internal volum e control in all-digital system s
lackin g a pream plifier. (See Setup Options.)
input select
34
Pressin g th is button on th e Nº390S rem ote con trol will
tran sparen tly an d autom atically cycle th rough its various
active digital in puts, allowin g you to select oth er digital
sources con n ected to th e Nº390S.
Analog Input Switching
Altern atively, you m ay force th e input select button to
select from am on g your an alog in puts on a Lin ked Mark
Levin son pream plifier by pressin g an d h oldin g th e button
un til it sh ows DIGITAL, th en clickin g th e button to ch an ge
it to ANALOG, an d th en pressin g an d h oldin g th e input
select button a secon d tim e to con firm your ch an ge. (You
m ay change it back at any tim e by reversing this procedure.)
7. Battery Compartment
Th e two AA batteries used by th e Rem ote Con trol m ust be
placed in side th e com partm en t at th e bottom of th e rem ote’s
h ousin g. Usin g th e h ex wren ch provided in your accessory kit
(look in side th e slot with in th e foam rubber), carefully rem ove
th e two screws on th e bottom of th e h ousin g an d in sert th e
batteries, bein g careful to orien t th em as in dicated in side th e
battery com partm en t. Th en replace th e screws usin g th e h ex
wren ch .
Conditions that Affect
IR Performance
IR com m un ication between th e Rem ote Con trol an d th e Nº390S
can be affected by:
•
•
•
•
direct sun ligh t
in terior ligh tin g
wall, win dow, ceilin g, an d floor treatm en ts
th e an gle of th e Rem ote Con trol relative to th e Nº390S
If th e Nº390S will be subject to direct sun ligh t, place it n o m ore
th an 10 feet from wh ere you’ll n orm ally operate th e Rem ote
Con trol. Wh ere brigh t sun ligh t virtually floods th e room , IR
com m un ication m ay be in con sisten t.
In a room ligh ted prim arily with in can descen t fixtures, place th e
Nº390S no m ore than 25-30 feet from where you’ll norm ally operate
th e Rem ote Con trol. In a room with fluorescen t fixtures, th is
ran ge will be reduced. Wh ere brigh t fluorescen t ligh tin g virtually
floods th e room , IR com m un ication m ay be in con sisten t.
IR, like visible ligh t, reacts differen tly wh en it m eets differen t
surfaces. Carpetin g an d draperies, for exam ple, ten d to diffuse
(scatter) IR an d in terfere with its tran sm ission . Glossy or reflective
surfaces, such as m irrors an d sm ooth walls, “boun ce” (reflect) IR
an d won ’t in terfere with its tran sm ission . Wh en placin g th e
Nº390S, it’s im portan t to accoun t for poten tial IR boun ce an d dif-
fusion . For exam ple, in a room with th ick carpetin g, h eavy
draperies, an d m an y pieces of furn iture, you m ay n eed to place
th e Nº390S closer to wh ere you’ll n orm ally operate th e Rem ote
Con trol th an you would in a sparsely furn ish ed room with bare
walls an d h ardwood floorin g.
35
Optimum IR Reception
Window
If possible, in stall th e Nº390S directly opposite from wh ere you’ll
n orm ally operate th e Rem ote Con trol. In practice, th e Rem ote
Con trol will operate th e Nº390S at up to 30 degrees to eith er side
of th is direct lin e. To eith er side of th is lin e, successful IR
com m un ication will depen d on boun ce an d am bien t ligh tin g.
(Please refer to the diagram at the left).
If th e requirem en ts of your in stallation preclude a clean lin e of
sigh t between th e Nº390S an d your listen in g position , you m ay
wan t to con sider usin g an in frared repeater to route th e rem ote
con trol’s com m an ds directly to th e Nº390S, usin g th e extern al ir
in put on th e rear pan el. (See item #6 in Rear Panel, Nº390S.) Please
ask your dealer for m ore in form ation on th ird-party IR repeaters.
Setup and Installation
Caution!
For your protection, review “Important Safety Instructions”
before you install your Nº390S.
Connecting AC Mains
Plug th e fem ale en d of th e AC power cord in to th e appropriate
socket on th e rear pan el of th e Nº390S, bein g certain to seat it
firm ly, all th e way in to th e receptacle.
Double-ch eck to m ake sure th at th e AC power switch is in th e off
position (th e side of th e switch with an “O” sh ould be depressed),
an d also th at th e voltage in dicated on your Nº390S correspon ds to
th e n orm al voltage for your coun try. (Con n ectin g a 120-volt
Nº390S to a 220-volt AC outlet is not a good idea.)
Plug th e m ale en d of th e power cord in to th e wall outlet, an d
th en turn on th e power switch located on th e rear pan el of th e
Nº390S (by depressin g th e side of th e switch th at h as a sin gle
vertical lin e like th is: “|”).
Connecting Digital
Audio Sources
Th e Nº390S in corporates EIAJ optical an d RCA digital in put
con n ectors for up to two addition al digital sources. (See Rear
panel, Nº390S.)
36
For optical digital in tercon n ection , we recom m en d th e use of
better quality optical EIAJ cable. Your dealer can h elp you select
an appropriate cable for your system .
Usin g appropriate cables, con n ect an output of each addition al
source (laser disc, digital tape, etc.) to th e appropriate in put on
your Nº390S.
Connecting the Digital
Audio Outputs
Th e Nº390S in corporates AES/EBU an d S/PDIF electrical output
con n ectors for use with eith er digital recorders or with outboard
digital processors. (See Rear panel, Nº390S.)
Usin g appropriate cables, con n ect th e appropriate outputs on your
Nº390S to your extern al digital com pon en ts.
Making Link
Connections
Th e Nº390S in corporates soph isticated in ter-com pon en t
com m un ication s capabilities wh en Lin ked to com patible Mark
Levin son com pon en ts. (See “Com m un ication Ports” in Rear panel,
Nº390S.) If you own com patible Mark Levin son com pon en ts,
con n ect th em to th e Nº390S with an eigh t-con ductor m odular
cable as described on p. 25. You m ay fin d th at you n eed to cycle
power off an d on on ce after m akin g th is con n ection for th e first
tim e (if m akin g th e con n ection to a previously operatin g
com pon en t), in order to en sure th at all com pon en ts in th e ch ain
are aware of each oth er’s presen ce. En gagin g PLAY on th e tran sport
on ce from STOP will com plete th e Lin k con n ection by activatin g
th e com m un ication s bus between th e com pon en ts. (When using a
preamplifier, you must also name the appropriate input “No390S” as
described in the preamp’s manual in order to complete the Link.)
To h elp with special in stallation s an d custom cabin etry, drawin gs
are in cluded in th is m an ual. (See Dimensions).
37
Connecting Analog
Outputs
Th e Nº390S provides both balan ced (via XLRs) an d sin gle-en ded
an alog outputs. Eith er set of outputs m ay be con n ected eith er to a
pream plifier or (with th e variable output feature en gaged) directly
to a power am plifier. It h as been our experien ce th at balan ced
in tercon n ection provides superior perform an ce, particularly if
lon g run s of cable are required.
Usin g appropriate cables, con n ect th e appropriate outputs on your
Nº390S to your pream plifier or power am plifier.
Basic Operation
Before operatin g your Nº390S, take a m in ute to becom e fam iliar
with its con trols an d th eir location s. (See “Front Panel, Nº390S”
an d “Remote Control, Nº390S.”)
Loading a CD
To load a CD:
1. Make sure that the main power switch is set to the “|” position.
2. Press stop/draw er to open th e drawer.
3. Place a CD in to th e recess of th e drawer, label side up. Han dle
th e CD by th e outer edges an d cen ter h ole on ly.
4. Press stop/draw er.
Note: If you h ave previously saved a program for th e CD, th e letter
P will appear precedin g th e track n um ber on th e display. (See
“Programming the Nº390S.”)
To override a previously saved program, briefly press mode – once while
in program mode. All of the CD’s tracks will be accessible for basic
operation, but the program will still be retained in the Nº390S’s memory.
38
Playing a CD
To play all tracks on th e CD, press th e play button . All tracks will
play in order. Play will stop autom atically at th e en d of th e CD.
To begin play with a track oth er th an th e first track:
1. Before pressin g play, press next un til th e n um ber of th e
desired track sh ows on th e Display. If you pass th e track you
wan t to play, you can “back up” by pressin g previous. (You
m ay also select th e track usin g th e n um bered button s on th e
Rem ote Con trol.)
2. Press play to begin playing that track. The rem aining tracks will
play in order. Play will stop autom atically at the end of the CD.
To return to th e begin n in g of a track wh ile it is playin g, press
play. Play will be suspen ded briefly, th en th at track will replay
followed by th e rem ain in g tracks on th e CD.
Random Play
Usin g th e Rem ote Con trol, you m ay h ave th e Nº390S play tracks
at ran dom . To do th is, press th e 0 (zero) n um bered key, th en press
play. Th e display will sh ow RANDOM briefly to in dicate th at you
h ave en tered th e ran dom -play m ode. Subsequen tly, th e letter R
will appear precedin g th e track n um ber in th e display as a
rem in der. To can cel ran dom play, press stop.
Navigating the Disc
You m ay skip to an oth er track an y tim e wh ile a CD is playin g. To
m ove to an oth er track, press next (to go forward) or previous (to
go backward) un til th e n um ber of th e track you wan t to play
sh ows on th e Display. (You m ay also select th e track usin g th e
n um bered button s on th e Rem ote Con trol.) Play will resum e as
soon as th e pickup reach es th at track.
You m ay search for a particular passage on th e CD usin g fast
forward an d rewind, by pressing and holding th e next an d previous
button s (respectively).
Use th e reduced-volum e audible scan available durin g th ese
m odes to search th e CD un til th e laser pickup reach es th e passage
you wan t to h ear. (Assuming your CD player is set for audible rather
than silent scanning. If not, see Special Fun ction s.)
As soon as you release th e button , play resum es.
If you search past th e begin n in g or en d of a track, th e laser pickup
will m ove on to th e previous (or n ext) track. If you try to search
forward past th e en d of a CD or program , th e laser pickup will
stop at th e en d of th e last track. If you try to search backward past
th e begin n in g of a CD or program , th e laser pickup will stop at
th e begin n in g of th e first track of th e disc (or play list).
39
Direct Time Access
You m ay use time on th e Rem ote Con trol to begin play at a
specific time on th e disc.
To do th is:
1. Select th e desired track usin g eith er next an d previous or th e
numeric keypad on th e Rem ote Con trol.
2. Press time, th en press th e n um bered button s correspon din g to
wh en you would like play to begin . (Th e n um bers you select
will appear in th e time portion of th e display.)
3. To begin play at th at poin t, press play.
Note: The time you select depends on the selection you’ve made with
the display mode button: elapsed or remaining, CD or track.
For exam ple, if you wan t to begin play on e m in ute an d th irty
secon ds in to track 2, select track 2 by pressin g 2 on th e rem ote
con trol. Press time, en ter 1 3 0, th en press play. (Th is exam ple
assum es th at th e m ost recen tly used display m ode was elapsed
tim e on track.) If you do n ot press play, th e Nº390S will tim e out
after ten secon ds (th at is, it will “forget” th at you h ad begun to do
som eth in g, an d revert to n orm al operation ).
Altern atively, you m igh t wan t to set th e Nº390S to play m usic for
a specific period of tim e. Say you’d like to listen to m usic un til th e
even in g n ews begin s in 30 m in utes. Make sure both th e time on
disc an d time remaining LEDs are on (in dicatin g tim e rem ain in g
on disc, th e default display m ode wh en in stop); press time; en ter
3 0 0 0; an d press play. Th is sequen ce will direct th e Nº390S to a
poin t 30 m in utes from th e en d of th e disc, an d en gage play at
th at poin t. Wh en th e m usic en ds, you will kn ow it is tim e to turn
on th e n ews.
Pause
To suspen d play wh ile a CD is playin g, press pause. To resum e
play at th e sam e poin t, press pause again .
If left in pause for about two m in utes, th e tran sport will stop
spin n in g an d th e laser will turn off (th ereby en h an cin g th e
lon gevity of both ). Th is extended pause m ode will be in dicated
by th e display sh owin g a slowly flash in g quotation m ark (ꢀ) as a
rem in der th at you are in th e extended pause m ode (sin ce th is
m ark m im ics th e double bars used to in dicate pause).
Altern atively, extended pause m ay be en gaged by pressin g and
holding th e pause button un til th e double bars begin to blin k.
40
Repeat Disc
To repeat (con tin uously) all tracks on a CD, press repeat un til th e
disc repeat LED is lit. To return to n orm al play, press repeat (or
rpt disc/trk on th e rem ote) again two m ore tim es (to cycle
th rough track repeat to n orm al play). Pressin g stop will also
restore th e Nº390S to n orm al (n on -repeatin g) operation .
Repeat Track
To repeat (con tin uously) th e track in (n orm al) play, press repeat
(or rpt disc/trk on th e rem ote) twice to cycle th rough disc repeat
to track repeat. Wh ile th e track repeat fun ction is active, th e LED
above th e button is lit.
Th is feature is h elpful (for exam ple) wh en tryin g to learn h ow to
play a particular son g by playin g alon g with th e disc. To learn
section s of th e son g, you m ay wan t to use th e A-B repeat fun ction
described on th e n ext page. On ce you h ave m ost of th e section s
learn ed, you can put th em togeth er with a track repeat.
Track repeat takes priority over oth er fun ction s such as next an d
previous. To return to n orm al operation , press repeat again .
A-B Repeat
To repeat (con tin uously) a specific ph rase or passage on a CD
(wh en learn in g h ow to play a favorite solo, for exam ple), press
A–B on th e rem ote at th e begin n in g of th e passage you would like
to repeat. At th e en d of th e passage, press A–B on th e rem ote
again . Th e passage you selected will repeat con tin uously.
Wh ile th e repeat A–B fun ction is active, th e letters A an d B will
altern ate, precedin g th e track n um ber on th e display. To return to
n orm al play, press th e A–B button again .
Polarity
Th e Nº390S can ch an ge its playback polarity to com pen sate for
th e in verted polarity of som e recordin gs. Wh en you first press
polarity on th e rem ote con trol, th e Nº390S will display its curren t
polarity, eith er NORMAL or INVERTED. Subsequen t clicks on th e
polarity button wh ile th e display is in dicatin g th e curren t polarity
will toggle between th e two possibilities.
Programming the Nº390S
Introduction to Play
Lists
Rath er th an playin g an en tire CD, you m ay ch oose to play on ly
certain selection s. To do th is, you create a “play list.” If th is is a
on e-tim e play list, it m ay be used im m ediately upon bein g created
(an d will van ish wh en a n ew play list is created). Altern atively,
th ousan ds of play lists m ay be stored in th e Nº390S’s perm an en t
m em ory, at wh ich poin t each becom es th e default play list for th e
particular disc with wh ich it is associated (un til you explicitly
ch an ge it).
41
Before usin g your Nº390S’s program m in g features, becom e fam iliar
with its controls and their locations, as well as their basic functions.
Note: During the playing of a play list, the Nº390S’s basic functions
operate as described in “Basic Operation,” except that they affect the
playback of the program, not the entire CD. For instance, pressing next
during play skips to the next track in the play list, whether or not it is
the next track on the CD. In the same way, engaging disc repeat will
repeat the entire play list, not the entire disc.
Th e Nº390S allows up to 99 selection s per play list, with an y given
track appearin g on ce on ly. In practical term s, th e on ly lim itation
on th e len gth of your play list is th e n um ber of tracks on your
disc.
Important Note:
Assembling a play list is possible only w hen the disc is stopped.
Th e Nº390S’s m em ory can store play lists for th ousan ds of differen t
CDs. Saved play lists rem ain in m em ory wh en you place th e
Nº390S in to standby, wh en you turn off th e main pow er switch
— even if AC power is in terrupted.
Wh en you load a CD, th e Nº390S reads th at CD’s un ique
iden tification code. If you assem ble a play list for a particular CD
an d save it in to th e Nº390S’s m em ory, th e Nº390S “rem em bers”
th at CD’s play list.
Th e n ext tim e you load th at CD, th e Nº390S will recogn ize th e
CD’s iden tification code an d autom atically load th e previously
saved play list. (Th e display in itially sh ows th e n um ber of tracks
an d total tim e on th e disc, preceded by th e letter P in th e display.)
Even if you h ave previously saved a play list for a CD, th e Nº390S
allows you to tem porarily override it (an d h ave access to all tracks
on th e CD), with out erasin g it from m em ory. Th is tem porary
override applies to polarity program m in g as well.
To tem porarily override a previously saved play list, click th e
mode button un til PROGRAM is displayed on th e fron t pan el, an d
press mode – wh ile th e CD is loaded but before play h as started.
All of th e CD’s tracks will subsequen tly be accessible for n orm al
operation s, but th e origin al play list will still be retain ed in th e
Nº390S’s m em ory. You can even create a tem porary play list as an
altern ative to your n orm al, perm an en t play list.
42
Assembling a Play List
To assem ble a n ew play list:
1. Load a CD, an d wait for th e display to sh ow th e n um ber of
tracks an d th eir total playin g tim e.
2. Make sure th at th e Nº390S is in th e program m in g m ode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display.
3. Usin g th e next an d previous button s (or th e n um bered button s
on th e Rem ote Con trol), select th e first track in your play list.
4. Add th e first selection to your play list by pressin g mode +.
Th e display will ackn owledge your com m an d by sh owin g a P
precedin g th e track n um ber on th e display to in dicate th at it
h as been added to th e play list.
5. Assem ble th e rest of your play list by repeatin g steps 2 an d 3.
Make sure to press mode + after each selection .
Programming by
Omission
If you wan t to play most of a CD, an d just “om it” a few tracks,
you m ay wan t to use th is sh ortcut:
1. Load a CD, an d wait for th e display to sh ow th e n um ber of
tracks an d th eir total playin g tim e.
2. Make sure th at th e Nº390S is in th e program m in g m ode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display.
3. Usin g th e next an d previous button s (or th e n um bered button s
on th e Rem ote Con trol), select th e first track you wan t to
elim in ate from your program .
4. “Om it” th e track by pressin g mode –. Th is action deletes th e
track from th e curren t play list, in dicated by th e PRG– in th e
display n ext to th e track n um ber.
5. Usin g next an d previous, m ove to an y oth er tracks you would
prefer to skip, pressin g mode – to elim in ate each track from
th e play list. On ce you are in th e program m ode, a P will
illum in ate to in dicate a track is in th e play list, an d extin guish
for an y track om itted from th e play list.
Saving a Play List
On ce you h ave created th e play list you wan t for a particular disc,
you m ay eith er use it as a tem porary play list (usin g it on ly for
th at on e occasion ), or save it as th e default play list for th at disc.
43
To save a play list:
1. Wh en you’ve fin ish ed addin g selection s, you can save th e n ew
play list by pressin g an d h oldin g th e mode + button .
2. Th e Nº390S will con firm th at your play list is saved by
displayin g SAVED briefly (or REVISED if you ch an ged an
existin g play list).
Review ing a Play List
To review your play list before playin g it:
1. Load a CD for wh ich you’ve already saved a play list (th e
letter P will appear precedin g th e track n um ber on th e display);
or load an un program m ed CD, th en assem ble an d save a play
list.
2. Make sure th at th e Nº390S is in th e program m in g m ode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display.
3. With out selectin g an y particular track, press mode +. Th e
display will sh ow th e first selection in your play list. For
exam ple, if track 3 is th e first selection in your program , th e
display would sh ow P03 > 1st.
Note: If you try to review a nonexistent play list, the display will
show NO PGM.
4. To view th e n ext selection , press mode + again , an d so on .
5. After you view th e last selection , on e m ore press of mode +
will cause th e display to sh ow END PGM m om en tarily, an d
th en m ove on to sh ow th e first track in th e play list.
Deleting a Track from a
Play List
You m ay delete an y selection from a play list.
To delete a selection :
1. Load a CD for wh ich you’ve already saved a program (th e letter
P will appear precedin g th e track n um ber on th e display).
2. Make sure th at th e Nº390S is in th e program m in g m ode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display.
3. Press next/f.fw d. Th e display will sh ow th e first selection in
your program .
4. Press next/f.fw d un til th e selection you wan t to delete appears
on th e display.
5. Press mode – ; the display will rem ove the P from the displayed
track to in dicate th at it h as been rem oved from th e play list.
44
6. Repeat steps 4 an d 5 for each selection you wan t to erase from
your program .
7. If you would like to m ake th is ch an ge perm an en t, press an d
h old mode + wh en you fin ish erasin g selection s from your
program ; th e display will sh ow REVISED.
Adding a Track to a
Play List
You also m ay add a selection to a previously saved play list.
To do so:
1. Load a CD for wh ich you’ve already saved a play list (th e letter
P will appear precedin g th e track n um ber on th e display); or
load an un program m ed CD, th en assem ble an d save a play
list.
2. Make sure th at th e Nº390S is in th e program m in g m ode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display.
3. Usin g th e next an d previous (or th e n um bered button s on th e
Rem ote Con trol), select th e track you wan t to add to your
play list.
4. Add th e selection to your play list by pressin g mode +. Your
n ew selection will be added to th e en d of your existin g play
list.
5. Repeat steps 2 an d 3 for each selection you wan t to add to
your program . Make sure to press mode + after each selection .
6. If you would like to m ake th is ch an ge perm an en t, press an d
h old mode + wh en you fin ish erasin g selection s from your
program ; th e display will sh ow REVISED.
Overriding a Play List
Wh en you load a CD, th e Nº390S reads its un ique iden tification
code. If you assem ble a play list for a particular CD an d save it
in to th e Nº390S’s m em ory, th e Nº390S “rem em bers” th at CD’s
play list.
Even if you h ave previously saved a play list for a CD, th e Nº390S
allows you to tem porarily override it (an d h ave access to all tracks
on th e CD), with out erasin g it from m em ory. You can even create
a tem porary play list as an altern ative to your n orm al, perm an en t
play list.
To tem pora rily override a previously saved play list:
1. Make sure th at th e Nº390S is in th e program m in g m ode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display
2. Press mode – while the CD is loaded, but before play has started.
45
Th e display will sh ow CLEARED to in dicate th at th e program h as
been tem porarily overridden .
Th e display will sh ow th e total n um ber of tracks an d th e total
tim e on th e disc (as it would if th ere were n o play list associated
with th e disc). Th e P th at den otes play list will be turn ed off. (If
you ch an ge your m in d, sim ply press stop to restore th e previously
created play list.) All of th e CD’s tracks will subsequen tly be
accessible for n orm al operation s, but th e origin al play list will still
be retain ed in th e Nº390S’s m em ory.
Erasing Play Lists from
Memory
To perm an en tly erase a previously saved play list from th e
Nº390S’s m em ory, press an d h old th e mode – button wh ile
stopped in th e PROGRAM m ode; th e display will sh ow DELETED.
Why Polarity
Programming?
Durin g th e recordin g process, th e polarity of th e recorded sign al is
typically inverted m any tim es. If the total num ber of 180° inversions
is even , th e “n et” polarity rem ain s un ch an ged; if odd, a 180°
polarity in version is in troduced. Som e people seem quite sen sitive
to th is distin ction . (Th e differen ce can be en vision ed by im agin in g
a kick drum bein g struck: th e in itial m otion of th e drum h ead is
forward, form in g a com pression wave; if in verted, it would be
reproduced as though the drum head had initially m oved backward,
creatin g a rarefaction .)
To com plicate m atters furth er, differen t portion s of (or in strum en ts
on) the recording may experience even or odd numbers of inversions,
resultin g in n o sin gle “correct” playback settin g. Th is problem is
particularly com m on am on g m ultiple-m icroph on e recordin gs.
Ultim ately, on ly you can decide wh eth er on e polarity settin g
soun ds better th an th e oth er, an d if so, wh ich you prefer.
Fortun ately, if th e Nº390S can con trol th e playback polarity of its
processor from th e rem ote con trol. Moreover, th e Nº390S can be
asked to “rem em ber” your preferen ce (sh ould you h ave on e) for
each recordin g.
Important Note:
Programmed play lists include polarity information. The Nº390S
w ill ensure the “correct” polarity (that is, the polarity you chose
w hen creating the program) upon playback of that play list.
This polarity may only be overridden by either temporarily
overriding the play list or by re-programming the play list (see
below ). If you are sensitive to polarity (many people are not),
you w ill w ant to determine the correct polarity before creating
your play lists.
Whole-Disc Polarity
Programming
If you wan t to rem em ber on ly th e preferred polarity for an en tire
disc, an d do n ot wish to store a custom play list:
46
1. Press stop. Wh en in stop, th e Nº390S displays th e total
n um ber of tracks an d tim e on th e disc. (You m ust n ot h ave a
preexistin g program if you wish to save a sin gle polarity for
th e en tire disc in on e step. To erase a preexisting program ,
press and hold the mode – button.)
2. Make sure that the Nº390S is in the programming mode by
clickin g th e mode button un til you see PROGRAM in th e
display.
3. Choose your preferred polarity. You m ay use eith er th e
polarity button on th e processor or th e polarity button on th e
Nº390S rem ote con trol. Select your preferred settin g.
4. Press and hold the mode + button. Th e display will sh ow
POLARITY to in dicate th at it h as saved your polarity program
for th e en tire disc. Th e display will sh ow a sm all p precedin g
th e total n um ber of tracks an d tim e on th e disc.
Track-by-Track Polarity
Programming
Som e discs seem to flip back an d forth in polarity between on e
track an d th e n ext. If you wish to store polarity on a track-by-
track basis, follow th e direction s for assem blin g a play list (above),
m akin g certain th at th e polarity in dicated for each track is correct
before you press th e positive com m an d for program + (see Special
Commands table, page 55) to add it to th e play list. Sim ilarly, you
m ay “edit” th e polarity of an existin g program by pressin g stop
an d th en reviewin g th e play list on e track at a tim e. Ch an ge th e
polarity of an y track you like wh ile its in form ation is bein g
displayed, an d th en press th e positive com m an d for program +
(see Special Commands table, page 55) to revise th e program .
Overriding a Polarity
Program
If you want to double-check you previously-saved polarity program ,
sim ply press th e polarity button at an y tim e. Doin g so will ch an ge
th e polarity of th e Nº390S, but will n ot m odify th e polarity
program (e.g., th e n ext tim e you play th e disc, th e polarity you
saved in th e program will be used).
47
Special Functions
Th e Nº390S offers m an y special custom ization features, allowin g it
to serve a wide range of needs sim ply and com pletely. These options
are grouped in th ree SETUP m en us: SOUND, LINKS, an d AUX IN’s.
Th ese th ree m en us are accessed by pressing and holding (“cam pin g
on ”) th e mode button un til th e display ch an ges to sh ow SETUP,
followed by SOUND. Subsequen t clicks of th e mode button will
cycle th rough th e various m ajor m en us (LINKS, AUX IN’s, an d
back to SOUND); an y of th ese m en us m ay be selected by pressing
and holding th e mode button a secon d tim e. Subsequen t clicks of
th e mode button will cycle th rough th e various item s with in each
m ajor m en u; pressin g an d h oldin g th e mode button will take you
back to th e th ree m ain m en us (sh ould you wan t to go from a
SOUND item to a LINK item , for exam ple).
At an y poin t, h avin g selected th e m en u item you would like to
ch an ge, use th e mode + an d mode – button s to turn various
option s on or off, respectively.
SOUND Menu Items:
•
Fixed/Variable Volume
Th e Nº390S gives you th e option of en gagin g a h igh quality
an alog volum e con trol, allowin g you to use th e Nº390S as a
digital-sources- on ly “pream p,” drivin g a power am plifier
directly. Th is capability is particularly useful in sim ple system s
involving only two or three digital sources. When first engaged,
th e volum e con trol circuitry will be set to a low volum e to
avoid an y ch an ce of overdrivin g your loudspeakers.
Th e Nº390S h as th e ability to “lin k” several of its fun ction s to
com patible Mark Levin son com pon en ts (like th e Nº360/S
Digital Audio Processor an d th e Nº380/S Pream plifier, an d th e
Nº33 an d 300-series power am plifiers).
Note:
To take advantage of linked functions, you must connect the
Nº390 to the other components via their communication ports.
(See Rear Panel, Nº390S and Setup and Installation.)
48
•
Silent/Audible Cueing
Th e Nº390S also gives you th e option of h earin g a reduced-
volum e scan of th e program m aterial durin g fast forward or
rewin d, or of h avin g th e scan be silen t. For som e, th e audible
cuein g h elps iden tify th e portion of th e track th ey seek; oth ers
fin d th e broken -up bits of m usic discon certin g an d prefer
silen ce.
•
Balance Control
If you h ave en gaged th e volum e con trol circuitry by settin g
th e + VARIABLE m en u item , th en you will also see a balan ce
con trol with in th e setup m en u, in dicated by arrows poin tin g
in both direction s (wh en at th e n eutral position ). Pressin g th e
mode + key will m ove th e balan ce an d th e im age to th e righ t,
in dicated by a n um ber of decibels an d th e arrow poin tin g to
th e righ t; pressin g th e mode – key will reverse th is process.
(Th is m en u does n ot appear in th e – FIXED volum e m ode,
sin ce it would n ot apply.)
•
Mute Control
Sim ilarly, a user-adjustable m ute con trol is available wh en th e
volum e con trol circuitry h as been en gaged. It offers a ran ge of
–3 to –41 decibels of m uting in response to the rem ote control’s
m ute button bein g push ed. Th e factory default is -20 dB.
•
Locked Volume
Lastly, if (an d on ly if) th e volum e con trol circuitry is en gaged,
you h ave th e option of settin g a m axim um volum e beyon d
wh ich th e Nº390S will n ot go. Th is is particularly h elpful if
you h ave a com bin ation of h igh sen sitivity speakers an d h igh
sen sitivity power am plifiers, wh ich m igh t m ake th e n orm al
m axim um volum e settin g on th e Nº390S dan gerously loud for
your particular system . (It was designed to be able to drive even
relatively in sen sitive system s.) Altern atively, it can serve as a
h elpful “party con trol” to guard again st in discrete guests
becom in g som ewh at overzealous in th e h eat of th e m om en t.
If you wan t to set a m axim um allowable volum e, select your
ch osen volum e settin g an d th en toggle from UNLOCKED to
LOCKED.
LINK Menu Items:
•
Standby Link
Th is feature lin ks th e stan dby m odes of th e various Mark
Levin son Lin ked com pon en ts. For exam ple:
–
If CD processor, pream plifier an d power am plifier(s) are in
stan dby m ode, pressin g th e CD processor’s standby button
will take all th ree com pon en ts out of stan dby m ode
(m akin g th em ready to use).
–
If CD processor, pream plifier an d power am plifier(s) are
“on ” (n ot in stan dby m ode), pressin g th e Nº390S’s standby
button will place on ly th e CD processor in stan dby m ode
(presum in g th at you m ay wish to use your digital processor
with som e digital source oth er th an th e Nº390S).
49
–
If CD processor, pream plifier an d power am plifier are “on ”
(n ot in stan dby m ode), pressin g th e pream p’s standby
button will place all th ree com pon en ts in to stan dby
m ode.
•
•
Name Link
If you use th e Nº390S as a tran sport with a Lin ked processor
with your Nº390S (via on e of th e digital outputs), h avin g th e
NAME lin k on will allow th e Nº390S to sh ow up in th e display
of th e processor by n am e, e.g., No39 rath er th an a gen eric CD.
Play Link
When you press the Nº390S’s play button, this link automatically
selects th e appropriate in puts on th e pream plifier so you can
listen to th e CD (if you h ave n am ed th at in put “No39” as
described in th e pream p’s own er’s m an ual). Th is fun ction also
works on th e Lin ked processor if th e Nº390S is used as a
tran sport (fun ction in g as a “slave” on th e com m un ication
system rath er th an as th e “m aster.”)
•
Display Link
Th is lin ks th e display in ten sity fun ction s of th e Nº390S an d
th e oth er Lin ked com pon en ts. Wh en th e com pon en ts are
lin ked, all displays will be set to th e sam e brigh tn ess. Pressin g
display in ten sity on an y of th e Lin ked com pon en ts will affect
all th e displays.
AUX IN’s Menu Items:
The Nº390S also allows you to rename the two auxiliary digital inputs,
in order to give th em a n am e th at m igh t be m ore m ean in gful in
th e con text of your system th an th eir factory-default, gen eric RCA
an d OPT in put n am es. You m ay select from th e followin g list of
n am es (th e sam e list is available for both in puts).
In put Nam es
DMX
DSS
DAT
DCC
MD
Digital Music Express
Digital Satellite System
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Com pact Cassette
Min i-Disc
CDR
CDI
DBS
LD
Com pact Disc-Recordable
Com pact Disc-In teractive
Direct Broadcast Satellite
Laser Disc
50
CD
Com pact Disc
ADC
AUX
DCA
PCD
PDT
CDD
N.U.
An alog to Digital Con verter
Auxiliary
Digital Cable Audio
Proceed CD
Proceed Digital Tran sport
Com pact Disc Drive
Not Used*
If, wh ile playin g th e Nº390S you decide to ch an ge in puts (usin g
eith er of its digital in puts), th e Nº390S will place itself in pause. If
you h aven ’t switch ed back to listen to th e Nº390S again with in 30
secon ds, it will assum e you are fin ish ed listen in g to it an d place
itself in th e stop m ode.
Note th at if you elect “N.U.” (Not Used) as th e n am e of an in put,
th at in put will be bypassed wh ile cyclin g th rough th e available
in puts. Th us if you are usin g on e of th e two auxiliary in puts an d
n ot th e oth er, settin g th e un used in put to “N.U.” will ch an ge th e
in put selection process to a sim ple toggle between th e two used
inputs. Labeling both auxiliary inputs “N.U.” will effectively disable
th e in put selection process on th e Nº390S, alth ough it will still
con trol th e an alog in puts of a Lin ked pream plifier.
Changing Link Options
Th e followin g procedure will guide you th rough ch an gin g your
Lin k option s, sh ould you decide you would like som eth in g oth er
th an th e factory default settin gs. (Note th at m ost people are
perfectly satisfied with th e default settin gs, an d n ever n eed to
con cern th em selves with th is section .)
1. Make sure th at th e main pow er switch is set to th e “on ” (“|”)
position an d th e un it is n ot in “stan dby.”
2. Press an d h old th e fron t-pan el mode button un til SETUP
followed by SOUND appears on th e display. Release th e mode
button ; subsequen t “clicks” of th e mode button will cycle
th rough each of your Nº390S’s m ain m en us, in th is order:
SOUND, LINKS, AUX IN’s. Con tin ued clicks on th e mode
button will return you to th e begin n in g of th e list, in case you
acciden tally pass th e option you wan t to ch an ge.
3. Wh en th e display sh ows th e m en u you wan t to access, press
and hold th e mode button again . Subsequen t clicks of th e
mode button will cycle th rough th e various item s with in th at
m en u.
51
4. Wh en an item you wish to ch an ge is in th e display, use th e
mode + an d mode – keys (eith er on th e fron t pan el or on th e
rem ote con trol) to ch an ge th e settin g.
5. Repeat step 4 for each settin g you wan t to ch an ge.
6. Wh en you h ave fin ish ed, press and hold th e mode button
again to con firm your ch an ge(s). Th e display will return to th e
origin al th ree m ain m en us.
On ce saved, your lin k settin gs rem ain in m em ory wh en you place
th e Nº390S in to standby, wh en you turn off th e main pow er
switch — even if AC power is in terrupted.
Sleep Timer
Th e Nº390S also m ay be set to autom atically en ter stan dby after a
predefined period. As shipped from the factory, its standby function
is m an ual (th at is, it on ly en ters or leaves stan dby wh en told to
do so by th e user).
Th is feature is sim ilar to a “sleep tim er” on a clock radio. If playin g
a CD, for exam ple, th e Nº390S will en ter stan dby autom atically
after th e user-selected period of tim e.
To ch an ge between m an ual an d tim ed/ autom atic stan dby:
1. Press an d h old th e standby button un til th e display reads
MANUAL.
2. Release th e standby button an d th en use th e previous an d
n ext button s to eith er advan ce or reduce th e am oun t of tim e
you wan t to tran spire between th e last activity of th e Nº390S
an d its goin g in to stan dby. You m ay select an y n um ber of
m in utes between 1-120. You m ay restore n orm al, m an ual
operation by pressin g previous to go “below” 1 m in ute, in to
MANUAL stan dby operation .
3. Allow th e Nº390S to tim e out (return in g th e display to its n or-
m al operation ).
Using Learning Remote
Controls
Th e Nº390S in cludes both an in frared receiver an d an in frared
tran sm itter. With th is capability, it can “teach ” a learn in g rem ote
control any com m ands that m ight be needed for rem ote operation.
Specifically, th e Nº390S can sen d all of th e n ecessary IR com m an ds
from its display win dow, en ablin g you to teach a learn in g rem ote
an y or all of its pre-program m ed com m an ds, as well as som e
option al special com m an ds th at are available to solve specific
in stallation -related problem s.
52
Th e Nº390S h as two special m odes of operation in to wh ich it m ay
be placed in order to facilitate th e “teach in g” of rem ote con trol
com m an ds to a learn in g rem ote con trol. Th e first allows you to
easily teach th e com m an ds for wh ich th ere are correspon din g
fron t pan el button s. Th e secon d allows you to teach “special”
com m an ds to th e rem ote con trol for wh ich th ere are n o
correspon din g fron t pan el button s.
Teaching Nº390S Front
Panel Commands
1. Press and hold the repeat button to enter the front panel
teaching mode.
Th e display will sh ow TEACH IR to in dicate th at th e Nº390S is
ready to teach a learn in g rem ote con trol th e in frared
com m an ds th at correspon d to its fron t pan el button s. Th e
Nº390S sen ds in frared sign als from th e left side of th e fron t
pan el display. If th e learn in g rem ote con trol seem s un able to
learn IR com m an ds, try adjustin g th e distan ce between th e
left side of th e fron t pan el display an d th e learn in g rem ote
con trol.
If you ch an ge your m in d, sim ply don ’t touch an y button for
ten secon ds an d th e Nº390S will return to n orm al operation .
(Hin t: you m ay rem em ber th at th is special “h idden ” feature of
the Nº390S is accessed via a press-and-hold of the repeat button
by associatin g its use with th e extern al IR “repeaters” so often
used in custom in stallation s; th e fun ction ality foun d h ere is of
m ost value in such in stallation s.)
2. Press any front panel button to cause the Nº390S to send
the corresponding IR command.
Lin e up th e IR win dow of your rem ote con trol with th e left
side of th e Nº390S display, at a distan ce of approxim ately 2"-
6". Select th e to-be-learn ed button on th e rem ote, th en press
th e correspon din g button on th e Nº390S to fire th e appropri-
ate IR code.
Most learn in g rem otes n eed to be h eld fairly still wh ile th ey
learn n ew IR com m an ds; m ovem en t can garble th e received
IR. If you are un certain as to h ow to prepare your rem ote
con trol for learn in g n ew com m an ds, refer to th e in struction s
provided with th e rem ote con trol.
3. Repeat the process of “teaching” new commands to the
various buttons on your remote control until all appropriate
or desired front panel commands have been learned by your
remote.
53
4. When finished, exit the Teach IR mode by allow ing the
Nº390S to “time out.”
You may wish to teach your remote control some of the Nº390S’s
special com m an ds (th ose for wh ich th ere is n o correspon din g
fron t pan el button ); in th is case, you sh ould go directly to th e
n ext section . Oth erwise, sim ply avoid pressin g an y button s for
about ten secon ds, an d th e Nº390S will autom atically return
to n orm al operation .
At som e poin t, h owever, you sh ould test all your n ewly “learn ed”
com m an ds to en sure th at th ey were “learn ed” correctly.
Teaching Other
Nº390S Commands
As m en tion ed above, th e Nº390S h as th e capability to teach
learn in g rem ote con trols special com m an ds for wh ich th ere are
n o fron t pan el coun terparts. Th ese com m an ds can be especially
helpful in solving problem s in certain kinds of custom installations.
Th ese “positive con trol” com m an ds in th e Nº390S will place it
in to a certain m ode of operation regardless of its curren t state. For
exam ple, a positive con trol com m an d to en ter standby will leave
th e Nº390S in standby if already th ere, or sw itch it to standby if
it is curren tly operatin g. Th is type of positive con trol is especially
h elpful wh en you do n ot n ecessarily kn ow th e curren t status of
th e Nº390S, as m igh t be th e case in a m ulti-room h om e
en tertain m en t system (for exam ple).
1. Place the Nº390S in its front panel teaching mode.
As explain ed on th e previous page, you do th is by pressin g
an d h oldin g th e repeat button un til th e display reads TEACH
IR. If n o furth er button s are pressed with in approxim ately ten
secon ds, th e Nº390S will “tim e out” an d return to n orm al
operation .
2. Release, then press and hold the repeat button a second
time to place the Nº390S in its Custom IR mode.
After about five secon ds, th e display will ch an ge from TEACH
IR to OPERATE (th e first special IR code available for teach in g).
Th is in dicates th at th e special IR codes th at do n ot correspon d
to fron t pan el button s are n ow available for teach in g to a
learn in g rem ote con trol—in cludin g som e th at are design ed to
solve problem s un ique to custom in stallation s.
54
3. Press the “repeat” button repeatedly to advance to the
desired function.
Th e table on th e n ext page lists th e various com m an ds th at
are available for th e Nº390S for wh ich th ere is n ot fron t-pan el
equivalen t. In som e cases, th ey represen t “positive con trol”
altern atives to com m an ds th at n orm ally toggle between two
settin gs (such as stan dby an d operate). In oth er cases, th ey
represen t fun ction s th at exist on ly on th e rem ote con trol. In
th e secon d colum n are th e design ation s th at will be displayed
to in dicate th at th e Nº390S is ready to fire th e correspon din g
IR code.
Pressin g repeat will advan ce you to th e n ext com m an d in th e
table. If n o button is push ed for m ore th an ten secon ds, th e
Nº390S will “tim e out” an d return to n orm al operation .
4. Momentarily press the repeat button to transmit the selected
code.
Lin e up th e IR win dow of your rem ote con trol with th e left
side of the display of the Nº390S, at a distance of approxim ately
2"-6". Select th e to-be-learn ed button on th e rem ote, th en fire
th e selected code from th e Nº390S by pressin g mode.
(If you are uncertain as to how to prepare your remote control for
learning new commands, refer to the instructions provided with the
remote control.)
5. Repeat the process of “teaching” new special commands
until all desired commands have been learned by your
remote control.
If you take lon ger th an approxim ately ten secon ds between
button push es, th e Nº390S will tim e out an d return to n orm al
operation . If th is occurs, return to step #1 in th is section . You
m ay m ove th rough th e en tire list by pressin g repeat.
6. When finished, return to normal operation by allow ing the
Nº390S to “time out.”
Th e Nº390S will “tim e out” an d return to n orm al operation
after approxim ately ten secon ds.
Special Commands Table
Com m an d
Display
positive con trol for operate
OPERATE
positive con trol for stan dby
positive con trol for stop
STANDBY
JUST STOP
DISPLAY 0
DISPLAY 2
UNPAUSE
PAUSE
set display in ten sity to off
set display in ten sity to m edium
positive con trol for un pause
positive con trol for pause
positive con trol for leavin g th e repeat m ode
positive con trol for open drawer
positive con trol for close drawer
positive con trol for ran dom play
positive con trol for selectin g an alog in puts
positive con trol for selectin g digital in puts
positive con trol for program –
positive con trol for program +
Select CD in put
NO REPEAT
OPEN
55
CLOSE
RANDOM
ANALOG
DIGITAL
PROG –
PROG +
SET CD
Select RCA in put
SET RCA
SET OPT
Select optical (EIAJ) in put
Troubleshooting
In general, refer any service problem s to your Mark Levinson dealer.
Before con tactin g your dealer, h owever, ch eck to see if th e problem
is listed h ere. If it is, try th e suggested solution s. If n on e of th ese
solves th e problem , con tact your Mark Levin son dealer.
1. The Nº390S w on’t function, and the display is
dark.
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e un it is in stan dby. Press th e standby button .
Th e Nº390S isn ’t plugged in to th e AC m ain s or th e m ain
power switch isn ’t turn ed on .
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e wall socket, adapter, or exten sion cord is faulty.
Th ere’s a tripped circuit breaker or blown fuse in th e wall
outlet’s circuit.
ꢀ
A fuse is blown in your Nº390S (con tact your Mark
Levin son dealer).
2. The display is lit, but there is no output.
ꢀ
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e proper digital in put isn ’t selected on th e Nº390S.
Th e proper an alog in put isn ’t selected on your pream plifier.
56
Th e in tercon n ectin g cables are con n ected in correctly or
are faulty.
ꢀ
Th e variable output volum e adjustm en t is set to 0.0 (off).
3. The Nº390S display reads “NO DISC.”
ꢀ
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th ere is n o disc in th e drawer for th e tran sport to read.
Th e disc is upside down an d th erefore can n ot be read.
Th e disc h as loaded im properly an d can n ot be read – open
th e drawer, en sure th at th e disc is placed properly in th e
drawer, an d try again .
4. The Nº390S won’t play a CD inserted in the player.
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e CD is in serted upside down .
Th ere m ay be con den sation (m oisture) on th e laser pickup.
Th is can h appen if th e Nº390S is m oved from a cold
en viron m en t (such as a wareh ouse or a sh ipper’s truck) to
a warm on e. Set th e main pow er switch to its "|" position ,
an d leave it on for on e h our to warm up, th en try playin g
a CD again .
5. When a CD is playing, the sound "skips."
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e CD is severely scratch ed or dirty.
Th e Nº390S is on an un stable surface or is too close to
your speakers.
6. The linked functions don’t w ork.
ꢀ
Th e Lin k cable is discon n ected, or is con n ected in correctly.
Ch eck your Lin k con n ection s.
ꢀ
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e Lin k option s are turn ed off.
Th e pream plifier is n ot aliased (ren am ed) for th e Nº39.
Th e processor (if on e is bein g used) does n ot h ave on e of
its in puts tied to th e Nº390S.
ꢀ
Try turn in g off/discon n ectin g AC power from both th e
pream plifier an d th e Nº390S. After several secon ds, restore
AC power to th e pream plifier, th en turn on th e Nº390S’s
main pow er switch . Never operate the main pow er switch
without first making sure that power is turned off to your
receiver, integrated amplifier, or preamplifier/power amplifier.
ꢀ
Som e associated Mark Levin son com pon en ts m ay h ave
older version s of th e system software th at do n ot fully
support all Lin ked fun ction s. Con tact your Mark Levin son
dealer with th e m odel an d serial n um bers of your Mark
Levin son com pon en ts. If n eeded, n ew EPROMs will be
provided at n o ch arge.
57
7. The Remote Control doesn’t operate the Nº390S.
ꢀ
Th e Rem ote Con trol is at th e wron g an gle relative to th e
Nº390S, an d th e Nº390S can ’t receive th e sign al.
ꢀ
Th e sen sor win dow on th e fron t pan el of th e Nº390S is
dirty or blocked.
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e Rem ote Con trol’s projection len s is dirty.
Fluorescen t ligh tin g or sun ligh t is in terferin g with th e
operation of th e Rem ote Con trol.
ꢀ
ꢀ
Th e Rem ote Con trol’s batteries are weak an d n eed to be
replaced.
Th e Rem ote Con trol’s batteries are in stalled in correctly.
Care and Maintenance
To rem ove dust from th e cabin et of th e Nº390S, use a feath er
duster. To rem ove dirt an d fin gerprin ts, we recom m en d isopropyl
alcoh ol an d a soft cloth .
Caution!
Alw ays apply the isopropyl alcohol to the soft cloth and then
w ipe the Nº390S w ith the dampened cloth. Never pour or spray
even small amounts of any liquid directly on the Nº390S, as
doing so may allow the liquid to reach the circuitry inside the
unit. Any liquid inside the unit poses a hazard to both the user
and to the unit, and must be avoided.
Make sure th at th e Rem ote sen sor win dow on th e fron t pan el an d
th e Rem ote Con trol’s projection len s are kept clean an d dust-free.
Fluorescen t ligh tin g an d sun ligh t m ay in terfere with th e operation
of th e Rem ote Con trol. Avoid placin g th e Nº390S n ear fluorescen t
lam ps or in direct sun ligh t.
Wh en th e Rem ote Con trol’s batteries n eed to be replaced, use
on ly AA batteries; always replace both batteries at th e sam e tim e.
If you don ’t plan to use th e Rem ote Con trol often , rem ove th e
batteries. Wh en n ot used for an exten ded period, even
“leakproof” batteries can leak corrosive acids th at will dam age th e
Rem ote Con trol (an d will void th e warran ty).
58
A CD, h an dled carefully, will last in defin itely. A warped, dusty, or
scratch ed CD can cause playback problem s, in cludin g audible
skippin g or oth er n oises. Han dle a CD by th e outer edges on ly; if
n ecessary, support it with your in dex fin ger at th e cen ter h ole.
Wh en you’re fin ish ed playin g a CD, always return it to its plastic
case. Store your CDs wh ere th ey won ’t be exposed to direct
sun ligh t, h igh h um idity, or extrem ely h igh or low tem peratures.
Specifications
The correlation between published specifications and sonic quality is
unreliable. A list of numbers reveals virtually nothing. All technical
measurements must be subject to qualitative as well as quantitative
interpretation.
Measurements of the Nº390S yield excellent results by any standards.
However, only those specifications that apply to its actual operation are
included here.
Frequency Response
•
•
10Hz - 20kHz, +0dB, –0.3dB
Total Harmonic Distortion
(THD)
0.002% @ 1 kHz, 0dBFS (10Hz-30kHz)
Dynamic Range
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Channel Separation
•
•
•
•
96dB (10Hz-30kHz)
105dB (10Hz-30kHz)
Better th an 110 Db
Less th an 0.005%
Intermodulation Distortion
(SMPTE IMD)
Maximum Output
(0 dBFS signal)
•
•
4.45V balan ced
2.225V sin gle-en ded
59
Volume Control
•
–61.2 to +12 dB
(attenuation) Range
Digital-to-Analog
Conversion
•
Dual differen tial 24-bit DACs
Conversion Rate
Analog Filter
•
•
•
352.8kHz or 384kHz(in put sign al depen den t), 24-bit
Bessel-tun ed, lin ear ph ase to 40kHz
Low -level Linearity
deviation less th an 2 dB to below –90Dbfs less th an 2 dB to
below –102dBFS w/20-bit in put
Output Impedance (analog)
Direct Digital Output, XLR
Direct Digital Output, RCA
Mains Voltage
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
10 Ω
AES/EBU 110Ω, 3.5V
S/PDIF 75Ω, 0.5V
100V, 120V, 200V, 220V, 240V, factory set for destination country
50 or 60 Hz, factory set for destin ation coun try
36 watts m axim um
Mains Frequency
Pow er Consumption
Overall Dimensions
Shipping Weight
See “Dimensions”
50 lbs. (23 kg)
Input Complement
•
•
1 EIAJ digital in put
1 S/PDIF (RCA) digital in put
Output Complement:
•
•
•
•
2 m ale XLR balan ced audio outputs
2 RCA sin gle-en ded audio outputs
1 AES/EBU (XLR) digital output
1 S/PDIF (RCA) digital output
Other I/O
•
•
•
2 RJ-45 m odular Com m un ication Lin ks
1 3.5m m extern al IR in put jack
1 IEC AC m ain s con n ector
60
Dimensions
61
Installation Notes
62
63
3 O ak Park, Bedford, MA, 01730-1413 USA | Telephone: 781-280-0300
|
Fax: 781-280-0490
|
C ust om e r Suppor t : Telephone: 781-280-0300 Sales Fax: 781-280-0495
|
|
Service Fax: 781-280-0499
P roduct Shipm e nt s: 16 Progress Road, Billerica, MA 01821-5730 USA
Part No. 070-630457 | Rev 1 | 04/04
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