Mark levinson 31 Owners Manual

Page 1

Phonograph records
vs. compact discs

Tracks and indexes

About Compact Disc
Digital Audio...

To most people, a Compact Disc (CD) looks like a small, silver
phonograph record. In fact, there are some important differences
between records and CDs.

The information on a phonograph record is contained within its
grooves. This analog information is

read by a stylus riding along in
the grooves and transmitted
via a cartridge. The digital
information on a CD,
though arranged in
similar grooves, is read
by a laser mechanism
(called a pickup). A
phonographs stylus
must be in contact
with the record, but a
CD players pickup
never touches the CD.
The information on the
CD is transmitted via
complex decoder circuitry.

Direction the disc rotates

Track 3

Track 2

00k; >
r Direction the laser
0 pickup travels
k a

The CD rotates
counterclockwise, and the laser
pickup reads the underside of the CD

(the side opposite the label) beginning at the center and travelling
toward the outer edge. As the pickup moves away from the center,
the speed of rotation gradually decreases from 500 to 200 revolutions
per minute.

Programs on CDs are organized into tracks, usually corresponding to
songs or movements. This allows you to select a part of a program
easily and precisely,
with virtually no wear
and tear on the CD.
' (Track 1) (Track 2) (Track 3) ' There may be as many

/ \ as 99 tracks on a CD.

Index Numbers from Track2 On some CD5 tracks

l l l l l l l l l l l I
01 02 03 04 05 06 4 777777 > 94 95 9s 97 9s 99 are further broken down
into indexes. These
"tracks within tracks"
allow even more precise selection and programming. A single track
may have up to 99 indexes.

Lindsay's First Symphony

I First Movement l Second Movement Third Movement I