Parasound dac 1100 owners manual

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-2- Connecting Your D/AC-1100 HD When you make connections, be careful to avoid tension on digital and audio interconnects which might cause damage to the connectors or cause them to pull loose. Do not attempt to bend either coaxial or optical digital cables at an angle; this could permanently damage them. Be sure to turn off the power of your preamplifier and power amplifier while making connections. As an additional safeguard, turn your preamplifiers volume control to minimum. Digital Inputs Your D/AC-1100 HD has four digital inputs: 2- 75 W Coaxial, TOSlink, and AES/EBU. It is possible to connect four separate digital sources to your D/AC-1100 HD and select among them from the front panel. However, radiation from the unused digital inputs may contaminate the sound of the selected input source. If you have more than one digital source connected, make sure you turn off the power of the unused source(s) until you are ready to listen to it. Coaxial: RCA jack - 75 W WW W W standard 75 W Coaxial output connections are provided on many high quality CD players. You should use only good quality cables which have been designed for digital data transmission. Cables designed for audio frequencies are not suitable and will not give you satisfactory results. Optical: TOSlink Fiber Optic TOSlink fiber optic connections are also popular and are found on most high-quality video laser disc players as well as older CD players and CD transports. Your dealer can assist you to select an appropriate optical cable with TOSlink connectors. AES/EBU: Balanced XLR Connection AES/EBU (Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcast Union) balanced connections have become the standard digital connection for professional digital audio equipment. Balanced AES/EBU XLR connectors are also becoming increasingly popular with high-end consumer equipment. AES/EBU connections are thought to be superior to coaxial, TOSlink, and even ST connections because of their inherent noise rejection capability. When you use the AES/EBU connection, be sure to use one designed for digital transmission. Cables designed for audio frequencies are not suitable and will not give you satisfactory results. Analog Output Connections Analog output jacks connect to any line level input on your preamplifier or even directly to your power amplifier provided it is equipped with level controls. Use only high-quality interconnects to preserve detail and clarity. Make sure your preamplifier is either turned off or its volume is set to minimum whenever making connections. There are two analog output connections: Unbalanced RCA jacks for unbalanced line output and balanced XLR connectors for balanced line output- Pin 1: Ground, Pin 2: + signal, Pin 3: - signal Digital Output Connection The digital output jack passes your digital sources data stream directly to a digital recorder like a Mini Disc, DAT, DCC or CD-R. Use only digital quality cable for this RCA connection. AC Power Cord Your D/AC-1100 HD has an IEC standard detachable power cord that has been specially selected for its contribution to the sound quality of this unit. Try to connect only this cord directly to a nearby AC wall outlet and avoid extension cords or connection to accessory outlets on your preamp.

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-3- Operating Your D/AC-1100 HD Power Switch Push the upper section of the button to turn on; lower section for off. Input Select Buttons and LEDs The four input select buttons correspond to the four input connectors on the rear panel: Coaxial, ST, TOSlink, and AES/EBU. Press any of these buttons to select the desired digital source. An LED will illuminate to indicate which digital source is selected. Polarity Invert Button and LED This button allows you to select between 0° normal operation and 180° inverted polarity. Even if you know if your preamplifier and power amplifier are inverting or non-inverting designs, you have no way to know which of your CDs may have been recorded with inverted absolute polarity. Absolute polarity means the + and - of both channels are reproduced so the compression wave of an initial musical attack correlates to the compression wave (+) from outgoing speaker diaphragm motion rather than rarefaction (-) of in-going speaker diaphragm motion. Your choice of 0° or 180° polarity will be strictly a matter of taste. It may be easier to detect differences between 0° and 180° polarity with some recordings than with others. Dont be discouraged if you cannot hear the difference; not everyone can identify absolute polarity. HDCD LED If you play a CD that has been encoded with the HDCD process, this LED will illuminate. This LED will remain off on standard recordings. Sampling Frequency LEDs Your D/AC-1100HD will recognize the digital signal of whatever type of digital source you connect and will switch to the correct sampling rate automatically. The 44.1 Hz sampling rate is standard for compact discs. 32 Hz is for digital broadcast; 48 Hz is for DAT. De-Emphasis LED Some digital recordings are encoded with pre-emphasis contouring. Your D/AC-1100 HD automatically recognizes and processes them. An LED will indicate that the recording is being de-emphasized. Burning-In Your D/AC-1100 HD Like most other great audio components, your D/AC-1100 HD needs to operate for at least 72 hours before it will start sounding its best. This allows the materials of various internal parts to form so they can better process the complexities of musical waveforms. While your unit will sound spectacular right out of the carton, you will find it worthwhile to listen again after a few days. You will discover details in your music you may not have guessed were there. Maintaining Your D/AC-1100 HD Your D/AC-1100 HD requires no routine maintenance. We recommend that you remove and twist the various RCA connections once a year to remove any corrosion buildup on plugs and jacks. Make sure the power is turned off before attempting this. Its not a bad idea to do this to each of your other components while you are at it. Never use any abrasive cleaner on the front panel or top cover that may scratch or disfigure them. Use only a soft cloth moistened with clear water or Windex to remove fingerprints.