Mark Levinson N40 manual

Nº40 Media Console Owner’ s Manual[...]

i 1. Read these instructions 2. Keep thes e instructi ons. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. Follow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water . 6. Clean only with a dr y cloth. 7. Do not bloc k ventilatio n openings. Ins tall in ac cordance with the manufacturer’ s instructions. 8. Do not install near any heat sour ces such as radiators, h[...]

ii FCC Notice This equipment has been tested and found to co mply with the limits for a Class B digi tal device, pur- sua nt to p ar t 15 of t he FCC Ru le s. T he se l imi ts are designed to provide reaso nable protection ag ainst harmful interference in a residential installation . T his equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency [...]

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iv T able of Contents Section 1: Getting Started Document Conventions .................... .............. .............. .... 1-1 Special De sign Featur es ... .............. .............. ............. ....... 1-2 Modular Design ............................ .......................... .......... 1-2 Extraordinary Flexibility ......................[...]

v Table of Contents Mark Levinson Section 3: Rear Panel Operation Video Processor Rear Panel ................. .............. .............. 3-1 Composite Inputs ..................... .......................... ............... 3-2 Video Input Expansion ............................................ .......... 3-3 S-Video Inputs ......................[...]

vi Nº40 Media Console Table of Contents Standby button ................................. .......................... ..... 4-6 Battery Compartment ........................ .......................... ..... 4-6 Section 5: Menu System Overview .............. .............. ............. .............. .............. .... 5-1 Navigating The Menus .....[...]

vii Table of Contents Mark Levinson Surround Options ......................... .......................... ........ 5-51 Output Zones Menu ............ ................ .............. ............ 5-53 Main Zone Name ......................................... ................... 5-53 Default Video System ......................................... ....[...]

1-1 Getting Started Document Conventions This document contains gene ral sa fety , installation and operation instructions for the Nº40Reference Preamplifier Phono Modules. It is important to read this document before attempting to use this product. Please pay particular a ttention to safety instru ctions. Appears on the component to indicate the [...]

1-2 Getting Started Mark Levinson Special Design Featur es Modular Design As seen from the rear panel, perhaps the most obvious c haracteris- tic of the Nº40 is its extraordinary modularity . Both the audio processor and the vi deo processor are built on “card cage” des igns that maximize hardware flexibili ty now and in the future. W hile mor[...]

1-3 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started stereo analog outputs, a digi tal audio o utput, and a zone- specific IR input for control pu rposes • 2 PHASTLink™-compatible communications ports • 2 RS-232 communicat ions ports • 3 programmable DC triggers • 1 main zone infrared input jack Of course, an e xpandable, modula r design does litt le [...]

1-4 Getting Started Mark Levinson Sound profiles capture the many ch aracteristics you can define for a particular activity , and make th em availa ble at the pu sh of a butto n. In fact, you can even set up the Nº40 so that you need not even push the button. Instead, yo u can associate a profile with either a particular type of audio s ignal (for[...]

1-5 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started Significantly , this remarkably effective jitter-reject ion circuit ry is used for all digital si gnals, on all paths. Remote and rec ord zones also benefit from the sonic improv ements of th e Intelligent FIFO. Digital pr ocessing Digital processing of the signal in the main zone is performed by four powerfu[...]

1-6 Getting Started Mark Levinson Digital to analog conversion Digital to analog conversion is also done at an extr aordinarily high level, as you would expect. The main zone uses a special Lev inson- developed implement ation of the Anal og Devices AD1853, a new multibit Si gma/Delta convert er . In fact, each o f the eight ma in output channels u[...]

1-7 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started Movie sound tra cks are mixed in special movie thea ters called dubbing stages, and ar e designed to be played back in movie theatres wi th similar equi pment and conditions. This same sound track is then transferred directly onto Laserdisc, VHS tape, DVD, etc., and is not changed for playb ack in a small hom[...]

1-8 Getting Started Mark Levinson In a movie theater , film sound trac ks that have be en encoded with Dolby Dig ital Surround EX technolo gy are able to reproduce an extra channel which has been added during the mixing of the program. This channel, cal led Surround Back, places sounds behind the listener in addition to the cu rrently available fro[...]

1-9 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started BGC (Boundary Gain Compensation) If your chosen listening position result s in most of the listeners being close to the rear wall, the resulti ng bass level can be suffi- ciently reinfor ced by the bound ary that the overall sound qualit y “booms” too much. THX Ultra2 provides the Boundary Gain Compensati[...]

1-10 Getting Started Mark Levinson The analog backplane, as discussed, rivals the finest matrix switc h- ers used in the professional vide o world. In addition, the Nº4 0 has a standard definition dig ital video back- plane, and a dedicated high def inition digital video backpla ne. The standard defi nition digital video backplane is use d for rou[...]

1-11 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started Installation Considerations The Nº40 Media Consol e requires special care during install ation to ensure optimal performance. Pay parti cular attention to instruc- tions included in this sectio n and to precautions i ncluded throughout this owne r’ s manual. Unpacking The Nº40 Media Console is a two-comp[...]

1-12 Getting Started Mark Levinson In the Nº40 Audio Pr ocessor carton: Pr oduct Registration Please register the Nº40 within 15 days of purchase. T o do so, regis- ter online at www .marklevin son.com or complete and return the included product registration card. Retain the original, dated s ales receipt as proof of warranty coverage. Placement [...]

1-13 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started DO NOT install either Nº40 chassis near unshielded TV or FM antennas, cable TV decoders, and other RF-emitting devices that might cause interference. DO NOT place either Nº40 chassis on a windowsill or in another location in which it will be exposed to direct sunli ght. DO NOT obstruct the IR receiver/tra [...]

1-14 Getting Started Mark Levinson Power Requir ements Mark Levinson products are factory-set for 100V , 120V , 220V , 230V or 240V AC mains operati on at either 50 or 60Hz, based on the country for which they are manuf actured. If you have more t han one cir cuit feeding the system with power , please ask your electrici an to ensure that they are [...]

1-15 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started While Reading the Manual... The following bri ef introducti onto the Nº40 Media Console assumes that your installer has alre ady programmed the system for you. For co mplete informa tion on us ing your Nº40 and customiz - ing it to suit your individual pr eferences, please con tinue reading this manual. W [...]

1-16 Getting Started Mark Levinson Surr ound Mode Once you have selected the sour ce and set the volume, you may find that a different s urround sound process ing mode would better complement the mate rial you ar e pl aying. The surround mode knob (and the surround mode rock er switch on the remote) gives you access to all availa ble and ap propria[...]

1-17 Nº40 Media Console Getting Started easy . Y ou might have two defined inputs labeled “DVD-Film” and “DVD-Music” that would automatical ly configure the system for either music or movies, depending on the type of disc you put i n your DVD player . Zone The standard configuration of the Nº40 is as a three zone system. This means that y[...]

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2-1 Vi deo Pr ocessor Fr ont Panel Figur e 2-1: Video Pr ocessor fr ont panel. 1. Power (AC Mains) b utton 2. Input Select knob 3. LCD display 4. Zone knob 5. IR window 6. Preview b utton 7. Display Mode bu tton 8. Menu Select button 9. Enter bu tton 10. Standby B utton & LED indica tor standby Fr ont Panel Operation 2[...]

2-2 Front Panel Operation Mark Levinson Power (AC Mains) button The power button disconnects the Nº 40 video processor from the AC mains. If you plan to be away for an ex tended period, or have any other reason to turn the sy stem completely off, y ou can either unplug your components, or use the powe r buttons on your various Mark Levinson compon[...]

2-3 Nº40 Media Console Front Panel Operation • T o “cue up” the ne xt video source prior to sending the sig nal to the ma in displ ay; • T o monitor what is happe ning on any Remote or Record zones (“RZones”). The behavior of the LCD display is affected by the pref erence setting found in the User opti ons menu. See “Menu System” o[...]

2-4 Front Panel Operation Mark Levinson the next level. Please refer to “Menu System” on page 5-1 for more information. IR window As with most contempo rar y electronic products, the Nº40 c an be controlled by its included in frared remote control. (Se e “Remote Control” on page 4 -1 for more details.) The i nfrared sensor is located behin[...]

2-5 Nº40 Media Console Front Panel Operation Display Mode button Pressing this button repeated ly wi ll toggle t he LCD display of the Nº40 between always on and preview only . If you want the LCD display to reflect whatever the currently selected zone activity is, leave i t in always on mode. Th is allows you to use the LCD display as a small se[...]

2-6 Front Panel Operation Mark Levinson Once you have reached the end of any particular branch of the menu system, there will be some value assigned to the item you are editing. This could be a user pr eference set ting, or the speak er output leve l calibratio n value, or a nything else in the system. Once you have mod ified the value of a given m[...]

2-7 Nº40 Media Console Front Panel Operation Audio Pr ocessor Fr ont Panel Figur e 2-2: Audio Pr ocessor fr ont panel. 1. Power (AC Mains) button 2. Surround Mode knob 3. Alpha-Numeric display 4. V olume knob 5. Sound Profil e button 6. Display Intensity but ton 7. Recall button 8. Balance button 9. Mute button & LED indicator 10. Standby Butt[...]

2-8 Front Panel Operation Mark Levinson your components, or you can use the power buttons on your various Mark Levi nson components. When first connec ted to the AC mains, t he audio and the v ideo portions of the Nº40 run extensiv e self-diagnostics before they respond to your commands. Pleas e wait until the standby LED i ndi- cators on both uni[...]

2-9 Nº40 Media Console Front Panel Operation this, turn the surround mo de knob . For more information on sound profiles and their use, please refe r to “Advanced Features” on page 7-1. Alpha-Numeric Display The central window of the Nº 40 audio processor cont ains two rows of twelve alpha-numeric characters. This t ext-based display provides[...]

2-10 Front Panel Operation Mark Levinson Display Intensity Button Pressing this button will cycle th rough severa l levels of illumina- tion on the front panels of the Nº4 0, including both the alpha- numeric display and t he LCD display , as well as the various LED indicato rs. The availa ble bright ness level s are High, Med ium, Low , and Off. [...]

2-11 Nº40 Media Console Front Panel Operation • Surrounds Adjusts the level of the surrou nd channels , (normally at the sides of the ro om) relative to t he other channels. • Surround Backs Adjusts the level of the su rround back channels, relati ve to the other channels. (Note that this ba lance item can change depending o n your speaker set[...]

2-12 Front Panel Operation Mark Levinson System” on page 5-1 for informat ion on changing the factory default setting.) Standby Button and LED Indicator When power is first applied to the Nº40 audio processor (the unit is plugged in and the AC mains swit ch is pressed), it initializes through a self-tes t and establishes commu nications with the[...]

4-1 Figur e 4-1: Remote Control. 1. Navigation cluster 2. Enter bu tton 3. Menu button 4. Input Select rocker button 5. Surround Mode rocker button 6. V o lume rocker bu tton 7. Sound Profile but ton 8. Balance b utton 9. Mute button 10. F1, F2, F3 keys 11. Light butto n[...]

4-2 Remote Control Mark Levinson 12. Standby button 13. Battery compartm ent (on rear-bott om of remote contro l) Navigation Cluster The up, down, left and ri ght buttons are most of ten used to move around within the menu system of the Nº40. For exam- ple, if you want to move to the right to see a submen u under a currently selected menu item, pr[...]

4-3 Nº40 Media Console Remote Control Surr ound Mode Rocker Button The surround mode rocker button cycles through the list of available surround modes, in eith er direction (based on which end of the rocker yo u press). It duplicates the function of t he surround mode kno b on the front panel. As with that knob, the list of ava ilable surr ound mo[...]

4-4 Remote Control Mark Levinson When a profile is sele cted manually using either the front panel sound profile b utton or the profile button o n the remote control, th e Nº40 will rem ain in th at profile un til either a di ffer- ent profile or a different input is selected. ( Specifically , changes in the nature of the incoming signal that migh[...]

4-5 Nº40 Media Console Remote Control the relative volume of some subset of your speakers to meet your requirements. There is another in cremental change you c an make to the “balance” of Nº40 a udio processing. By press ing and holding the balance button, yo u can alter the relative delays of the various speakers in your system. This can be [...]

4-6 Remote Control Mark Levinson Light button Press the Light button to il lumina te the label on the Nº4 0 remote control with a soft blue-green l ight. The illuminated l abelling of the remote makes it con siderably easier t o use in a darkened room. After a few seconds, the backlighting will t urn off to conserve battery power . Standby button [...]

3-1 Vi deo Pr ocessor Rear Panel Figur e 3-1: Video Pr ocessor rear panel. 1. Composite In put Card (slo t 1) 2. Video input expansion (slot 2) 3. S-Video Input cards (slots 3 – 4) 4. Component In put cards (slo ts 5 – 7) 5. V ideo input expansion 6. V ideo RZone expansion (slots 9 – 10) 7. V ideo RZone cards (slots 1 1 – 12) 8. Serial numb[...]

3-2 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson 11. Main compon ent video output s 12. Monitor output 13. PHASTLink- c ompatible control ports 14. RS-232 co ntrol ports 15. Nº40 communications port 16. DC triggers 17. IR input The Mark Levin son Nº40 Media Cons ole uses a card ca ge design for several reasons. One important advant age of the card cage des[...]

3-3 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Figur e 3-2: Composite Input Car d. W e suggest using high quality 75 Ω video cables for all yo ur video connections. Connect any composite video o utputs that you plan to use from your video components to these composite video inputs on the Nº40. Keep track of which sour ce components are plugged int[...]

3-4 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson Figur e 3-4: Co mp o ne nt Input Car d. These three wires contain a single luminance signal (a black-and- white version o f the picture), along with two colo r difference signals. The color , or chrominance, “compone nts” of component video are sometimes called by diff erent names, but for your purposes th[...]

3-5 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Figur e 3-5: Video RZone Card. The RZones are counted fr om right to lef t; hence sl ot 11 is rese rved for RZone 2, and s lot 12 is rese rved for RZone 1. Each card include s an S-video out put, a composite v ideo output on an RCA connector , and a dedicated i nfrared (IR) input that is specific to the [...]

3-6 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson delay to initialize and run some self -diagnostics, t he Nº40 will b e ready for initial setup and us e. Please wait until their st andby LEDs begin blinking together , indicating that the initialization and self- test routines are complete and the system has en tered standby . The Nº40 is designed to be lef[...]

3-7 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation video) is don e automatically . All the main video output s on the Nº40 are active at all times. Figur e 3-9: Main component outputs. Connect this main compo nent output to an appropriate displ ay device (or external vi deo processo r) as needed. Several BNC-to-RCA adapters are include with your Nº40 i[...]

3-8 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson chain them in a similar wa y . These are fully bidirectional ports, and the order in whi ch they are conn ected is not importan t. The RJ-45 cable needed for th e connection between the N º40 and other PHAST -compatible Mark Levin son components can be purcha sed from your Mark Levinson dealer . It can also b[...]

3-9 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Figur e 3-12: RS-232 ports pin connecti ons. Nº40 Communications Port The two “halves ” of the Nº40 (the video processor an d the audio processor) need to be able to “talk to each other” i n order to coordi- nate their efforts. The Nº 40 communications port on each component is reserved for th[...]

3-10 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson Figur e 3-14: IR input tip polarity . Y our Mark Levins on dealer can he lp you take advanta ge of these design features to maximize the versati lity of your system. 5 - 12 vo lts pos i t i ve t i p pol ari t y[...]

3-11 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Audio Pr ocessor Rear Panel Figur e 3-15: Audio Processor r ear panel. 1. Balanced analog i nput (slot 1) 2. Audio input expansion (slot 2) 3. Single-e nded analog inputs (slo ts 3 – 4) 4. AES/EBU and S/PDIF on BNC d igital inputs (slot 5) 5. SPDIF on RCA and EIA -J digital inputs (slots 6 – 7) 6. A[...]

3-12 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson 13. Aux 1 and aux 2 main analog o utputs (slot D) Balanced Anal og Input As shipped from the factory , slot 1 is normal ly used for a b alanced analog input. This input accept s right -channel and left-channel signals from sour ce equipment with balanced output s. Figur e 3-16: Balanced Analog Input. The pin [...]

3-13 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation AES/EBU and S/PDIF on BNC Digital Inputs As shipped from the factory , slot 5 is normal ly used for a digital input card that i ncludes two AES/EBU connections o n XLR and one S/PDIF connection on a BNC connector . The top two connectors (connect ors 1 & 2) accept di gital audio in the professional [...]

3-14 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson Figure 3-19: S/PDIF on RCA & EIA-J. Connectors 1-3 o n each card ac cept digital au dio conforming to the 75 Ω S/PDIF digital interface standa rd (via 75 Ω cables equipped with RCA-type connectors) fro m a digital satell ite receiver , compact disc, DVD or other digital source component. Connect the 7[...]

3-15 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Connect either (or both) of the audi o outputs to your intended remote zone system or audio reco rder , according to your system design.These audio outputs can easily drive extremely long lengths of h igh quality cable; howeve r , as with any audio signal, long cable runs really require excellent qualit[...]

3-16 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson If additional DSP power should become necessary at some point in the future to perform yet more aud io processing tasks, it is possible to a dd an additi onal four SHAR Cs to this ca rd. However , this is not necessary at this time as the Nº40 alread y has a tremendo us amount of DSP powe r . IEC Power Input[...]

3-17 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Figur e 3-23: Fr ont LR analog outputs. The pin assignments of the XL R-type male outputs conform to the international AES standard, and are as follows: Refer to your power amplifier op erating manual to verify that the pin assignments of its input connectors correspond t o this description. If not, wir[...]

3-18 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson If you have a variety of amplif iers from different compani es, particular care must be tak en to ensure that all the speakers are “in phase” with each other , sinc e some of the amplifiers them- selves may in vert polarity . High quality s ingle-ended outputs on Levins on-designed RCA connectors are also[...]

3-19 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation Aux 1 & Aux 2 Main Analog Outputs All eight of t he main zone analog outputs of the Nº 40 audio processor are available in both balanced (XLR) and single-ended (RCA) form. On any gi ven channel, you can use either (or both) as dictated by you r system requirements. Figur e 3-26:Aux 1&2 o utputs[...]

3-20 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson Optional Equipment W e believe that the Mark Levinson Nº40 with its standard equip- ment complemen t will meet the needs of almost ev ery owner . However , there is ample room fo r further expansion of the plat- form, should you want to cu stomize your N º40 fu rther . W e have listed the optional equipm en[...]

3-21 Nº40 Media Console Rear Panel Operation has significant on-board DSP re so urces for doing decoding an d downmixing as needed. •S l o t 1 2 This slot is reserved for the main zone digital signal processing and the co mmunicat ions with the Nº40 vide o processo r . Although this card can be upgra d ed (if necessary at some point in the futu[...]

3-22 Rear Panel Operation Mark Levinson operate properly for all of your audio sour ces. If you ne ed a Six Channel Analog Input Card, pleas e contact your authorized Mark Levinson deale r .[...]

5-1 Overview The Mark Levinson Nº40 Me dia Console includes a compre hensive and sophisticated graphical menu sy stem that serves several critical function s: • it provides for initial confi guratio n of the system with regard to speakers, crossover, multiple zo nes, and de fining inputs base d on your sour ce components • it allows you to def[...]

5-2 Menu System Mark Levinson the system will be t o start at the top, and simply work your way through. This is import ant, sinc e selections you make early on affect the options you are subseque ntly given. For example, how you elect to use yo ur auxiliary chan nels (aux 1 and aux 2) will alt er many menu items further on in th e menu system that[...]

5-3 Nº40 Media Console Menu System T ry to re member this “branch” and “leaf” idea. W e will come back to it in a few moments. Using the up/down buttons on th e remote control (or the zone knob on the vi deo processor), you can move the highl ighted item among any of menu items at th e c urrent level of the menu. Press the right arrow butt[...]

5-4 Menu System Mark Levinson Fr ont panel menu navigation Sometimes it is more convenient to navigate the menu system of the Nº40 from the front panel, rath er than from the remote control. The controls on the front panel you n eed to use are as follows: •M e n u The menu button on the front panel o f the Nº40 vide o proces- sor performs exact[...]

5-5 Nº40 Media Console Menu System The About... Scr een The first screen you see in the set up menu consists of a column of icons (each of which represents a major area within the setup menu) and a large field to the right of those icons that contains certain information about your Mark Levinson Nº40. W e call t his fiel d of infor mation the Nº[...]

5-6 Menu System Mark Levinson Speakers Menu The first thing you need to tell your Nº40 Med ia Console about i s the speakers with which it has to work. The Nº40 has remarkably powerful and flexible bass mana geme nt capabilities that a llow it to redirect deep bass away from any speaker than cannot easily repro- duce it, to those that c an. In ad[...]

5-7 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Note that in many systems, thes e speakers can be describ ed as “side” speakers. W e have elected to use the stan dard nomenclature as advocated by Lucasfilm for th eir Home THX® Audio System and Surround•EX technologies. The Nº40 support s many possible system configurations, and us in g industry-standar[...]

5-8 Menu System Mark Levinson If there is information that would normally be presente d to the au x outputs (for example, in a Surroun d•EX sound track) , this setting will cause it t o be redirected to the available pair of surround speakers to ensure that you do not miss anything in the soundtrack. Extra mono subwoofer only Select the “extra [...]

5-9 Nº40 Media Console Menu System T o summa rize, in this s etting: • The subwoofer channel beco mes the right sub channel • The aux 1 channel remains unused • The aux 2 channel becomes the left sub channel. One surr ound back speaker If your system requires only a su rround back (Sb) in addition to the standard 5.1 channels (front left, fr[...]

5-10 Menu System Mark Levinson • The aux 1 channel becomes t he surround back right channel (sbr) • The aux 2 channel becomes t he surround back left channel (sbl). THX recommends that these s peake rs be placed together , facing forward at the rear of the room for best Advanced Speaker Array effect s as ind icated below : Figur e 5-3: Setup fo[...]

5-11 Nº40 Media Console Menu System W e have omitted indicating where the sub woofer is located in these drawings, since no one subwoofer l o cation is always going to be optimal in all rooms. The surround back speakers can be used to reproduce Su rround•EX surround informa tion, and other s imilar information on non- encoded material (such as D[...]

5-12 Menu System Mark Levinson settings, indicated by “sub #1” an d “sub # 2” in the menu system when this option is selected. Surr ound back and left subwoofer Some installations require separate left and right subwoof ers, rather than two mono subwoofers. This is partly a matter of preference, and sometimes a matter of speaker des ign phi[...]

5-13 Nº40 Media Console Menu System over slope that ought to be u sed. Thus, you have independent control over the crossover characte ristics for each of the following groups: • Front left and front right •C e n t e r • Surround left and surround right • Any surround back channel( s) you have elected to use. For each of these logical group[...]

5-14 Menu System Mark Levinson the sum of all active channel s for whatever is being played in the main zone, and is a full b andwidth mono signal. An appropriate low pass filter must be applied to th is signal before it i s reproduced, presumably in the subwo ofer’ s own electro nics. (Note that to ensure that all in formation is reproduced in t[...]

5-15 Nº40 Media Console Menu System ASA back separation If you have two back spea kers, the Nº40 needs to get an indication of how far apart they are in order to implement the Ad vanced Speaker Array technology of THX Ultra2 Cinema and THX Music Mode. Y ou will be given the following opt ions: • T ogether: Separation is less than 1 foot ( <0[...]

5-16 Menu System Mark Levinson Line with a blinking cursor on the currently active character . A keyboard with characte rs and operations to select is shown with one highligh ted character 3. Rotate the zone knob and the in put select knob (or use the up/ down arrows on the remote) to move the highli ght to the desired character or operation and pr[...]

5-17 Nº40 Media Console Menu System speaker over another , adjust the o utput levels of each speaker in turn to 75 d B SPL (C-weigh ted, slow). (T he Nº40 wil l automati cally generate appropriate test signals when you move into the section of the menu in which you can adjust ou tput levels.) When adjusting t he subwoofer leve l, be sure to move [...]

5-18 Menu System Mark Levinson turned up fairly high, it is easy to imagine the woofer being taken beyond it s limits. W ith the bass peak limit control, you a re given an opportunity to establish a maximum volume beyond which you do not w ant your subwoofers to go. If you are reasonably judicious wit h your main volume con trol during listening, y[...]

5-19 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Sound Pr ofile Menu This section of the Nº40 Setup Me nu allows you to crea te custom- ized sound profile s that suit yo ur needs. Once defined, you can cycle through them using the profile butto n on the re mote co ntrol or the sound profi le button on the au dio processor’ s front panel. People often want t[...]

5-20 Menu System Mark Levinson 1. Select the name me nu item. 2. Press enter (or right arrow , on the remote). Invokes the keyboard window . The current name is displayed in the Name Line with a blinking cu rsor on the currently active character . A keyboard with charact ers and operations to select is shown with one highlighted character 3. Rotate[...]

5-21 Nº40 Media Console Menu System change. The profile will then ma k e no change to the current listening po sition. If all of yo ur pr ofiles are set to no change, then the Nº40 will power up to the first listening position and the listening position is only changed in the audio controls me nu or through a direct command. Multichannel Signal T[...]

5-22 Menu System Mark Levinson of Dolby Pro Logic II and the mode is ca lled Surround Plus + THX Cinema. On e or two surro und back speakers are require d. •T H X U l t r a 2 C i n e m a Use THX Advanced Speaker Array tec hnology to create t he Surround and Back chann els from the surround l eft and surround right channels. Add THX cinema process[...]

5-23 Nº40 Media Console Menu System The Nº40 provides a variety of processing option s for two channel material. They include: •2 - c h S t e r e o Used to play the t wo-channel signal in its nativ e state through the front left and front right sp eakers. Note that if y ou have specified a crossover and subwoofer , it will still be u sed in thi[...]

5-24 Menu System Mark Levinson rial that was not specificall y encoded for Dolby Pro Logic play- back. • Dolby Pro Logic II Movie with THX The same decoding as Dolby Pr o Logic II Movie, but with the addition of THX post proce ssing: re-equalization of the front channels, and decorrelation and timbre-mat ching of the surrounds. • Dolby Pro Logi[...]

5-25 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • Mono on Fronts Places the same mono information i n both the left and right speakers, creating a “phan tom” center image that some people prefer to using th e center speaker o nly . • Mono Surround FetaldD0.0015 TToTws wh2.006 4.8193.3(n)-0003 Tw[(Pl)5[...]

5-26 Menu System Mark Levinson The solution makes use of some s pecific information provi ded by Dolby Digit al sound trac ks to provide some degree of co mpression to reduce the dynamic ran ge to so mething more appropriate to the environm ent. Since th is featu re depends on informa tion only avail- able within Dolby Digital sound tracks, i t is [...]

5-27 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • 30-100 H z A normal, compleme ntary crossove r , available in 10 Hz incre- ments. In the normal setting, yo ur subwoo fer will reproduce whatever the main front stereo speake rs are not reproducing . For example, if you change the crossover for the front left and front right speakers to 40 Hz, the subwoofer [...]

5-28 Menu System Mark Levinson If an aux use option that included a single surround back (Sb) speaker is selected, the followi n g options are available for that speaker’ s use: •O f f Do not use the surround back speaker . • SurroundPlus The back speaker gets a scaled sum of the l eft surround and right surround channels to su pplem ent the [...]

5-29 Nº40 Media Console M169[...]

5-30 Menu System Mark Levinson •N o c h a n g e The trigge r remains in whatever st ate it was in prior to switch - ing to this sound profile. •T r i g g e r o n The trigger supplies a positive volt age to its output jack. •T r i g g e r o f f The trigger supplies zero volts to its out put jack. See “Audio Processor Rear Panel” on page 3-[...]

5-31 Nº40 Media Console Menu System The Define Input Menu As can be seen from the rear panel diagrams and explanations earlier in this manual , the Nº40 Media Console in cludes a plethora of connectors and options for hooking up sour ce components. The Define Inputs menu specifies how you w ant to use the available hardware, and gives you several[...]

5-32 Menu System Mark Levinson 4. Repeat steps 1 - 3 to fill in th e name. 5. T o end the editing sessio n, use the save or quit operations. The menu button also performs the quit operati on directly . Audio The audio parameter defin es which audio con nection (or connec- tions) you want to ass ociate with this parti cular input. There are some cas[...]

5-33 Nº40 Media Console Menu System 3. Rotate the zone knob ( or use the up/down arrows on the remote) to select the audio input (first, second or third priori ty) that you want to define or edit 4. Press enter (or right arrow , on the remote) to select that input for editing. Y ou will see a graphic of the rear panel of the audio process or , com[...]

5-34 Menu System Mark Levinson W e also specify video input connectors verbally by a simple “slot & connector” system. The slot numbers are engraved along the ed ge of the top cover of each processor , and the connectors are numbered from top to bottom on each card. Thus “slot 3, connector 1” is the first connector d own on the card sit[...]

5-35 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Analog Input Offset If you have an analog connection associ ated with the input you are defining, you can set an analog in put offset that will be imple- mented for tha t connection when ever it is used. This adjustment serves two purposes: it allows you t o match the per ceived volume of all the analog sour ces[...]

5-36 Menu System Mark Levinson 4. Continue to monitor the recording through one or two more loud passages to ensure t hat the ADC does not clip; save the new default value by pressing en ter . Whenever you select this input in the future, this setting will b e loaded for you to protect against harsh-sounding ADC over- load. Main Audio Delay There i[...]

5-37 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Some videophiles, howev er , mig ht prefer to have t he video signal pass throug h the Nº40 with a bar e minimum of processi ng. For this reason, a video path opti on was included in the d efine inputs menu system. The options are as follows: •N o r m a l The “pass-through” feature is turned off, and t he[...]

5-38 Menu System Mark Levinson to do this is by us ing a test DVD such as V ideo Essentials, with your DVD player connected through th e Nº40 wi th all its video input settings at their default val ues. For more informati on, contact your dealer or visit http://www .video essentials.com/ on the Internet. Once you r television is properly adjusted,[...]

5-39 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Sharpness The sharpness control is an i np ut-specific version of the same control on your televi sion. It controls the amount of “sharpness enhancement” th at is applied to the incoming signal. (Note that indiscriminate use of the sharpness control only distorts the picture by adding ringing and noise to th[...]

5-40 Menu System Mark Levinson Note that the tint control is only ava ilable to composite and S- video inputs; it is not availabl e to component inputs (and should not be needed for such sources, in any event). Vide o fi lt er The video filt er is a digital vide o noise reduction fi lter that is avail - able on a sour ce-by-source b asis. It is mos[...]

5-41 Nº40 Media Console Menu System you change your mind ab out deleting it, press menu to cancel the action. (Y ou can always re-create the input if you make a mi stake.) Move This Input Y ou can change the order of your inputs in the list so that y our most used ones are near the top of the list. T o do so, go to the input submenu and select the[...]

5-42 Menu System Mark Levinson The Audio Defaults Menu The audio defaults menu allows you to direct the Nº4 0 to automati- cally switch to a particul ar soun d profile when ever it senses a particular type of incoming audio signal. Any sound profile selection based on th e input definition de scribed in the previous section overrides this setting.[...]

5-43 Nº40 Media Console Menu System[...]

5-44 Menu System Mark Levinson to place identical information in each of two “stereo” chann els, creating an oxymoron: the mono, two-channel recording . The Nº40 does not compare channels of two-c hannel recordings to determine whether or not they ar e mono. Thus the selection yo u make here appl ies only to D olby Digital 1.0 recordings th at[...]

5-45 Nº40 Media Console Menu System The User Options Menu The user options menu is where you can change m any aspe cts of the routine ope ration of the Nº 40 Media Conso le to suit your in di- vidual tastes. It als o includes support for a certain amount of custom-install ation options th at can vary depending on asso ciated equipment in the syst[...]

5-46 Menu System Mark Levinson • Absolute On a scale of 0.0 (no sound) to 80.0 (extremely loud) • Relative On a scale which is measured “plus or minus,” relative to the calib rated refere nce volume ( estab- lished during calibration). As an example, if your calibrated reference lev el is 70, the display would read 0 in the relati ve mode w[...]

5-47 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • Sound profile T o display the current sound profile wh enever it change s. • Surround mode T o display the current surroun d mode wheneve r it changes. •I n p u t s i g n a l T o display the current input s ignal, e.g., Dolby Di gital, DTS, etc., whenever it changes. • Signal info T o display informati[...]

5-48 Menu System Mark Levinson •M e n u s & M e s s a g e s Both full-fledged menus like the setup menu itself and the tran- sitory messages as define d above will be dis played on the main output. •M e n u s o n l y Messages will be suppressed from the main ou tput, but menus will still b e available. • Messages only Menus will be suppre[...]

5-49 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Main text position Modern video systems ne ed to accommodate a wide v ariety of aspect ratios, ra nging from an al most-square 1.3 3:1 to an extr eme 2.35:1 for some movies. This wide variation of aspect ratios can sometimes lead to menus and messages being displayed on a portion of the screen you c annot actual[...]

5-50 Menu System Mark Levinson •E n t e r The enter function performs exactly as the enter butto n on the remote control would. •Z o n e k n o b The Nº40 video proce ssor’ s front panel zone knob ( the knob adjacent to the menu and enter butto ns) operates in the same fashion as the up/down butt ons on the remote control, allow- ing you to e[...]

5-51 Nº40 Media Console Menu System T riggers 1, 2, 3 E a c h o f t h e t h r e e D C t r i g g e r s p r o v i d e d o n t h e r e a r p a n e l o f t h e N º 4 0 Vi deo Processor can be prog rammed in two regards: o utput level and activation condit ion: •O u t p u t Either 5 volts or 12 volts across the output jack, continuously present when[...]

5-52 Menu System Mark Levinson Selected modes are indica ted by a change in the color and a + next to their names. Tw o c h a n n e l This allows you to choose which modes are available, when a two ch a nn e l i n pu t, s uc h as P CM f ro m a C D pl ay e r or Do l by 2 .0 i s b e in g processed. Select this option in the menu and t hen select each[...]

5-53 Nº40 Media Console Menu System Output Zones Menu The last major area of the set up menu system is the Output zones menu. In it, you spec ify certain detai ls of the output s ignals of the Nº40, which can va ry by zone. For example, the mai n zone may need a global audi o delay in order to maintain “lip sync” wi th the video. This is ofte[...]

5-54 Menu System Mark Levinson • cap T oggles the characte rs between capital and small letters • save Saves the current Name Line and returns to the menu • quit Returns to the menu without saving the Name Line • ––> Moves the c ursor one s pace to the righ t • <–– Moves the cursor one space to the left. 4. Repeat steps 1 - [...]

5-55 Nº40 Media Console Menu System that uses RG B informat ion with a se parate, compo site sync c onnec- tion. If you require this sort of output for your televis ion, please use a BNC-to-SCART adapter cable (ask your dealer about this if you do not have one), connecting the RGB BNCs as indicated on the rear panel of the Nº40, and connect ing t[...]

5-56 Menu System Mark Levinson The goal here is to make sure you can always see t he information you want to see from the Nº40, while mini mizing the chance s of obscuring information from other components. Message Backdr op On-screen messages can be pres ented in either of two ways: • None – using white message text on a tr ansparent backgrou[...]

5-57 Nº40 Media Console Menu System •L e f t / r i g h t a u d i o A normal , stereo sign al in whic h informa tion from the left si de of the room go es to the left speak er , and information from t he right side of the room goes to the right speaker . Ce nter channel informat ion is spli t equally b etween b oth speake rs so as to create a “[...]

5-58 Menu System Mark Levinson The name of your RZone can be up to twelve characters long ( e.g., “Bedroom,” “Kitchen,” “Den,” or “Record”). W e suggest use names that will be obvious to all who use the system. This name is entered with the keyboard window . T o do so: 1. Select the name me nu item 2. Press enter (or right arrow on [...]

5-59 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • NTSC video is use d for audio/video zon es (either record or remote) that will be used with NTSC video signal s. This setting establishes the format of th e independently-generated on screen display used for t his particular zone. • P AL video is used for audio/ video zones (eit her record or remote) that [...]

5-60 Menu System Mark Levinson Dolby downmix The last it em in the RZo ne menu determ ines the ty pe of Dolby downmix you prefer in this zone when you elect to have a multi- channel recording “mixed down” to only two channel s. Y our choices are: • Left/right audio A normal, stereo signal in which information from the left side of the room go[...]

5-61 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • 16:9 Bottom The last line of text is just above the bottom of a wide screen 16:9 television screen when in its linear letterbox mode; this amounts to a “safe picture area” fo r this application that ensures you can read all the t ext, no matter how you set the aspect ratio of your televis ion. • 4:3 Bo[...]

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5-63 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • Mono Center The mono sig nal is formed by summing the left and right chan- nels. The result is sent ou t the center speaker only . • Mono on Front Spe akers The mono sig nal is formed by summing the left and right chan- nels. The result is sent out al l three front speakers (L,C,R). • Mono Surround The m[...]

5-64 Menu System Mark Levinson • NEO:6 Cinema with THX The same decoding as NEO:6 Cinema, bu t with the addition of THX post processing: re-equa lization and timbre matching filters. • NEO:6 Music Expands ste reo non-mat rix reco rdings into the five- or six- channel layout in a way which does no t diminish the subtle ty and integrity of the or[...]

5-65 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • THX Surround EX Use Dolby P ro Logic II matrix proc essing to create the surrounds and back channels from the surround left and surround right channels. Add TH X cinema post processing. If the multichannel signal is DTS, then DTS NEO:6 is used instead of Dolby Pro Logi c II and the mode is called Surround Pl[...]

5-66 Menu System Mark Levinson adjusted “forward” to get a better balance. Likewise, if a stereo recording is some what too “mono” or “n arrow” sounding, it can be adjusted towa rd the rear to get a mo re enveloping, immersive result. the neutral s ett ing is recommende d as a start- ing point. • Panorama Extends the front stereo imag[...]

5-67 Nº40 Media Console Menu System • Surrounds Adjusts the level of the surrou nd channels , (normally at the sides of the ro om) relative to t he other channels. • Surround Backs Adjusts the level of the su rround back channels, relati ve to the other channels. (Note that this ba lance item can change depending o n your speaker setup.) •L [...]

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6-1 RZones are the secon dary zones that give yo u the flexibility and power to extend the value of yo ur source c omponents beyond one main room. The standard configurat ion of the Nº40 is as a three- zone system, one Main zone and two RZones. This means that you can have the sig nals from any conne cted sour ce component sent to any of the three[...]

6-2 Using the RZones Mark Levinson RZone User Interface The RZones can be cont rolled from the front pane l of your Nº40, from the main zone remo te control, or from a remote IR input on the video RZone card . Fr ont panel RZone interface The zone knob controls wh ich “zone” you are e ither monitoring or controllin g at any point in time. One [...]

7-1 The Mark Levinson Nº40 Media Cons ole is a remarkably powerful and flexible control center for even th e most advanced home en ter- tainment system. Products s uch as this appeal to “power users” who demand the highest possible performance and functionality . Y et they also appeal to people who simply enjoy owning fine prod ucts in general[...]

7-2 Advanced F eatures Mark Levinson Patterns of Use As you live with the system fo r a while, you may n otice certain patterns of use em erging. For example, yo u may use the bal ance control to add a little emphasis to the surroun d and subwoofer channels during action movies to make it more exciting, and then go back to “normal” balance for [...]

7-3 Nº40 Media Console Advanced Features • The listener po sition would be focused squa rely on your favorite chair • 2-channel sig nals would be set to b e reproduced as 2-c h Stereo (which could even turn off the un used amplifiers if you have them Linked and have set “inactive linked amps” accordingly) • Switch your ma in fron t speak[...]

7-4 Advanced F eatures Mark Levinson Input association Y ou can associate individual profiles wit h particular inputs in the define inputs menu. If you almo st always listen to Compac t Discs in stereo surround, associate the appropriate profil e to your CD input. If there is a parti cular reco rding that you prefer to hear differ- ently , you are [...]

7-5 Nº40 Media Console Advanced Features External Contr ol Systems The Nº40 has powerful tools that allow a remarkable degree of auto- mation of the system, i ncluding ancillary products that can b e controlled by the Nº40’ s three DC tr iggers. However , as powerful as it is, it cannot be a replacement fo r a full home auto mation system such[...]

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8-1 Refer any service problems to your Mark Levinson dealer . B efore contacting your dealer , however , c heck to se e if the proble m is listed here. If it is, try the sugge sted soluti ons. If none of these solves the problem, conta ct your Mark Levinson dealer . Startup Sequence The normal startup sequence for the Nº40 Media console is as foll[...]

8-2 Troubleshooting & Maintain ing Mark Levinson LEDs should begin to blink togeth er , indica ting that the system is ready to be turned on an d used. • Check t he Nº40 co mmun ications cable between the two proces- sors. They must be able to commu nicate in or der to oper ate properly . No sound or pictur e, and the LED is blinking slowly [...]

A-1 Specifications Audio Pr ocessor Connectors 6 S/PDIF electrical on RCA inputs 1 S/PDIF electrical on BNC input 2 AES/EBU electrical on XLR inputs 4 EIAJ optical inputs 1 balanced ste reo pair on XLR input 6 single-ended stereo pairs on RCA inputs 6 single-ended multichannel an alog on RCA inputs (option al) 8 balanced on XLR outputs 8 single-end[...]

A-2 Appendix Mark Levinson Digital to Analog Converter T ype Balanced 24/192 mul tibit Σ∆ Maximum Output (XLR) 12V rms Maximum Output (RCA) 6V rms Dynamic Range > 98dB Analog Filter Bessel-tuned, linea r phase to 40 kHz Low-level Linearity Deviation less than 1dB to -100 dB FS (1kHz, 20 bit d ata, 80kHz measurement bandwidth ) V olume Range 8[...]

A-3 Nº40 Media Console Appendix Differ ential phase (pass-thr ough) <0.2° Differ ential phase (thr ough decoder) <1° Differ ential gain (pass- thr ough) <0.3% Differ ential gain (thr ough decoder) <3% Available trigger curr ent 120mA @ 5V per outlet 60mA @ 12V per outlet Power Consumption Audio Processor: Approx 70W Vi deo Processor:[...]

A-4 Appendix Mark Levinson Declaration of Conformity Application of Council Directive(s): 89/336/EEC and 73/23/EEC, as amended Standard(s) to which Conformity is Declar ed: Manufactur er: Harman Specialty Group 3 Oak Park Bedford, MA 01730-1 413 USA The equipment identified here conforms to the Direct ive(s) and Standard(s) speci fied above. T ype [...]

A-5 Nº40 Video Pr ocessor Dimensions Figur e A-1:Nº40 Video Pr ocessor side, top/bottom, and fr ont views.[...]

A-6 Nº40 Audio Pr ocessor Dimensions Figur e A-2: Nº40 Audio Processor side, top/bottom, and fr ont views.[...]

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A-8 Appendix Mark Levinson Figur e A-4: Rack mount instructions Pa rt 2 Each mounted Nº40 pro cessor rack mount kit o ccupies five standard rack units o f height, for a total of ten rac k units for the system.[...]

A-9 Nº40 Media Console Appendix Video Pr ocessor Hookup Chart Please use the following graphic t o help keep track o f where you have connected v arious components. It will mak e defining your inputs to work the way yo u want them to work muc h easier . Figure A-5: Nº40 Video Pr ocessor r ear panel.[...]

A-10 Appendix Mark Levinson Audio Pr ocessor Hookup Chart Please use the following graph ic to help keep track of where you have connected vari ous components. It will make defining your inputs to work the way you want them to work much ea sier . Figur e A-6: Nº40 Audio Pr ocessor rear panel .[...]

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3 Oak Park, Bedford, MA, 01730-1413 USA | Telephone : 781-280-0300 | Fax: 781-2 80-0490 | www.marklevinson.com Customer Servic e Telephone: 781-280-03 00 | Sales Fax: 781-280-0495 | Service Fax: 781-280-0499 Product Shipments: 16 Progress Road, Billerica, MA 01821-5730 USA Part No. 070-630702 | Rev 1 | 01/05[...]