Playback Designs MPS-6 User manual
Version 1.1
MPS-6
Music Playback System
USER MANUAL
EDELWEISS SERIES
MPS-6 User Manual
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MPS-6 User Manual
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IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
Read and follow these instructions and keep this manual in a safe place.
Do not use this apparatus near water.
Do not block any ventilation openings.
Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heaters, or other apparatus (including pre-
amplifiers and amplifiers) that produce heat.
Do not install this apparatus in a confined space such as book cases or closed cabinets.
Unplug this apparatus from the mains during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of
time.
CAUTION
This product is a Class 1 laser product.
There is no hazardous invisible laser radiation during normal operation, because invisible laser
radiation emitted inside this product is completely confined in the protective housings.
Use of controls or adjustments or performance of procedures other than those specified herein may
result in hazardous radiation exposure. The use of optical instruments with this product will increase
eye hazard.
!
CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC
SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER
SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING
TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert
the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure
that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.
!
The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the
presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing)instructions in the literature
accompanying the appliance.
INFORMATION TO THE USER
Alteration or modification carried out without appropriate approval may invalidate the user’s right to operate
the equipment.
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WARRANTY
Playback Designs warrants the MPS-6 product against defects in material and workmanship under normal
use and service for a period of time specified by the product’s serial number from the date of first delivery to
the owner. The warranty time period is for 30 days. If within the first 30 days of ownership you register your
Playback Designs product, by sending us a copy of your sales receipt, your name, address, city, state, zip
code, phone number, email address and your dealer’s store name, we will extend the warranty to 1 year for
the drive unit and 2 years for all other parts. This warranty is limited to the original owner.
Playback Designs will pay for return shipping charges (domestically) back to the owner when the product is
sent to Playback Designs within the first 30 days after purchase and the fault can be confirmed by Playback
Designs. Otherwise, owner will be responsible for all shipping charges to and from Playback Designs.
International customers must deal with their local dealer or distributor.
For all warranty claims, a copy of the original invoice must accompany the product.
Opening the product or modifying it in any way by the owner, including but not limited to cryogenic treatment,
will void any warranty.
Please contact Playback Designs for a RA (Return Authorization) number and shipping instructions before
shipping any product to Playback Designs.
Playback Designs products are sold worldwide through authorized dealers with restricted territories. If any
Playback Designs product is purchased from non-authorized dealers or from a dealer selling outside his / her
authorized territory all warranties will be void.
If you purchased this product from a dealer please take a moment and send us an email to
info@playbackdesigns.com so we can register you for the warranty. If this product has been shipped to you
directly from Playback Designs you are automatically registered.
BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT
What is in the box: MPS-6 music playback system
Remote control unit with installed batteries
Power cord (100-120V countries only)
User manual
Registration Please take a moment and send us an email to
info@playbackdesigns.com so we can register you for the warranty.
Installation: Before connecting your MPS-6 to the AC mains, make sure you select the
correct voltage on the rear panel (100V, 120V or 230-240V).
Operating this machine at the wrong AC voltage will cause serious
damage.
Do not place the MPS-6 over an amplifier or any other equipment that
generates heat.
As this product may become warm during operation, always leave
sufficient space around the MPS-6 for ventilation. Always allow adequate
air circulation around the product.
Types of discs:
CDDA:
12cm or 8cm discs
16bit / 44.1kHz PCM digital audio
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SACD:
Single layer, dual layer or Hybrid
discs
12cm or 8cm discs
DSD digital audio
CD-R/RW discs recorded in Audio CD format and finalized correctly are
playable. But depending on the quality of the disc and the recording, some
CD-R/RW discs may not be playable. Discs that are not finalized cannot be
played.
The following discs cannot be played: DVD, CD-G, Data part of CD-
EXTRA, PHOTO CD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Bluray. Trying to play these
discs may result in loud noises and may damage your speakers and your
hearing.
Warning: copy protected discs, DualDiscs and other discs that do not
conform to the CD or SACD standard may not play correctly in this player.
If you use such discs in this player, Playback Designs cannot be held
responsible for any consequences or guarantee the quality of reproduction.
Warning: Never use a stabilizer on the discs as they will damage the
mechanism and cause it to malfunction.
!
Before connecting the MPS-6 to AC power make sure you select the correct voltage for
your country on the Voltage Selector switch located on the rear panel.
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CONNECTIONS
MODEL: MPS-6
MADE IN U.S.A.
TOSLINKCOAX
LEFTRIGHTLEFTRIGHT AES
RESET
USB
AUDIO
DIGITAL I/O AND CONTROLANALOG OUTPUTS
PLAYLINK
OUT IN
50/60 Hz
100W max.
USB
MEMORY
N
E
T
W
K
Digital outputs: PLINK OUT: Proprietary optical link to other Playback Designs equipment. This
connection supports multiple audio formats natively for PCM and DSD.
Digital inputs: AES: XLR connector for AES/EBU formatted stereo linear PCM data, up to
24bits / 192kHz, and single rate DSD encoded in DoP.
COAX: same as AES, but S/PDIF formatted on RCA connector.
TOSLINK: same as COAX, but on optical connector, limited to 96kHz max.
PLINK IN: Proprietary and high quality optical link to other Playback Designs
equipment. This connection supports multiple audio formats natively for
PCM and DSD.
Cable specs: ST-ST fiber optic, multimode, 62.5/125µm.
USB AUDIO: Direct USB connection to computers and servers for PCM at sample
rates up to 384kHz and DSD up to 11.2MHz.
STREAMER NETWORK: Only available when Stream-X2 option is installed. Input from network
sources. See Stream-X2 manual for more details.
STREAMER USB: Only available when Stream-X2 option is installed. Input for USB flash
sticks (no HDD supported). See Stream-X2 manual for more details.
Analog outputs: XLR: Balanced, pin 2 hot, 4.1Vrms @ 1kHz full level sine wave and output
level set to 0db fixed.
RCA: Unbalanced, 4.1Vrms @ 1kHz full level sine wave and output level set
to 0db fixed.
System Control: RESET: Used in connection with the software update procedure. When pressed
during normal operation it resets the MPS-6, similar to a power cycle.
Power: Before connecting the MPS-6 to the AC mains, please make sure you select the correct
voltage for your country on the Voltage Selector switch located on the rear panel.
Operating the MPS-6 at the wrong voltage will damage the unit.
NOTE: you should always switch power to standby first before turning off the main
power switch on the back.
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FRONT PANEL FUNCTIONS
Buttons:
Open / Close tray.
Play / Pause toggle, can also be used to close the tray and immediately start
playback.
Stop playback from disc.
Previous track.
Next track.
Standby power on / off.
CONTROL OF ANALOG OUTPUT LEVELS
The MPS-6 is equipped with a very high quality analog volume control that is controlled from the remote. If
this analog volume control is not desired it can be bypassed in the settings menu. In addition the output level
in bypassed mode can be selected between 5 values to optimally match it with your other equipment (see
settings and specification chapter for more details).
Alphanumeric status display
Time and volume
level display
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REMOTE CONTROL UNIT
DISC
MUTE
DAC PRE
PHSE
DIM
LAYR
TIME
MUTE
VOL +/-
Opens the settings menu on front panel. Press the DISC button first
to select the MPS-8 settings.
During normal operation these up and down arrows directly below the
DISC button toggle through the active inputs of the MPS-8.
During settings display these buttons toggle through the settings
menu.
Open / close tray.
Inverts the phase on both analog outputs.
Dims the display on front panel.
If these buttons are pressed for less than 1 second they allow you to
jump tracks in sequential order. If during normal playback they are
held for more than 1 second the player enters Scan Mode and fast
forwards or fast reverses while the button is being pressed.
Stops the transport.
Starts playback. Can also be used to close the tray and immediately
start playback.
Pauses playback. Press the play button to continue playback.
This toggles the layer selection for SACD discs. In order to change
the layer the player must be stopped. The first time this button is
pressed the current layer is displayed. Each subsequent press of the
button will pre-select another layer. If then the button is not pressed
for more than one second the player will switch to the chosen layer if
available. This has no effect for CD’s.
This toggles the time display during playback between two states:
Elapsed time
Remaining time on active track
The first time this button is pressed it will indicate the currently
selected state without changing it. If during the next 5 seconds the
button is pressed again it will toggle to the next state.
This toggles through two Repeat modes: Repeat currently playing
track or Repeat entire disc.
Numeric buttons:
Pressing any numeric button with a single digit will locate the
transport to the beginning of the chosen track and start playback.
The +10 button can be used to access tracks higher than 9. For
instance, track 23 can be accessed by pressing: +10 and +10 again
and then 3.
Mutes all analog outputs.
Analog output volume control. Need to enable variable output level
(see settings menu).
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CHANGING BATTERIES ON REMOTE
Use 3/32"
hex key to
open
-
+
+
-
Back cover removedBackside of remote
AAA Batteries
The remote operates with 2 AAA size
batteries. In order to change them the
back cover needs to be removed as
shown in picture on the left. Make sure
that replacement batteries are inserted
with their polarities as indicated in the
picture. The screws can be opened with
a 3/32 inch key.
SETTING UP AND SELECTING DIGITAL INPUTS
For selecting digital inputs the IR remote provides buttons with up and down arrows right below the DISC
button. With these buttons you can select any of the seven digital inputs on the MPS-6 by toggling up and
down through the list.
You can drastically shorten the list of selectable digital inputs by deactivating those that you don't use (see
setup menu for further details). For instance, if you only use the USB and AES inputs you can deactivate all
others and then use either the up or down arrow button below the DISC button on your remote to switch back
and forth between USB and AES input.
DISC
MUTE
DAC PRE
Input selection
buttons on remote
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CONNECTING THE MPS-6 TO A WINDOWS, MAC OR LINUX BASED PC
Supported resolutions: PCM: all sample rates up to 384kHz and word lengths up to 24 bits.
DSD: native up to 11.2MHz and DoP up to 5.6MHz
Connection protocol and method: USB 2.0 / Audio class 2.0 compliant, asynchronous mode where the
MPS-6 generates a high precision clock master and computer is clock
slaved.
PC requirements: Windows 7 or later, ASIO compatible player software such as JRiver
etc.
Mac requirements: OS X (10.6.6 or later)
Linux computer requirements: Any Linux version with kernel-integrated USB driver (not ALSA).
In order for your computer to communicate with the MPS-6 and to exchange audio data a custom driver
software needs to be installed before you can connect it to the MPS-6. If your computer is a Mac running OSX
10.6.6 or later or you are using a Linux computer you don’t need any driver software. DSD file playback is
supported on Mac via the DoP standard, and on Linux computers natively up to DSD4x. A driver has to be
installed on all Windows based PCs for any kind of audio playback via the MPS-6.
Driver software installation and first time connection on Windows based computers:
1. Download the latest USB driver from the support section on our website:
www.playbackdesigns.com
2. Double click on the installer and follow instructions on your screen.
3. Power on the MPS-6 and connect the included USB cable between the USB AUDIO connector on
your MPS-6 and your computer.
4. Select USB Input on your MPS-6.
5. The computer will take a moment to enumerate the MPS-6 on
its USB bus and notify you when it is installed successfully. You
can check successful driver installation and connection in the
device manager, where the driver will show up as AKDesign
USB Audio under the Sound, Video and Game Controllers tab.
It will not be listed in the Sound Control panel.
6. Configure your player software to send audio data to the ASIO
interface. Depending on your player software this may be
identified as “AKDesign USB ASIO” or simply as “ASIO”. Some
players may need a plug-in for ASIO compatible playback.
7. For best performance and bit perfect reproduction make sure to set all volume controls in the
computer playback software to exactly 0db (wide open), turn off all effects or equalizer that might be
running in your playback software. Control the volume only with your analog pre-amp.
Connecting Apple or Linux computers:
No driver needs to be installed. If you are planning to play DSD files on a Mac make sure your playback
software sends them via DoP to the MPS-6. Linux supports DSD playback natively without DoP.
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