AudioControl MVC, MVC Master Volume Control Owner's Enjoyment Manual

®making good stereo sound better®

22410 70th Avenue West • Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 • Phone [phone] • Fax [phone]

• www.audiocontrol.com •

Master Volume Control

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Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

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Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

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Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

Master Volume Control

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Key Features Of The MVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Quick Installation Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

The Awesome Benefits of Your MVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Features and Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

A Guided Tour of the MVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Installing your MVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

1

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of a truly one-of-a-kind
product, the AudioControl Master Volume Control, or MVC as
his friends call him. The MVC was meticulously designed to
help eliminate annoying system hiss and get the maximum
potential out of your amplifiers! The MVC Master Volume
Control maximizes your car audio system’s signal-to-noise
level which will in turn increase your system’s dynamic range.
You may even think about skipping this section. To that we
say, BIG MISTAKE! You need to read the first few sections of

this manual first before diving in to your
installation. Above and beyond the fact that
we spent lots of time writing this cool

manual, it will save you many calls to our

factory where you will be asked, “Did
you read the manual?”

Now sit back and grab a bever-

age of your choice, kick up your

feet and enjoy your time with the

manual as we have spent many
rainy nights writing it.

Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

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KEY FEATURES OF YOUR MVC

• Master volume control for your system (one knob does it all)

• Trunk Mounted Chassis (easy to install)

• Six channels of input and output (lots of control)

• Connectable inputs (2 channels in can give you 6 out)

• Linkable control for multiple MVCs

• (more outputs ouh ouh ouh)

• High signal voltage capabilities

• (drive a lot in, control it with one knob)

• Output level controls (balance the voltage to your amps)

• Signal voltage indicator LEDs (level-matching made easy)

• Adjustable delay amplifier trigger output (no more pop)

• High headroom PWM switching power supply

• (compensates for vehicle voltage fluctuations)

QUICK INSTALLATION INFO

For those of you who have many sophisticated installations
under your belt, please refer to the diagrams on pages 13 through
16 for guidance in installing your MVC. If you are curious, your
MVC is shipped with the following configurations:

Feature Factory Setting

Inputs Independent

PFM Module 33 Hz

Remote Out turn-on delay 1.5 seconds

Power Ground Isolation Isolated

Note: These configurations can be changed via the internal

jumpers.

A word of advice and warning must come from us at this
time. It is highly recommended that you retain the services
of your authorized AudioControl dealer to install your MVC.
Not only do they have training, tools, and know-how to do
the job right the first time, we extend your warranty from
one year to FIVE FULL YEARS.

Should you still decide to install your
MVC yourself, we encourage you to
read this manual thoroughly
and reference it during the
actual installation. Good luck!

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THE AWESOME BENEFITS OF YOUR MVC

How Does The MVC Do Its Thing?

The MVC is designed to go in the rear of the vehicle, by
your amplifiers and processors. However it can be controlled
anywhere inside (or outside) the vehicle by a remote
mounted volume control. By lowering the volume/signal

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Figure 1- Basic MVC System

level at the rear of the car, rather than the front, you can
squeak all the signal possible from your source unit and run
it to the rear of your car. You are now delivering more signal
to your amplifiers and it is noise free.

Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

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The MVC controls the signal running into the amplifiers.
If you have a “high output voltage” source unit, remember
that if the volume on the source unit is only 1/2 way up, you
are only sending

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/2 the “high output voltage” to your

amplifiers.

How Do I Tell My Friends About My MVC
And Sound Cool?

A wonderful analogy of this whole process is that of a
faucet, a garden hose, and a nozzle. Your source unit is a
faucet on a sink that is opened up and lets the maximum
amount of pressure flow through the hose, which is your
interconnect cables. The MVC is the nozzle at the end of the

hose that
maintains the
high pressure,
or in this case

high signal
level, and
serves as an
audio signal
valve.

What Is Dynamic Range (and should I care?)

The dynamic range of an audio system is the measure­ment from when the system is playing its loudest to the part
where it is playing the quietest. If you are into rock’n roll,
then you want those guitar licks to be clean, loud and in
your face. On the other hand if you like jazz or orchestral
music, you will appreciate the clarity and crispness of your
system at lower levels.

Sometimes dynamic range and signal-to-noise are
confused with each other. Quite simply, your audio system’s
dynamic range will never be better than your systems S/N
ratio. Therefore, if you have a noisy system, you are missing
out!

Signal-To-Noise: The Up and Coming Rock Group?

Your system’s signal-to-noise ratio is the measurement
between your audio signal level, which contains music, and
your system’s noise floor, which contains hiss, pops, buzzes,
and whines. If you are listening to your buddies car audio
system and it has all of the above obnoxious sounds...even
when the music is playing, we call that LOW signal-to-noise.

Figure 2- How the MVC works

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On the other hand if you have your volume control cranked
up and on quiet songs, you hear almost ZERO background
noise, that is considered a HIGH signal-to-noise level. Most
serious sound-off competitors have high signal-to-noise
ratios (at least the ones that win do).

Gain Map

Figure 3 - Using the MVC volume control for optimum signal voltage
versus using just the volume control on the head unit.

With this particular system, the only problem you have
to deal with is the source unit’s volume control. When the
volume control is raised and lowered, the signal voltage is
going to rise and fall also, still minimizing the system’s
potential.

What About High Voltage Head Units?

Many car audio head unit manufacturers are starting to
pull their heads out (a little pun) and realizing that they
should provide head units with higher signal voltage on the
outputs. Not only will this increase a system’s S/N, but it will
also allow you to drive your amplifiers better. Unfortunately,
like any source unit, it has a level or volume control that
raises the signal level up and down. We are back to
square one!

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Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

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FEATURES AND HIGHLIGHTS

This section is designed to provide for more specific
information on all of the nifty features that are built in to
your MVC. Not only will the knowledge of these features
make you wiser and smarter in the autosound world, you
will be the topic of conversation at soundoff cocktail parties.

Master Volume Control: The MVC will allow you to
run the audio signal at the highest possible level from your
source unit, through the processors, and to the amplifiers.
The MVC will then attenuate the signal level of your car
audio system right before the inputs to your amplifier.

Connectable Inputs and Outputs: If you have a
“serious” car audio system but have more inputs than
outputs, your MVC will be a godsend. Rather than use a
bunch of kludged together cables, the MVC will serve as
your system controller. The incredibly wise engineers at
AudioControl came up with a way in which you can take
two channels of input signal and provide 2, 4, or even 6
channels of output.

Remote Control: The MVC “brains” are designed to be

installed in the rear of the vehicle, while the volume control
knob can be mounted anywhere in the vehicle. (Or outside
the vehicle.) This is ideal if you have a high SPL vehicle.

Output Level Controls: If your system is composed of

more than one amplifier, it is common for one amplifier or
set of speakers to out perform another, causing an unbal­anced system. You know the ones, all highs, no lows, must
be...unbalanced. The MVC has output level controls for each
pair of channels. This will allow you to adjust the amount of
signal going to specific amplifiers for a much more balanced
system.

Signal Voltage LED Indicators: The MVC signal

voltage LED indicator tells you precisely how much signal
voltage is present at the outputs of your MVC. This will help
you with matching the output of your MVC with the inputs
of your amplifier.

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Owner’s Enjoyment Manual

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Linking MVCs: Your MVC can control up to 6 channels
of signal but you also have the ability to add more MVCs if
you have more amplifiers. What is totally cool is that you can
link all of the MVCs together so they operate off the same
dash mounted control.

Turn-On Delay For Amplifiers: Your MVC comes
with an amplifier turn-on delay feature that will allow you to
delay your amplifier turn-on by either 1.5 or 4 seconds. When
running multiple components in your car audio system,
sometimes the amplifiers will turn on faster than your source
units causing an annoying THUMP in your system.

The Most Important Feature Of All: Reliability.
That’s right, your AudioControl MVC comes with a full 5 year
parts and labor warranty when it is installed by an authorized
United States AudioControl dealer. These seasoned pros have
the training and the equipment to take care of the job quickly
and not leave your dashboard looking like Swiss cheese. Keep
in mind that if you or your friends are “good with electronics”
and you choose to install it yourself, the MVC still has a one
year parts and labor warranty.

WARNING:

Perform The Following Task Immediately
Before Going On

To activate your warranty, you need to FILL OUT AND
SEND IN YOUR WARRANTY CARD! Also, save your invoice
or sales slip as proof of purchase. Not only are these neces­sary for warranty purposes, they are also important if the
unforeseen disappearance of your MVC should happen while
you are socializing at the local espresso and salmon bar.
Insurance companies have very little imagination.

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