EMM Labs DCC2 User Manual

DCC2 DIGITAL CONTROL CENTER

USER MANUAL

Version 1.8

DCC2 User Manual

DCC2 Digital Control Center

The DCC2 is a stereo D/A converter with built-in pre-amplifier that evolved from EMM
Labs’s acclaimed converter and pre-amplifier systems that have been used worldwide in
professional recording studios to master some of the finest recordings in both CD and
SACD releases.
The D/A section provides conversion from a wide variety of digital input formats to analog
audio, and the pre-amp section provides 2 analog inputs and 1 analog output. There is an
additional analog output that bypasses the pre-amp section.

Features

• 2-channel conversions:

• from PCM (44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz) to analog

• from DSD to analog

• Supported digital input formats:

• AES/EBU (2 connectors and 1 connector)

• SPDIF (Coax)

• Optical TOSLink

• PCM over optical ST glass (AES formatted)

• RAW DSD

• SDIF-3 (DSD)

• EMM OptiLink

• Analog Inputs

• Balanced on XLR (switchable to be unbalanced)

• Unbalanced on RCA

• Analog outputs

• Balanced on XLR for signals after pre-amp

• Unbalanced on RCA for signals after pre-amp

• Balanced on XLR for signals bypassing pre-amp

• Unbalanced on RCA for signals bypassing pre-amp

• Analog output impedances

• 100Ω balanced, 50Ω unbalanced

Note: XLR analog inputs and outputs are balanced with pin 2 hot, pin 3 cold a nd pin 1
ground.

• Power supply

• Power factor corrected

• Factory set to 100V or 115V or 230V, 50/60Hz

• Power consumption: 60W

• Remote control: Infrared

• Dimensions W x D x H: 435 x 400 x 92mm

• Weight: 11kg

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DCC2 User Manual

85 - 260 V

50 / 60 Hz

100 W MAX

MUTE

NARROW

DIGITAL BWBASE FS

WIDEINVERTED

POLARITY

48 KHZ

44.1 KHZ

EXT

LOCK CLOCK

DCC

2000

DCC2

meitnerdesign

RESETREMOTE

MADE IN CANADA

emmLabs

SERIAL

MODEL

ANALOG PREAMP OUTPUT

PCMDSDANLG

ANALOG OUTPUTCLOCK CONTROL

INPUT SELECT

COAX TOS STSTBNCRCA

AES

XLR

OUT OUT

IN IN

LR

DSD INPUTS

ANALOG LINE OUTPUTANALOG LINE INPUTS

Labs

emm

S/PDIF INPUTS

COAX TOS ST BNC

2

PUSHPUSH

AES/EBU INPUTS WORD CLOCK I/O SYSTEM

PUSH PUSH

RCA

RLRL

BAL

UNBAL

XLR R L R L

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DCC2 User Manual

Function Switches and Indicators

Power

The main power switch is on the back of the unit. The chrome power button on the front
is a momentary switch that toggles the operation between power on and power save
mode every time the user pushes it. During the power save mode the remote control and
all front panel functions become inactive.

Clock Control Section

LOCK: This indicator is lit when the unit detects valid clock at the selected

digital audio input. For normal operation with digital audio inputs this
indicator has to be lit or else all audio outputs will be muted. For
normal operation with analog audio inputs this indicator will stay off
and all audio outputs are unmuted.

EXT CLOCK: Selects external clock input when lit. The actual clock input is then

determined by the selected digital input. This switch controls the
“Master” and “Slave” operation as explained in more depth later in
this manual. For Master operation this switch has to be turned off,
and for Slave operation it has to be turned on.

44.1kHz / 48kHz: These buttons select the base frequency for the selected digital
audio input. For instance, for all digital inputs with sample

frequencies of 44.1kHz or 88.2kHz the switch 44.1kHz has to be

selected, for all digital inputs with sample frequencies of 48kHz or

96kHz the switch 48kHz has to be selected.

Analog Output Section

POLARITY: When this switch is lit the polarity of all analog outputs is inverted.

WIDE / NARROW: These switches are only active when a digital audio input source is

selected and are inactive for analog input sources. When NARROW
bandwidth is selected the analog outputs are lowpass filtered to limit
the amount of signal content above 30kHz. The WIDE mode selects
a much wider bandwidth and should be used in most cases.

MUTE: When lit all outputs are muted. Pushing the button again unmutes

the outputs.

Analog, DSD and PCM Input Sections

These 8 switches select the input source with associated clock.

XLR: Balanced analog line input from the XLR connectors. Optionally this

input can be configured for unbalanced inputs with a toggle switch on
the rear panel besides the XLR connectors.

RCA: Unbalanced analog line input from the RCA connectors.

DSD - BNC: DSD digital input from the BNC connectors. Either RAW-DSD or

SDIF-3 can be used (auto detection).

DSD – ST: EMM OptiLink for direct connection to EMM Labs transport.

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PCM – AES/EBU: Selects PCM digital input from the XLR inputs. Sample rates up to

PCM – COAX: Selects PCM digital input from Coax (RCA) input. Sample rates up to

PCM – TOS: Same as for PCM – COAX, but input is from optical TOSLink.

PCM – ST: same as for PCM – COAX, but input is for optical ST glass.

Volume Control

DCC2 User Manual

96kHz are supported. For sample rates of 88.2kHz and 96kHz there
are 2 configurations that are commonly used:

1) one cable for 2 channels

2) 1 cable for each channel (total of 2 cables)

If 1 cable is used it needs to be plugged into AES/EBU INPUT 1, and
if 2 cables are used both inputs 1 and 2 have to be connected. In
either case the DCC2 will automatically detect if the digital input is
running at 44.1kHz or 88.2kHz (resp. at 48kHz or 96kHz) provided
the correct base frequency is selected (44.1kHz resp. 48kHz).

96kHz are supported. Make sure to select the base frequency of

44.1kHz for 44.1kHz and 88.2kHz sample rates, or select base
frequency of 48kHz for 48kHz or 96kHz sample rates.

The wheel on the front panel controls the volume on the analog pre-amp outputs. As the
wheel is turned clockwise the volume increases and the displayed numbers increase,
whereas when the wheel is turned anti-clockwise the volume decreases and the
displayed numbers decrease. The displayed numbers range from 00 (volume is set to
lowest) to 99 (volume is set to highest).

Connecting Analog Outputs

The DCC2 has 2 separate analog stereo outputs:

ANALOG LINE OUTPUT

This output bypasses the built-in pre-amplifier and volume control of the DCC2 and is

always set to full level. Be careful and do NOT connect this output to your amplifier

directly, but rather to your separate pre-amplifier.

ANALOG PREAMP OUTPUT

This output is from the internal pre-amplifier and is controlled by the volume control. This
should be connected directly to your amplifier. However, be careful to first turn the
volume down (low number in display).

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