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 and 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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emm Labs		EXT	BASE FS		POLARITY	DIGITAL BW
	LOCK	CLOCK	44.1 KHZ	48 KHZ	INVERTED WIDE		NARROW	MUTE
		CLOCK CONTROL				ANALOG OUTPUT
				INPUT SELECT
	XLR	RCA	BNC	ST	AES	COAX	TOS	ST	meitnerdesign
									DCC
	ANLG		DSD			PCM

AES/EBU INPUTS

S/PDIF INPUTS

DSD INPUTS

WORD CLOCK I/O

SYSTEM

PUSH

PUSH

2

COAX

TOS

ST

L BNC R

IN

OUT

IN

OUT

REMOTE

RESET

emmLabs

PUSH	PUSH					MODEL	DCC2
						SERIAL	2000
						MADE IN CANADA
		UNBAL
R	L	BAL	L
		R		L	R	L
XLR		RCA	R
	ANALOG LINE INPUTS			ANALOG LINE OUTPUT	ANALOG PREAMP OUTPUT

85 - 260 V

50 / 60 Hz

100 W MAX

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Manual User DCC2

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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DCC2 User Manual

PCM – AES/EBU: Selects PCM digital input from the XLR inputs. Sample rates up to 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).
PCM – COAX:	Selects PCM digital input from Coax (RCA) input. Sample rates up to
	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.
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

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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