Escient FireBall MX SERIES, FireBall AVX Series User Manual
AVX & MX SERIES USER’S MANUAL
P/N: M42001-02A3
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
THANK YOU
The team at Escient would like to take this opportunity to thank you
for purchasing an Escient FireBall product. Escient is committed to
providing our customers the most technologically advanced, yet easierthan-ever to use products that converge the power of the Internet with
home entertainment.
To maximize your enjoyment, please take a few minutes to review this
User’s Manual. It will guide you through all the features and benefits of
your new FireBall.
If you should need assistance please call our Customer Support Staff at
800.372.4368
The Escient Team
PRODUCT INTRODUCTION 6
ABOUT THIS MANUAL 6
RECORD YOUR SERIAL NUMBER
6
MANUAL DISCLAIMERS
6
WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
7
TRADEMARKS & SERVICE MARKS 8
WARRANTY INFORMATION
9
ESCIENT PRIVACY POLICY 1
1
CONTACT INFORMATION 1
1
COPYRIGHT 1
1
TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 12
SETUP 13
POWER STATES 13
FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW 1
4
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW - 5 CHANGERS / 2 ZONES 1
5
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW - 3 CHANGERS / 1 ZONE 1
6
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW - 1 CHANGER / 1 ZONE 17
REMOTE OVERVIEW 1
8
ENTERING TEXT WITH THE REMOTE CONTROL 1
9
Entering Numeric Entry Mode 1
9
Typing Characters with the Remote 1
9
CONNECTING EXTERNAL DISC CHANGERS 21
Supported External Changers 21
Connecting Sony DVP-CX777ES CD/DVD Changers 2
2
LOADING DISCS INTO CHANGERS 2
3
Automatically Getting Disc Information 2
4
Getting Disc Information for a Range of Discs 2
5
Getting Disc Information for All Discs 26
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
ADDITIONAL CONNECTION AND
HOOKUP INFORMATION 27
AUDIO OUTPUTS 27
MULTI-ZONE VIDEO OUTPUTS 2
8
SINGLE-ZONE VIDEO OUTPUTS 2
9
RS-232 CONNECTIONS 3
0
IR CONNECTIONS 30
ETHERNET CONNECTIONS 3
1
EXTERNAL CHANGER CONNECTIONS 3
3
Changer Types 3
3
Control Connections 3
3
Digital Audio Connections 33
Analog Audio Connections 3
3
Sony DVD/CD Changer Hookup 3
3
REGISTRATION 34
ETHERNET CONNECTION TEST 34
WATCHING DVD MOVIES 35
BROWSING YOUR MOVIE LIBRARY 35
PLAYING THE CURRENT MOVIE 35
SELECTING A DIFFERENT MOVIE 3
6
Movie Info 3
6
CHANGING THE GUIDE VIEW 3
6
View By Cover 3
6
VIEWING BY GENRE 37
WATCHING A MOVIE FROM
ANOTHER ROOM 38
BROWSING YOUR MOVIE LIBRARY FROM
ANOTHER ROOM 3
9
WATCHING A DIFFERENT MOVIE IN THE OTHER ROOM 39
WATCHING THE SAME MOVIE IN TWO ROOMS 41
GETTING MUSIC INTO FIREBALL 42
RECORDING FROM THE INTERNAL CD 43
RECORDING FROM EXTERNAL CHANGERS 44
Automatically Recording CDs 4
5
Recording a Range of CDs 4
6
Recording All CDs 47
IMPORTING MUSIC FILES 48
System Requirements 48
Audio File Requirements 4
8
Cover Art Image Requirements 4
8
IMPORTING FROM A PC 49
IMPORTING FROM A MAC 50
RECORDING FROM OTHER EXTERNAL SOURCES 52
ERASING A CD-RW DISC 5
3
LISTENING TO MUSIC 54
BROWSING YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY 54
SHOW AND HIDE TRACKS 54
PLAYING THE CURRENT TITLE 55
SELECTING A DIFFERENT SONG 55
CHANGING THE GUIDE VIEW 5
6
View By Artist 5
6
View By Artist-Title 56
View By Title-Artist 57
View By Song-Artist 57
View By List 5
7
View By Cover 5
7
Using the Guide Views 57
CHANGING THE CURRENT PLAY MODE 58
Jukebox Play Modes 58
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
VIEWING BY GENRE 59
USING THE JUKEBOX QUEUE 60
Adding Songs and Playing the Jukebox Queue 60
Reordering the Jukebox Queue 61
Removing a Song from the Jukebox Queue 6
1
Clearing the Entire Jukebox Queue 6
1
Saving the Jukebox Queue 61
Exiting Jukebox Mode 61
LISTENING TO INTERNET RADIO 62
BROWSING INTERNET RADIO STATIONS 62
PLAYING THE CURRENT STATION 6
3
MANAGING YOUR MEDIA 64
CREATING PLAYLISTS 64
CREATING GROUPS 65
ADDING INTERNET RADIO STATIONS 66
UPDATING THE INTERNET RADIO STATIONS LIST 67
EDITING MOVIE INFORMATION 6
8
Editing Disc Info 6
8
Automatically Lookup Information for This Disc 69
Searching for Movie Information Manually 70
Tips for Searching for Movies 70
Selecting an Existing Cover 7
1
Edit Description 7
2
EDITING MUSIC INFORMATION 73
Editing Track Names 74
Automatically Lookup Information for This Disc 75
Searching for the Original Cover 7
6
Tips for Searching for Covers 7
6
Selecting an Existing Cover 77
EDITING RADIO INFORMATION 78
EDITING PLAYLISTS 79
EDITING GROUPS 80
DELETING MUSIC 81
DELETING PLAYLISTS 82
DELETING GROUPS 83
CREATING CDS 84
CREATING A CUSTOM MIX CD 84
DUPLICATING A CD 8
6
RECORDING FROM AN EXTERNAL SOURCE 87
SETTING USER PREFERENCES 88
SELECTING YOUR LANGUAGE 88
SETTING THE SCREEN SAVER PREFERENCES 89
Activation Idle Time 8
9
Other Modes 8
9
Retail Demo Mode 90
Photo Screen Saver Mode 91
SETTING YOUR TIME ZONE 92
CUSTOMIZABLE USER INTERFACE 9
3
ENABLING PASSWORD PROTECTION 9
4
MOVIE RATINGS 95
ETHERNET SETTINGS 96
SERVER SETTINGS 97
FIREBALL MUSIC SHARING 9
8
SELECTING THE AUDIO ENCODER TYPE 9
9
SETTING THE DISC INSERT PREFERENCES 100
VIDEO FORMAT 101
CENTERING THE FIREBALL SCREEN 102
ADJUSTING YOUR TV’S BRIGHTNESS 10
3
ADJUSTING YOUR TV’S CONTRAST 10
4
ADJUSTING YOUR TV’S SHARPNESS 105
ADJUSTING YOUR TV’S COLOR AND TINT 106
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
EXTERNAL CONTROL 107
SURROUND MODE SETTINGS 107
INSTALLING THE ETP TOUCH PANEL 10
8
Calibrating the Touch Panel 10
9
Changing the Touch Panel Button Overlay 11
0
Using Your Touch Panel 110
IR REMOTE CONTROL 11
1
DIRECT ACCESS CODES 11
2
PLAYLIST HOT KEYS 11
5
SERIAL COM PORTS 11
6
CONTROLLING FIREBALL FROM OTHER DEVICES 117
FIREBALL UTILITIES 118
GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR FIREBALL 118
RESTARTING THE SYSTEM 11
9
UPDATING THE SOFTWARE 12
0
CONTROLLING FIREBALL FROM
A WEB BROWSER 121
SETTING UP THE FIREBALL WEB SERVER 121
USING THE WEB USER INTERFACE 121
USING THE WEB BROWSER AS A MUSIC CLIENT 12
2
BACKUP AND RESTORE 123
FIREBALL MUSIC BACKUP 123
FIREBALL MUSIC RESTORE 12
4
ID3 Tag Support 12
4
NETWORKED AUDIO USING
FIREBALL MUSIC CLIENTS 125
SERVERS 125
CLIENTS 12
5
LOCATING THE FIREBALL CLIENTS AND SERVERS 12
6
Central 12
6
Distributed 127
CONFIGURING A FIREBALL SERVER 12
8
CONFIGURING A FIREBALL CLIENT 12
8
Networking 12
8
Server Selection 12
8
ESCIENT TECHNICAL SUPPORT 129
TROUBLESHOOTING 130
NETWORK PROBLEMS 130
SOFTWARE UPDATE PROBLEMS 13
0
RECORDING PROBLEMS 13
0
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 131
SPECIFICATIONS 131
Video Specifications 13
1
Audio Specifications 131
Physical Specifications 131
3rd Party Certifcations 13
1
FCC Part 15, Subpart B 13
1
GRACENOTE® END-USER
LICENSE AGREEMENT 132
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing a FireBall Media Management system from Escient (a division of D&M Holdings).
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
This FireBall User’s Manual is intended to provide the reader with an overview of the main features and benefits of the Escient FireBall Media
Management Systems. For more information, please refer to the Escient web site (www.escient.com) or contact your Escient dealer.
RECORD YOUR SERIAL NUMBER
The serial number for this unit is located at the rear of the device. Please record the serial number in the space provided below. Refer to it whenever
you call Escient Tech Support (800.372.4368) regarding this product.
FireBall Serial Number:
MANUAL DISCLAIMERS
At the time of printing, the screen shot images in this manual matched the interface screens. However, since FireBall has the capability of
downloading software updates and enhancements on a regular basis, the resulting screen updates may no longer match the images in this manual.
Please check the Escient website for more information about software updates.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
• Do not use this apparatus near water.
• Clean only with a dry cloth.
• Do not block any ventilation openings.
• Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus
(including amplifiers) that produce heat.
• To reduce the risk of electric shock, do not remove the cover. No user serviceable parts are
inside. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel.
• To prevent electric shock, do not use a 3 wire to 2 wire adapter plug.
• A three prong grounded outlet is required.
• You are cautioned that any change or modification not expressly approved in this manual or
approved in writing by an authorized representative of Escient could void your warranty and/
or your authority to operate this equipment.
• Prolonged use of any video device which produces a static (non-moving, non-changing) or
repetitive image on your projector, television or plasma display device can cause “screen
burn-in”. You are encouraged to leave the FireBall screen-saver turned on and set to the
lowest possible “time-out” duration. Warning: This device uses the mains plug as the means to
disconnect the unit, this unit remains powered unless disconnected from the mains source.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
TRADEMARKS & SERVICE MARKS
Escient®, the Escient logo, and FireBall® are trademarks of Digital Networks North America.
FireBall and Physital are trademarks of Escient®.
Other product names mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be
trademarks of their respective companies.
Music recognition technology and related data are provided by Gracenote®. Gracenote is
the industry standard in music recognition technology and related content delivery. For more
information visit www.gracenote.com.
CD and music-related data from Gracenote, Inc., copyright © 2000-2006 Gracenote.
Gracenote CDDB® Client Software, copyright 2000-2006 Gracenote. This product and service
may practice one or more of the following U.S. Patents: #5,987,525; #6,061,680; #6,154,773,
#6,161,132, #6,230,192, #6,230,207, #6,240,459, #6,330,593, and other patents issued or pending.
Gracenote and CDDB are registered trademarks of Gracenote. The Gracenote logo and
logotype, and the “Powered by Gracenote” logo are trademarks of Gracenote.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
WARRANTY INFORMATION
Terms of Coverage - Each Escient branded media management system sold comes with a standard one (1) year warranty. This warranty provides
no-charge coverage under normal product usage, for a period of one year from the date of registration and/or purchase (whichever is earlier). This
warranty program provides the following key features and benefits:
• Twelve (12) months service, parts and labor.
• Five (5) day turn around time on all standard in-warranty repairs. No charges to the customer other than in-bound shipping charges which are
determined by the shipping method. All return shipments will be via Standard Ground Transportation (approximately 5 business days).
• Twelve (12) months of regular hour telephone support (9AM to 7PM EST), Monday through Friday.
• 24-hour email response from the Escient Support Website.
• Software maintenance updates provided via a broadband or dial-up Internet connections.
• Access to 24-hour music and movie databases and entertainment services providing access to thousands of CD and DVD titles and associated
information.
What is Covered - The goal of this warranty is to cover operational problems that might arise with your product during normal use. This includes
failure to start, improper operation, or intermittent failures. As part of the warranty, Escient will pay for all labor and materials used in the repair of
the system. Escient reserves the right to use new or factory refurbished parts in the repair of these in-warranty systems. Escient will also pay for the
return shipment of the repaired system via standard ground transportation. At Escient’s discretion, the Company will repair or replace any system sent
in for repair. Upon repair, the product will be new or like-new in condition and will meet all necessary regulatory requirements.
What is Not Covered - Escient products are sold through Escient approved dealers. A number of items must remain intact in order for Escient to
verify and validate this warranty. Additionally, there are several conditions which violate Escient’s warranty program. These include:
• The product was not purchased through an approved Escient Dealer.
• Any product, on which the serial numbers has been defaced, modified or removed physically or electronically will not be covered by an Escient
warranty.
• Escient will not cover under warranty damage to the product as a result of accident, misuse, abuse, neglect, fire, water, lightning, or other acts
of God or nature, improper storage, unauthorized modification, or failure to follow instructions.
• Any type of unauthorized repair or modifications made to the system resulting in damage to the product will not be covered under this warranty.
• Damage caused to the product as a result of improper shipping or installation.
• Any problems related to the use of the product which is not a direct problem with the product.
• Damage caused to the product as a result of improper installation to third party peripherals or products, or incorrect connection to peripheral or
products.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
• Additionally, Escient does not cover the following items under the terms or its warranty programs:
• Installation or removal charges.
• Cost of initial technical adjustments (setup costs).
• Battery replacement.
Escient’s sole liability for any defective product is limited to the repair or replacement of the product at our discretion. Escient shall not be liable
for damages to other property caused by defects in this product, damages based upon inconvenience, loss of use of the product, loss of time or data,
commercial loss or any other damages, whether real, incidental or consequential.
Escient shall not be liable for damage or loss of data including but not limited to music recorded to storage devices. It is the customer’s responsibility
to maintain the original media and/or appropriate backup copies within the specific rights of the media’s copyright holder.
How to Return a Product - Contact your dealer or Escient’s Customer Support group at 800-372-4368.
Please have the following information ready for your dealer or Escient’s Customer Support technician:
• Product Serial Number
• Model Number
• Date of Registration or Purchase
• Place of Purchase
Upon reviewing the request for repair under warranty provisions, Escient’s Technical Support group will issue a Return Material Authorization
(RMA) number. This number is to be attached to the outside of the shipping carton. Additional instructions will be provided by technical support.
Please be sure to use original packing carton and internal packing materials to assure proper shipment of the system. Insurance costs are the
responsibility of the customer. Most shippers only provide standard coverage for $100 in cost so please protect yourself by providing additional
insurance for the returned product.
Out of Warranty Repair - Escient provides out of warranty repair service on a cost plus labor basis. Minimum charges will apply. Technical support
will provide information on this service at the time of the call.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
ESCIENT PRIVACY POLICY
Escient is committed to providing you with a product that you enjoy and are confident in using, and are committed to providing services in a private
and secure environment.
We recognize and respect each individual user’s privacy and have created this Privacy Policy to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy.
We want you to be fully informed about the information that we collect, why we collect it, and with whom we share it.
It is our hope that, after reading this notice, you will understand our commitment to privacy and be confident that we will use your information
responsibly. By using the Escient FireBall, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
The option to read the Escient Privacy Policy appears on the zip code screen of the Quick Start automatic setup procedure. In addition, you can
access the statement at any time by pressing the SETUP key and choosing the GENERAL menu, and then selecting the PRIVACY POLICY option..
CONTACT INFORMATION
Escient may be contacted by using the following information. Once you have worked with your local Escient dealer, we encourage you to contact us
if you are in need of any further assistance.
Escient
6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250
Indianapolis, Indiana 46278
Phone: 800-372-4368 Press “2” for Sales, or “3” for Support
Fax: 317-616-6790
Internet: www.escient.com
Email: support@escient.com
Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00am - 7pm EST
COPYRIGHT
This manual is copyright ©2006 by D&M Holdings and Escient. All rights reserved.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Following are terms used throughout this manual:
• Button - refers to a graphic item on the display screen.
• Group - a collection of similar music titles. Standard genre groups are provided and custom groups can be created by the user.
• Highlight - highlighting is used to indicate the user’s selection on screen. When the selection moves up, down, left, or right, the highlight
moves to the next nearest item. No action is taken (except that more information may be displayed on the screen) until the Select key is
pressed.
• Info Text Area - the portion of the guide screen used to display information about the highlighted title.
• Playlist - a collection of one or more music tracks or songs.
• Title - a collection of music tracks commonly referred to as a CD, Album or Playlist.
• Key - refers to one of the buttons on your remote or keyboard.
• MP3 - a compressed digital audio format. MP3 files are smaller than the original CD tracks and sound almost identical.
• FLAC - a lossless compressed digital audio format. FLAC files are smaller than the original CD tracks and are bit for bit duplicates of the
original.
• WMA - a digital audio format from Microsoft which stands for Windows Media Audio.
• AAC - is a digital audio format similar to MP3 which stands for Advanced Audio Coding
• Guide - a grid or list of information, used to browse your media library.
• Player - the screen used to display the currently playing media.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
SETUP
This manual assumes that you followed the printed “Quick Setup Guide” that came with your FireBall. If you have not properly connected your
FireBall to your audio/video system, please go back and follow the “Quick Setup Guide” guide before continuing with this User Manual.
POWER STATES
After the FireBall unit is plugged in, the Standby LED located next to the power button will flash red until the startup process is complete.
Please wait. This may take several minutes.
When the Standby LED is solid RED, the FireBall is now in a standby or “sleep” mode. There is no video output when FireBall is in standby mode.
Press the Power button (on the front panel or on the remote) once and the video output is displayed on your TV. The unit is now ON and the LED will
be solid blue.
To change from the ON mode back to the standby or “sleep” mode, press the Power button on the front panel or on the remote once. The video output
will go blank and the LED will be solid red.
If power is removed from FireBall for any reason, including a power outage or if the unit is unplugged, FireBall will automatically return to the
Standby state as soon as power is restored. When FireBall is turned on again, FireBall will return to the same source mode that it was in when power
was lost.
To force the FireBall to restart, PRESS and HOLD the Power button on the front of the unit for 4 seconds, and release it when the standby LED
starts blinking.
When the Standby LED is RED and FireBall has completed its startup process, press the Power button once to turn on the FireBall.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW
1 - POWER
2 - MOVIES SOURCE
3 - MUSIC SOURCE
4 - RADIO SOURCE
5 - CD-RW DRIVE
6 - TEXT DISPLAY & IR RECEIVER
7 - OPEN/CLOSE DRIVE
8 - NAVIGATION
9 - SELECT
10 - TRANSPORT CONTROLS & GUIDE
1
2 3 4
5
6
9
10
7
8
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW - 5 CHANGERS / 2 ZONES
1 - POWER
2 - DIGITAL AUDIO OPTICAL IN (1-5)
3 - DIGITAL AUDIO OPTICAL OUT (1-2)
4 - DIGITAL AUDIO COAX OUT (1-2)
5 - ANALOG AUDIO OUT (1-2)
6 - ANALOG AUDIO IN (1-5)
7 - VIDEO OUT: COMPONENT, COMPOSITE, S-VIDEO (1-2)
8 - VIDEO IN: COMPONENT, COMPOSITE, S-VIDEO (1-5)
9 - COMMUNICATION PORTS (1-6)
10 - ETHERNET
11 - S-LINK / IR OUT (1-5)
12 - IR IN
1
2
3
4
5 6
9
10 11 12
7 8
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW - 3 CHANGERS / 1 ZONE
1 - POWER
2 - ANALOG AUDIO IN (1-3)
3 - IR IN / S-LINK | IR OUT (1-3)
4 - DIGITAL AUDIO OUT: COAX, OPTICAL
5 - DIGITAL AUDIO IN: OPTICAL (1-3)
6 - DIGITAL AUDIO IN: COAX (1-3)
7 - ANALOG AUDIO OUT
8 - VIDEO OUT: COMPONENT, COMPOSITE, S-VIDEO (1-2)
9 - VIDEO IN: COMPONENT, COMPOSITE, S-VIDEO (1-3)
10 - COMMUNICATION PORTS (1-4)
11 - ETHERNET
1
2
3
4
5 6 9
10
11
7 8
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW - 1 CHANGER / 1 ZONE
1 - POWER
2 - IR IN / S-LINK | IR OUT
3 - DIGITAL AUDIO OUT: COAX, OPTICAL
4 - DIGITAL AUDIO IN: COAX, OPTICAL
5 - ANALOG AUDIO IN
6 - ANALOG AUDIO OUT
7 - VIDEO OUT: COMPONENT, COMPOSITE, S-VIDEO
8 - VIDEO IN: COMPONENT, COMPOSITE, S-VIDEO
9 - COMMUNICATION PORTS (1-2)
10 - ETHERNET
1
2
3
4
5 6
9
10
7 8
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
REMOTE OVERVIEW
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
ENTERING TEXT WITH THE REMOTE CONTROL
The remote control can be used to enter text in all text fields. This text entry capability is provided
to allow you to fill out short text fields – such as those that occur in the setup and edit screens.
FireBall’s wireless keyboard should be used when extended typing is required.
Entering Numeric Entry Mode
In fields where FireBall expects only numeric characters to be entered (such as phone number
fields), an indicator will appear on the screen that displays the letters “123” indicating that only
numbers can be entered.
Typing Characters with the Remote
The remote control based text entry capability is similar to that provided on standard telephones and
cell phones. Each numeric key has characters associated with it that can be accessed by pressing
the key one or more times. You have .5 seconds after a key is pressed to enter a second character
from the same key. If you press the same key within .5 seconds, the second character associated
with that key replaces the initial character. If you do not press the same key within .5 seconds, the
text cursor moves to the next location so that the same key can be pressed again to enter a second
character.
The “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”, and “8” keys each support three letters and one number and can be
pressed from one to seven times to display upper case, lower case, and numeric characters. The “7”
and “9” keys both support four letters and one number and can be pressed from one to nine times.
The “1” and “0” keys support all of the special characters and will cycle through each character for
every key press.
The text characters follow the same convention used by a standard telephone – except in the case of
the “1” and “0” keys which contain additional characters.
When entering characters at the beginning of a field or characters that follow a space, FireBall
assumes that upper case characters are preferred. Therefore, characters are entered in the following
cycle – uppercase, lowercase, and numeric. For example, the first key press enters an uppercase
letter corresponding to the first letter associated with the key. Pressing the “2” key once displays an
“A” in the text field, pressing the “2” key twice displays a “B”, pressing it again will
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
display a “C”. The fourth key press displays a lower case “a”, the fifth key press displays a lower case “b”, and the sixth key press displays a lower
case “c”. Lastly, pressing the “2” key a seventh time displays the number “2”.
When entering the second character in a text field or the second character following a space, FireBall assumes that lower case is preferred and the
character entry cycles in the following pattern – lowercase, uppercase, and numeric.
The following text entry table describes the sequence of characters that appear when specific keys are pressed on the remote:
Key
Alpha Mode
1stcharacter or 1st character after a space
Alpha Mode 2
nd
character or 2nd
character after a space
1 1. / , ? ‘ : ; &~! 1. / , ? ‘ : ; &~!
2 ABCabc2 abcABC2
3 DEFdef3 defDEF3
4 GHIghi4 ghiGHI4
5 JKLjkl5 jklJKL5
6 MNOmno6 mnoMNO6
7 PQRSpqrs7 pqrsPQRS7
8 TUVtuv8 tuvTUV8
9 WXYZwxyz9 wxyzWXYZ9
0 0@ _ - * # [ ] ( )+= 0@ _ - * # [ ] ( )+=
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
CONNECTING EXTERNAL DISC CHANGERS
Supported External Changers
The FireBall MX and AVX Media Managers only support the Sony DVP-777ES DVD/CD changer for DVD and CD storage.
When connecting more than one changer, the first changer should be connected to video in 1, digital audio in 1, and RS232 1.
The second changer to all #2 connectors, and so on...
ABOUT SACD AUDIO DISCS
FireBall can also manage SACD audio discs loaded into a Sony DVP-777ES DVD/CD changer. Because the FireBall does not have 5.1 audio
switching, you should load all of your SACDs into the same changer and connect it’s 5.1 analog audio outputs directly to your A/V receiver, using the
same input source as the FireBall.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
Connecting Sony DVP-CX777ES CD/DVD Changers
FireBall requires that you connect each changer to the back panel using audio, video, and control cables.
Follow these steps to connect your Sony CD/DVD changers to your FireBall:
1. An RS-232 serial null modem cable with female DB-9 connectors on each end is required for connecting a Sony CD/DVD Changer
2. Connect one end of the RS-232 serial cable into Communication Port number 1, on the back of your FireBall
3. Connect the other end of the RS-232 serial cable into the “RS-232C” port on the back of your changer
4. Locate the three wire A/V cable that came with your changer
5. Connect one end of the three wire (red and white) audio cable into the Analog In jacks number 1 on the back of your FireBall
6. Connect the other end of the three wire (red and white) audio cable into the Analog Line Out jacks on the back of your changer
7. Connect one end of the three wire (yellow) video cable into the Video In jacks Composite number 1 on the back of your FireBall
8. Connect the other end of the three wire (yellow) video cable into the Video Line Out jacks on the back of your changer
Note: You may use optional s-video or component video cables
and optional digital audio cables for the best picture and sound
quality. Contact your Escient dealer for more information.
• If you have more than one changer, repeat these steps
to connect the additional changers to communications
ports and audio/video jacks 2 through 5 respectively.
• For the best audio quality, you should also connect
digital optical or coax audio cables (not included)
between your changers and FireBall.
• For the best video quality, you should also connnect
component video cables (not included) between your
changers and FireBall.
Note: Control Cable Pin-Outs and Requirements. FireBall uses
a standard null modem cable to connect between it’s RS-232
COM ports and external changers and control systems. Cables
must be 25 feet or less in length.
5 CHANGER
2 ZONE
BACK PANEL
SHOWN
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
LOADING DISCS INTO CHANGERS
DVDs or CDs into your changers, following the changer manufacturer’s instructions and close the changer door. Quick Lookup will automatically
start in a few seconds. If the Quick Lookup process does not automatically start, then manually start the Lookup using the steps described below.
The disc information that FireBall displays on your TV screen is NOT included on the original discs loaded into your changers. The artist name,
album name, and track list are provided by the Gracenote® Music Recognition Service. The album cover, movie title, movie info, and movie cover
art are provided by the Escient MovieDB service. This information is downloaded from the Escients servers to your FireBall using your Internet
connection. This process is referred to as “Looking up Disc Information”.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
Automatically Getting Disc Information
Once your changers are connected to FireBall and loaded with CDs/DVDs, all you have to do is
close the changer door and in a few seconds FireBall will begin looking up the disc information
from each disc, in each changer.
Quick Lookup checks each previously empty slot in the changers to see if any new discs were
added, and then checks each previously occupied slot in the changer to see if any discs were
removed.
One by one, the Table of Contents is read from each CD/DVD and compared to the local music
database, Escient’s MovieDB™ service, or Gracenote CDDB® using your Internet connection, as
FireBall builds your Music and DVD Library. As each disc is accessed and looked up, the Quick
Lookup screen is updated to display the disc’s information and cover art. When all of the discs are
looked up, the Guide screen will be displayed.
You can manually run Quick Lookup at any time by following these steps:
1. Press the SETUP key on the remote to display the Setup menu.
2. Select the
CHANGER MANAGEMENT menu.
3. Select the LOOKUP DISCS
menu.
4. Select the
QUICK LOOKUP menu.
5. FireBall will perform a Quick Lookup for each new disc.
WARNING
: Quick Lookup checks for newly
added and removed DVD/CDs each time it
runs. Do not remove DVD/CDs and replace new
DVD/CDs into the same changer slots without
running Quick Lookup in-between, or FireBall
will not know that these slots have changed.
If you want to reuse the same slots, first remove
your DVD/CDs, let Quick Lookup run, then add
new DVD/CDs to the same slots.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
Getting Disc Information for a Range of Discs
If you want to lookup the disc information for a specific range of slots in a changer, you can use the
Lookup Range feature.
Follow these steps to lookup a range of changer slots:
1. Press the SETUP key on the remote to display the Setup menu.
2. Select the
CHANGER MANAGEMENT menu.
3. Select the LOOKUP DISCS
menu.
4. Select the LOOKUP RANGE
menu.
5. Enter a valid range of slots to lookup. If you have more than 1 changer, select which
changer you want to use.
6. Select the CONTINUE button.
7. The Lookup Range screen displays the progress and results for each disc in the selected
range.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
Getting Disc Information for All Discs
If you want to lookup the disc information for all discs in all changers, you can use the Lookup All
feature.
Follow these steps to lookup all discs in all changers:
1. Press the SETUP key on the remote to display the Setup menu.
2. Select the
CHANGER MANAGEMENT menu.
3. Select the LOOKUP DISCS
menu.
4. Select the LOOKUP ALL
menu.
5. The Lookup All screen displays the progress and results as each disc in each changer is
looked up.
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
ADDITIONAL CONNECTION AND HOOKUP INFORMATION
AUDIO OUTPUTS
The optical, coax, and analog audio outputs are all active when playing media from the internal hard drive or Internet Radio. Both digital and analog
connections must be made from the changer(s) to the FireBall for the FireBall to output both digital and analog outputs.
This table shows which audio outputs are active for each type of audio source.
Audio Source Analog Out Digital Optical Out Digital Coax Out
Hard Drive Audio
YES YES YES
Changer Analog
YES
Changer Optical YES YES
Internet Radio YES YES YES
Note: For example, connecting only the analog audio outputs of the changer to the FireBall will not provide digital audio on the digital outputs of the
FireBall.
5 CHANGER BACK PANEL 3 CHANGER BACK PANEL 1 CHANGER BACK PANEL
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
MULTI-ZONE VIDEO OUTPUTS
Mulit-Zone FireBalls have several video output formats and connectors including:
Main Zone
• Component Video
• S-Video
• Composite Video
Remote Zone (connects to an MP-200)
• Component Video
• S-Video
• Composite Video
All video outputs are active at the same time, so
you can use as many as you like without causing
signal degradation. However, the corresponding
video input from the changer must also be
connected to watch a movie from the changer on
that video output.
The Component Video output will provide the
best possible video quality for the FireBall User
Interface, but will require that your video system
has an available component input.
The S-Video output is typically used for the
optional Escient ETP-1500 touch panel to provide
the user interface directly on the touch panel.
The composite output is typically used for an a/v
distribution system, such as the Xantech AV-61 or
the Niles ZR-4630/8630 distribution systems.
5 CHANGER BACK PANEL
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
SINGLE-ZONE VIDEO OUTPUTS
Single-Zone FireBalls have several video output formats and
connectors including:
• Component Video
• S-Video
• Composite Video
All video outputs are active at the same time, so you can
use as many as you like without causing signal degradation.
However, the corresponding video input from the changer must
also be connected to watch a movie from the changer on that
video output.
The Component Video output will provide the best possible
video quality for the FireBall User Interface, but will require
that your video system has an available component input.
The S-Video output is typically used for the optional Escient
ETP-1500 touch panel to provide the user interface directly on
the touch panel.
The composite output is typically used for an a/v distribution
system, such as the Xantech AV-61 or the Niles ZR-4630/8630
distribution systems.
3 CHANGER BACK PANEL
1 CHANGER BACK PANEL
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FireBall™ AVX & MX Series User’s Manual
RS-232 CONNECTIONS
External disc changers are controlled via two-way serial protocols using RS-232 serial cables. You should use the lower numbered COM ports for
each external disc changer.
The highest numbered COM port is to be used for connecting an Escient ETP-1500 wired touch panel or to interface with a third party control system
such as AMX or Crestron.
Note: You should use the Ethernet control system for controlling FireBall from a third party control system whenever possible. Using the Ethernet control
system frees up the last COM port for other purposes, allows much longer distances between FireBall and the control system, and provides a much faster
path for data transfer.
IR CONNECTIONS
The direct IR input jack on the back panel of the FireBall is for controlling FireBall from a wired IR distribution system such as a Xantech system.
This connection must be an IR signal with a 36kHz carrier using an 1/8” mono or stereo connector.
The IR input jack provides 12V power. This means that you can directly connect a 12V IR receiver (like the Xantech series 291 units) to the FireBall
using a 1/8” stereo connector. A mono 1/8”direct IR input can be safely used as FireBall will automatically detect the differnt cable and ground the
voltage to protect your IR system from damage.
Pin outs for the Wired IR input
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