M2TECH Joplin User Manual

M2TECH

JOPLIN

384KHZ/32BIT ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

USER MANUAL

--- PRELIMINARY ---

REV. PrB – 9/2012

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

Warning!

Changes or modifications not authorized by the manufacturer can invalidate the compliance to CE regulations and cause the unit to be no more suitable to use. The manufacturer refuses every responsibility regarding damages to people or things due to the use of a unit which has been subject to unauthorized modifications or to misuse or to malfunction of a unit which has been subject to unauthorized modifications.

This unit is compliant with the following CE regulations when an USB cable less than 3m is used: CEI EN 55022:2009 Class B (Radiated Emissions), CEI EN 55024:1999, CEI EN 55024:A2/2003, CEI EN 55024:IS1/2008 (Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 50Hz Magnetic Field Immunity Test and Electrostatic Discharges – ESD).

For a proper operation of this unit, all connections to other equipment in the system must be done when all equipment are off. Failing to comply to this advice may lead to damage to the unit.

Recycling

The label above, printed on the product case, indicates that the product, when no more usable, can’t be treated as generic garbage, but must be disposed of at a collection point for recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, in compliance with the WEEE regulation (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment). By making sure that this unit is correctly recycled, you will help preventing potential damages to environment and human health, which could be caused by a wrong treatment of this product as generic garbage. Materials recycling helps saving natural resources. For more in-depth information about recycling this product, please contact M2Tech Srl.

WARNING: the information contained in this manual are considered to be reliable and accurate. M2Tech reserves the right to change or modify the information any time, without prior advice. It’s up to the customer to ensure that the manual being consulted is the latest version.

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

Dear customer,

thank you for purchasing JOPLIN. What you have is a first-rate analog-to-digital converter with many unique features conceived to obtain the best audio performance out of an analog source.

Even if sending music to a PC or a Mac is nowadays quite simple, much harder is to obtain the best sonic performance while doing it, due to intrinsic limits in digital audio interfaces in computers. Please visit M2Tech website (www.m2tech.biz) to find extensive literature about this topic.

JOPLIN overcomes all the limits of your computer’s audio card by implementing the latest generation hiFace TWO technology, which uses proprietary drivers and asynchronous

data transfer, along with a sophisticated electronic design.

JOPLIN features a comprehensive set of output connections which suit virtually all digital equipment around.

JOPLIN is provided with a very complete set of equalization and filtering options to accommodate all kind of analog signals.

We feel that your expectations will be fulfilled by JOPLIN: you’ll hear your analog sources turned into music files or digital streams in a way like never before, prepare for a whole new experience!

Nadia Marino, CEO

Please annotate here your JOPLIN serial number for future reference:

S/N: ____________________________________

Date of purchase: _________________________

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

INDEX

1. Unpacking and placing the unit........................................................................................6

2. Front Panel ......................................................................................................................7

3. Back Panel.......................................................................................................................8

4. Remote Control................................................................................................................9

5. Connecting and powering the unit .................................................................................10

6. Driver installation ...........................................................................................................11

6.1. Obtaining the driver .................................................................................................11

6.2. Installing the driver on a Windows-based PC..........................................................11

6.3. USB Control Panel ..................................................................................................16

6.4. Uninstalling the driver..............................................................................................17

6.5. True plug’n’play operation with Mac ........................................................................19

6.6. True plug’n’play operation with Linux ......................................................................19

7. Configuring the computer to use the Joplin...................................................................20

7.1. Configuring a PC with Windows XP ........................................................................20

7.1.1. Configuring for Direct Sound with Windows XP ................................................20

7.1.2. Configuring for ASIO with Windows XP ............................................................21

7.2. Configuring a PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7...............................................21

7.2.1. Configuring for Direct Sound with Windows Vista or Windows 7 ......................22

7.2.2. Configuring for Kernel Streaming with Windows Vista or Windows 7 ...............22

7.2.3. Configuring for ASIO with Windows Vista or Windows 7 ..................................23

7.2.4. Configuring for WASAPI with Windows Vista or Windows 7 .............................23

7.3. Configuring a Mac ...................................................................................................23

8. Configuring the JOPLIN ...................................................................................................24

8.1. Navigating the menu by the front panel controls .....................................................24

8.2. Navigating the menu by the IR remote ....................................................................24

8.3. Parameters meaning and choices ...........................................................................25

8.3.1. Input gain..........................................................................................................25

8.3.2. Input choice ......................................................................................................25

8.3.3. Sampling frequency ..........................................................................................26

8.3.4. Resolution.........................................................................................................26

8.3.5. Equalization curve ............................................................................................27

8.3.6. Display dimming ...............................................................................................27

8.3.7. High pass (anti-rumble) filter.............................................................................27

8.3.8. Low pass (anti-hiss) filter ..................................................................................27

8.3.9. MPX filter ..........................................................................................................28

9. Notes on equalization ....................................................................................................30

9.1. Why equalization is needed for records? ................................................................30

9.2. List of phono equalization curves available on the Joplin and notes on their usage......33

9.2.1. RIAA .................................................................................................................33

9.2.2. AES ..................................................................................................................33

9.2.3. Angel (ANG) .....................................................................................................34

9.2.4. Audiophile (AUDP)............................................................................................34

9.2.5. Capitol (CAP)....................................................................................................34

9.2.6. Columbia (COL)................................................................................................34

9.2.7. HMV..................................................................................................................34

9.2.8. Decca/London FFRR ........................................................................................34

9.2.9. MGM.................................................................................................................34

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

9.2.10. NAB ................................................................................................................35

9.2.11. Oiseau-Lyre (OYLR) .......................................................................................35

9.2.12. Pacific Jazz (PACJ) ........................................................................................35

9.2.13. Philips .............................................................................................................35

9.2.14. RCA (RCA1, RCA2 and RCAO) .....................................................................35

9.2.15. Brunswick .......................................................................................................35

9.2.16. Columbia 1925, Columbia 1938 and Columbia England (CO25, CO38 and COLE)35

9.2.17. Decca FFRR 78rpm (DEC) .............................................................................36

9.2.18. MGM 78rpm (MGM7)......................................................................................36

9.2.19. Victor 1938-47 and Victor 1947-52 (VIC3 and VIC4) ......................................36

9.3. Equalizing tapes: why and when .............................................................................36

9.3.1. CCIR/IEC for 9.5cm/s and 19cm/s (3¾ ips and 7½ ips) and CCIR/IEC for

38cm/s (15 ips) (IEC1 and IEC3) ................................................................................37

9.3.2. NAB for 9.5cm/s (3¾ ips) and NAB for 19cm/s (7½ ips)...................................37

9.4. Acquiring with equalization......................................................................................37

9.5. Interfacing a cartridge or a tape head......................................................................37

9.6. Recording programs................................................................................................38

10. Using a power supply different from the standard one.................................................39

11. Cleaning the unit..........................................................................................................39

12. Technical Specifications ..............................................................................................40

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JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

1. Unpacking and placing the unit

Place the carton box on a table and open it by removing or cutting the adhesive tape. Extract the foam upper cover. You should find the following items:

• one Joplin ADC;

• one wall adapter;

• one A-B USB cable;

• a remote control.

Should one or more items be missing, please contact your dealer or local distributor.

Extract the Joplin from the foam container and place it on a stable base, far from heat sources. Avoid the direct sunlight on the unit. Allow for enough room around the unit for venting. The Joplin is a high efficiency design so little heat is produced during normal operation; anyway, it’s better allow for adequate venting. Avoid smoke, humidity, moisture and water from reaching the unit. Do not place the unit on thick carpets or inside a box or piece of furniture, or in close contact with curtains.

JOPLIN

123

384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

2. Front Panel

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Figure 1

1) Standby/Exit button. This button has two function. When in standby, the unit is silent and the display is off. Standby ends when this button is pressed. When the unit is operative and the menu is not being accessed, press this button to put the unit in standby. When accessing the menu, press this button to exit the menu without changing the selected option.

2) Encoder knob and switch. Push the knob to access the menu. More pushes allow to navigate the various menu items. When the desired item is accessed, rotate the knob to choose the desired value for that item. Push the knob one last time to select the desired value and exit the menu.

3) Display. Multifunction six digits led matrix display. During normal operation, it indicates the sampling frequency. When accessing the menu, it indicates the menu item and current value. When clipping is reached on the analog input, it indicates the status by displaying “CLIP”. When in standby, a single led is on at the center of the display area. Its intensity is set by menu.

4) VU-meter. It indicates the peak value for both channels. Left channel is top, right channel is immediately below left channel. Its intensity is set by menu.

JOPLIN

567891011

384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

3. Back Panel

M2Tech

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JOPLIN

USB 2.0

MADE IN ITALY

DC IN 15V

GND

AES/EBU OUT

LEFT INRIGHT IN

S/N:

M2TECH

S/PDIF OU T S/PDIF IN

384 H 32BIT ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

k Z

TOSLINK OUT

Figure 2

4) Right channel analog input. Connect to right channel of the analog source output. RCA female connector.

5) Left channel analog input. Connect to left channel of the analog source output. RCA female connector.

6) AES/EBU digital output. Generate AES/EBU data streams in consumer format. XLR male connector.

7) S/PDIF digital output. Generate S/PDIF data streams. RCA female connector.

8) S/PDIF digital input. Accept S/PDIF data streams. RCA female connector.

9) ToslinkTM optical digital output. Optical output for ToslinkTM cables. ToslinkTM

connector.

10) USB 2.0 output. Connect to a PC with Windows or Linux or MacIntosh with an USB

2.0 compliant A-B cable. USB 2.0 B female connector.

11) Power supply input. Connect the wall adaptor provided with the unit or any other power supply capable of 15V/500mA. 5.5mm/2.1mm supply jack (female, tip is positive).

12) Ground (chassis) post. When necessary, connect this post to the chassis wire from the source, to reduce hum and noise pickup.

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

4. Remote Control

M2TECH

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MENU/ESC

OK >

1) Standby. Push this button to put the unit in standby and to activate it.

4) Menu/Esc. Push this button to access the menu and to exit the menu without changing

the current item.

4) Menu navigation arrows. When accessing the menu, push arrow up and arrow down to scroll through the various menu items. Push arrow left and arrow right to choose the value for the selected item.

4) OK. When accessing the menu, push this button to update the current item with the displayed value.

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

5. Connecting and powering the unit

ADVICE: all connections to other equipment in the system must be done when all equipment are off. Failing to comply to this advice may expose the Joplin of damages.

ADVICE: Windows users must install the driver prior to connecting the Joplin PC (please refer to section 6).

Please refer to section 3, “Back Panel Description”.

Connect the “B” plug of a 2.0 USB A-B cable to the USB connector (Figure 2, 10) of the Joplin.

Connect the “A” plug of the cable to a 2.0 USB port of your computer.

Connect two interconnects to the analog inputs of the Joplin (Figure 2, 4/5) and to the outputs of your analog source (be it a turntable, a tuner, a tape recorder or even the tape rec output of your amplifier).

Connect a digital cable with suitable termination (RCA, XLR or optical Toslink™) from the Joplin to your amplifier’s digital inputs or to a DAC (Figure 2, 6/7/9).

If you need to route the output of a digital source to your computer or to the amplifier, you may connect the source to the Joplin using an RCA digital interconnect (Figure 2, 8).

Connect the wall adaptor provided with the Joplin or any other 15V/500mA power supply to the supply connector (Figure 2, 11) of the Joplin.

Joplin to the risk

JoplinJoplin

Joplin to the

JoplinJoplin

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

M2Tech

www.m2tech.biz

6. Driver installation

The Joplin is USB 2.0 Audio compliant. This means that no driver is needed with Apple computers, nor with Linux-based PC’s. The latter will need ALSA to operate the Joplin.

Windows is presently not compatible with USB 2.0 Audio, so no native support is available. In this case, M2Tech provides a driver which needs to be installed prior to access the Joplin via USB.

6.1. Obtaining the driver

The Windows driver for the Joplin is available on the M2Tech website, in the page dedicated to the Joplin (www.m2tech.biz/joplin.html). The driver is contained in selfextracting file.

6.2. Installing the driver on a Windows-based PC

The procedure is almost the same for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Double-click on the 7-Zip folder to automatically extract the files in a directory of your choice (Figure 4).

Figure 4

Amongst the files extracted is “setup.exe”. Double-click on its icon to launch it and follow the indications provided by the setup program (Figure 5).

JOPLIN 384kHz/32bit ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

REVISION PRB – SEPTEMBER 2012

M2Tech

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Figure 5

In Windows 7, the installation wizard will ask for authorization to start installation. Accept. Then, the wizard will check for system features. At a certain point, it will ask you to connect the Joplin in one of the USB ports (Figure 6).

Figure 6

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M2TECH Joplin User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

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User Manual