Conrad-Johnson DR-1 User manual

Thank you for selecting the DR-1 data reader as the compact disc
transportforyouraudiosystem.Itisideallysuitedforuseincombination
with any of conrad-johnson’s digital/analog converters, to form a com-
pact disc playback system capable of extracting all the detail and
dynamics of the best digital recordings.
At conrad-johnson, we expect our products to be a source of satisfaction
and of pride to their owners for many years to come. Accordingly, circuit
designs, parts and materials for all conrad-johnson products are se-
lected with a view to maintaining optimal performance over the years.
Our reputation for producing among the industry’s most reliable compo-
nents is a natural consequence of this engineering approach.
Although the DR-1 has been designed so that its basic operation is
intuitively apparent, it has a number of sophisticated features which are
fully explained in this manual. Please take a few minutes to read the
manual to better understand the features and capabilities of your DR-1.
In closing, we’d like to welcome you to the family of conrad-johnson
owners. We want you to enjoy your conrad-johnson product to the
fullest. To this end, our staff stands ready to answer any questions you
may have about the function and application of your DR-1, and to
provide any needed service both during, and after the warranty period.
Our goal is to heighten your enjoyment of recorded music.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 1

Limited Warranty For Conrad-Johnson Components
conrad-johnson design, inc. will provide service under warranty to the
original owner on products sold new in the United States for the lesser
periodofthreeyearsfrom thedateof purchasebythe originalpurchaser,
or five years from the date of shipment to the authorized conrad-johnson
dealer. During the warranty period, conrad-johnson will repair defective
units without charge for labor or parts (with the exception of vacuum
tubes and batteries).
Exclusions. The following are not covered under this warranty:
a) Units which have been damaged by misuse, abuse, or accident.
b) Units which have been modified, altered, or improperly repaired by
anyone not specifically authorized by conrad-johnson design, inc.
c) Units not purchased from an authorized conrad-johnson dealer in the
United States for use in the United States.
d) Normal wear.
e) Incidental or consequential damages are not covered under this
warranty. Some states do not allow the exclusion of incidental or
consequential damages, so this exclusion may not apply to you.
Obtaining Warranty Service:To obtain warranty service, the unit must
be shipped, along with evidence of purchase, in factory packing to
conrad-johnson design (or designated service center) with freight and
insuranceprepaidbytheowner.Afterrepair,theunitwillbereturnedwith
freight and insurance prepaid by conrad-johnson design to any destina-
tion in the United States.
Allimplied warranties,includingmerchantability andfitnessfor aparticu-
lar purpose are limited in duration to the duration of this express
warranty. Some states do not allow limitations on the duration of implied
warranties so the above limitations may not apply to you.
This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have
other rights which vary from state to state.
Conrad-Johnson products purchased outside the United States are
covered by warranty terms of the importing distributor in the country in
which the product was originally purchased, which may differ from the
terms set out herein. Importing distributors are not obligated to provide
warranty service for products originally purchased outside their country.
Conrad-Johnson will provide warranty service for products outside the
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 2

United States, but the customer must pay all shipping, handling and
customs costs both to and from our Service Department.
Questions about this warranty should be addressed to:
Service Department
conrad-johnson design, inc.
2733 Merrilee Drive
Fairfax, VA 22031
The Service Department can also be reached by phone at 703-698-
8581, or by fax at 703-560-5360
Service
If your conrad-johnson audio component requires service, repack it
using the original box and packing material and ship to the Service
Department address above. Boxes and packing materials can be ob-
tainedfrom ourservicedepartment foranominal charge,ifyou nolonger
have yours. Include with the unit a note describing the problem you are
having in as much detail as possible. It is especially important for our
technician to know if the problem is intermittent. If you want an estimate
of cost for out of warranty service, be sure to request it in this note. Be
aware that requesting an estimate will delay service to your unit as we
will have to contact you for your approval before commencing service.
Registering The Warranty
Please return the enclosed card to the factory within 30 days of pur-
chase to register the warranty.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 3

Installation
Because the DR-1 dissipates very little heat, ventilation is not an impor-
tantconsideration, allowinggreaterflexibility forcustomor built-ininstal-
lations. Of course, reasonable judgement must be exercised to see that
the DR-1 does not obstruct ventilation required by amplifiers or other
equipment in the system. The unit must be mounted horizontally.
All DR-1s sold in the United States are configured for operation on a
60Hz ac power line producing between 108 and 126 volts. Export
versions of the DR-1 will have the correct operating voltage and fre-
quency clearly marked on the back panel of the unit, near the ac power
cord. In all cases, the actual line voltage should be within + 5/- 10% of
the nominal rated voltage.
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
Considerable care has been taken in the design of the DR-1 to minimize
it’s susceptibility to radio frequency interference and other forms of EMI.
Choice of materials, physical layout, grounding practice, and power
supply design have all been specified with a view to reducing the impact
of electromagnetic fields on the performance of this unit, and to assure
that it does not radiate fields that might interfere with the operation of
other units.
Careininstallationcan oftenavoidEMIinducedproblems. Thefollowing
practices should generally be observed in any application, and will be
especially important where EMI may be a problem.
Audiointerconnectcables should be kept as short as possible (3meters
or less), and shielded cable should be used (cable which has two center
conductors, and a separate external shield connected at only one end).
Physical location and cable "dress" can be an important factor in mini-
mizing hum pickup. The installation should situate the DR-1 away from
the preamplifier and other sources. Power (ac mains) cords should be
dressed to remain at least 4" (100mm) away from audio signal cables,
and from coaxial digital cables.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 4

CONNECTION
The outputs from the DR-1 are digital signals only. You must have a D/A
(digitaltoanalog) converter inordertoprovidean analog signalthatyour
stereo system can use. The DR-1 comes standard with a coaxial (RCA)
outputconnector.Useacoaxialdigitalcabletoconnectthisoutputtothe
digital input of your D/A converter. If your DR-1 is equipped with the
Professional Output option, it also has available connectors for AT&T
glass fiber optic cable or balanced (XLR) transmission lines. The choice
will depend on the available inputs on your D/A converter as well as
personal preference.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 5

CONTROLS
power: This is the main power switch for the CD transport.
o/c (OPEN/CLOSE): Pressing this button will open the CD tray. Press
again to close.
> (PLAY): Pressing this button starts playback of the chosen track. If
a track is already playing, pressing it will restart playback from the
beginning of the track being played. If the CD tray is open, pressing >
will close the tray, and initiate playback.
(STOP): Pressing this button during play will stop playback. Press-
ing it while programming will clear (erase) the program.
|| (PAUSE):Pressing this button interrupts play. PAUSE will light up on
the display. To resume play, press a second time.
<< AND >> : These buttons can be used to select another track during
playor to select the track tostart play with. Briefly pressing the >>button
will move to the next track, while pressing << will move to the previous
track. Pressing and holding these buttons during play will enable fast
search (forward >> or backward <<). These buttons are also used to set
edit parameters (see instructions for tape dubbing, below).
time: This button is used to select between the program time display
options. During playback, the display initially reads the elapsed time of
the track being played (TRACK TIME will be lit above the time display).
Press time once to switch the display to read the time remaining for the
current track (REM TRACK TIME). Press time again to display time
remaining for the entire CD (TOTAL REM TIME). Pressing once again
will return to the initial display of elapsed track time.
prgm (Program): This button is used to initiate and then to close
programming of playback.
clr (Clear): Used to erase a program in its entirety or track selections
from within a program.
review: Displays the program in memory, allowing user to check the
program prior to execution.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 6

edit:allows user to set up a recording session that will fit within the time
constraints of a particular cassette.
peak: pressing this will cause player to scan the entire CD for the
loudest passage, and when found, will play that passage repeatedly,
allowing recording levels to be set. Press STOP to end.
THE REMOTE CONTROL
PLAY, STOP, PAUSE, <<, and >> are duplicated on the remote control.
These keys on the remote function in exactly the same way as the front
panelcontrols.Thefollowingadditionalcontrolsareavailableonlyonthe
remote control:
NUMBER KEYS 0-9: These keys can be used for direct selection of a
different track during play, a track to begin play with, and tracks for a
program.The second digit in two digit numbers (eg: 12) must beentered
within 2 seconds.
SCAN: Press to automatically play the first ten seconds of each track.
To play a full track, press again, or press PLAY.
REPEAT: Press once before or during play to cause the displayed track
to play continuously. REPEAT 1 will light on the display. Pressing a
secondtime beforeorduring playwillrepeat theentireCD, andREPEAT
will light on the display. Pressing a third time will end the repetition.
VOLUME (+ and -):Digitally adjusts the playback level. Important Note:
when playing HDCD encoded discs with an HDCD D/A converter,
volumelevelmust be set to maximum for the HDCD decoder to operate.
The volume control is a convenience feature which we believe you will
find useful. Be aware, however, that volume should be set to the
maximum level for best sonic performance.
SHUFFLE: Press before or during play to play tracks in random order.
SHUFFLE will light on the display. Press again to return to normal play.
If you elect to repeat the entire cd in SHUFFLE mode, the tracks will be
played randomly each time, except that playback will always begin with
the same track.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 7

The handheld remote is a battery operated device, using two 1.5 volt
AAA(or RO3, UM4)batteries.Expectedbattery life isapproximatelyone
year.
DISPLAY MESSAGES
The DR-1 is equipped with a six character alpha-numeric display. This
displayshows track and time information during normal playback. Italso
isusedtoprovideotherinformationandinstructionsregardingthestatus
and operation of the machine. Some of the messages you may see are
described in this section.
close: cd tray is being closed.
read: the CD’s contents are being scanned.
nodISC: there is no CD in the player.
noAUdIOdISC: disc in player is a non-audio CD (CD-ROM, CD-I, or
CDV).
notPOSSIbLE: a non-existent track number has been selected.
FULL: you have attempted to program more than 30 tracks.
GO tO PLAY: youhave attempted afunctionwhichrequires that youfirst
start play.
GO tO STOP: you have attempted a function which requires that you
first stop play.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 8

Standard CD Playback
To play a cd:
-- press power, if unit is not already turned on;
-- press o/c to open the cd tray;
-- place a 3" or 5" audio cd in the tray, printed side up;
-- press o/c to close the cd tray. After initializing, the display will
show the number of tracks and total time of the cd;
-- press > to begin play from the beginning of the cd, or
-- select a track to begin play by pressing >> as many times as
needed to get to the desired track number, and then press
play, or simply select a track number directly by using the 0-9
keys on the remote control (the second digit of a two digit
number must be entered within two seconds of the first digit).
-- play will stop after the final track is completed.
Programming
The DR-1 can be programmed to play up to thirty tracks on a CD in any
desired sequence. To enter a program:
-- if needed cd is playing, press STOP ;
-- press prgm (PROGRAM lights up and flashes);
-- key in desired track numbers using number keys on remote
control. Each time you key in a track number, the number of
tracks and the playing time of your option will be shown under
TRACK and TOTAL TIME on the alpha-numeric display;
-- press PRG to conclude the program;
-- press PLAY to play the program.
You can check the program you have entered by pressing review. The
track/time display will show in sequence the track numbers and track
times for your program. If you press review without having first entered
a program, the display will show NO PROG.
Youcan erase the program while playing by pressingo/c, or by pressing
STOP twice. You can erase a program that is not playing by pressing
o/c, clr (clear), or STOP.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 9

You can remove a track from the program by stopping play, then
pressing review. When the track number you want to remove is dis-
played, pressclr (clear).
Taping CDs
The DR-1 has special features to assist you in making tape recordings
of your favorite cds. These features are provided solely to assist you in
making legal copies of cds for your own private use. They are not
intended to facilitate illegal copying of copyrighted material.
One particularly useful feature is peak search, which will locate the
loudestpassageonacdandplayitcontinuously(from2secondsbefore
the peak to 2 seconds after), allowing you to set the recording levels on
your tape recorder. To initiate this process, press the button labeled
peak. The process can be concluded by pressing STOP, oro/c.
The DR-1 will also determine for you how many tracks will fit on each
side of a tape, and set up a program to play only those tracks. To use
this feature:
-- press STOP if the cd is playing;
-- press edit to activate edit mode (display shows "EDIT") - this
selects the "normal" edit mode.
-- two modes are available: EDIT (normal) and OPT(imal). EDIT
- will determine which tracks fit on each side of the tape and
will stop on the last track. Tracks will be recorded in the order
in which they appear on the CD. OPT - will calculate the
number and order in which the tracks should be recorded to
best utilize available recording time.
-- if desired, use the << and >> buttons to display OPT(imal), or
CANCEL, or EDIT (normal). With the desired mode displayed,
press EDIT to select. Selecting CANCEL will exit edit mode.
-- the display will now show "C90" which is the default setting.
With the << & >> buttons, other tape lengths may be selected
(options are: C100, C105, C120, C30, C45, C60, C75, or
C90). Press Edit to store the desired recording time.
-- the track number indicator will now show which tracks fit onto
side A of the tape, and the alpha-numeric display will show the
number of tracks and total playing time. Begin recording, and
press >(PLAY) on the DR-1. The transport will play the tracks
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 10

selected for side A, and will then go into PAUSE. Display will
next show the track selections for side B. Turn over the tape,
put tape recorder into RECORD, and press >(PLAY) on DR-1
to start side B program. After last track is played the display
will read "EDIT CANCELED".
Specifications
Output: one 75 ohm coaxial (RCA connector). Professional Output
option adds one balanced output and one ST glass optical output.
Dimensions: 13.125"D x 19"W x 3.315"H
Net Weight: 17 lbs.
Fuses
The DR-1 has four fuses protecting the dc power supplies. These
fuses are located on the printed circuit board nearest the middle of
the unit. Failure of any fuse is a symptom of a more serious
problem, and a competent service technician should be consulted.
In no event should these fuses be replaced with a value or
type different than that originally supplied. The correct fuse
value and type for all four fuses is: 1.5 amp, fast blow.
Some of the units supplied for 220 or 240 V operation have an
autoformer that is protected by a chassis mount fuse near the line
cord. This fuse is a 1/4 amp fast blow fuse.
DR-1 Owner’s Manual 11