Madrigal Audio Mark Levinson 36 User manual

Madrigal Audio Laboratories, Inc.
Operating Manual
Mark Levinson®
Nº36
Digital Audio
Processor

CAUTION
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DO NOT OPEN
CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO
NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE.
REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO
NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.
NOTICE
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the
FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in
accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee
that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment on and off, the user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or more of the following measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna;
• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver;
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected;
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
CAUTION: Changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s
authority to operate the equipment.
HDCD®and High Definition Compatible Digital®are registered trademarks of Pacific Microsonics, Inc.
The information contained in the manual is subject to change without notice. The most current version of this manual will
be posted on our web site at http://www.madrigal.com.
The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended
to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the
product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric
shock to persons.
The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the
presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature
accompanying the appliance.
Marking by the “CE” symbol (shown left) indicates compliance of this device with the EMC
(Electromagnetic Compatibility) and LVD (Low Voltage Directive) standards of the
European Community.

Important Safety Instructions
Please read all instructions and precautions carefully and completely before operating your Mark Levinson com-
ponent.
1. ALWAYS disconnect your entire system from the AC mains before connecting or disconnecting
any cables, or when cleaning any component.
2. This product is equipped with a three-conductor AC mains power cord which includes an
earth ground connection. To prevent shock hazard, all three connections must ALWAYS be
used. If your electrical outlets will not accept this type of plug, an adapter may be purchased.
If an adapter is necessary, be sure it is an approved type and is used properly, supplying an
earth ground. If you are not sure of the integrity of your home electrical system, contact a li-
censed electrician for assistance.
3. AC extension cords are not recommended for use with this product. If an extension cord must
be used, be sure it is an approved type and has sufficient current-carrying capacity to power
this product.
4. NEVER use flammable or combustible chemicals for cleaning audio components.
5. NEVER operate this product with any covers removed.
6. NEVER wet the inside of this product with any liquid.
7. NEVER pour or spill liquids directly onto this unit.
8. NEVER block air flow through ventilation slots or heatsinks.
9. NEVER bypass any fuse.
10. NEVER replace any fuse with a value or type other than those specified.
11. NEVER attempt to repair this product. If a problem occurs, contact your Mark Levinson®re-
tailer.
12. NEVER expose this product to extremely high or low temperatures.
13. NEVER operate this product in an explosive atmosphere.
14. ALWAYS keep electrical equipment out of the reach of children.
15. ALWAYS unplug sensitive electronic equipment during lightning storms.

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From all of us at Madrigal Audio Laboratories, thank you for choosing the
Mark Levinson Nº36 Digital Audio Processor.
A great deal of effort went into the design and construction of this precision
device. Used properly, it will give you many years of enjoyment.

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Table of Contents
Unpacking and Placement ........................................................................ 6
Send in Your Warranty Card! .............................................................................. 6
Unpacking the Nº36 ........................................................................................... 6
Placement of the Nº36 ...................................................................................... 6
Operating Voltage ...................................................................................... 7
A Quick Start… ............................................................................................ 8
Warm up/break-in period ................................................................................. 9
Special Design Features ............................................................................10
An “intelligent” FIFO .......................................................................................... 10
Superior isolation between sources ................................................................. 11
Fully balanced design ...................................................................................... 11
24 bit digital architecture and HDCD® compatibility ..................................... 11
HDCD® Gain-Matching ............................................................................. 12
Front panel, Nº36 ........................................................................................13
Display, Nº36 ............................................................................................... 17
Rear panel, Nº36 ........................................................................................19
IR input tip polarity .................................................................................... 20
Linking connections ................................................................................... 21
Building link cables ..................................................................................... 21
Male XLR output connector (digital) ....................................................... 22
AC power cord polarity ............................................................................ 22
Setup and Installation ............................................................................... 23
Nº36 Input Names ............................................................................................ 23
Making Digital Connections ............................................................................ 23
Making Analog Connections .......................................................................... 24
Making Link Connections ................................................................................ 25
Input Names ..................................................................................................... 25
Naming Your Inputs .......................................................................................... 26
Remote Control of the Nº36 ...................................................................... 28
Te a c hi n g N º36 Front Panel Commands .......................................................... 28
Teaching Other Nº36 Commands .................................................................. 29
special commands table ......................................................................... 29
Linked functions.......................................................................................... 31
Standby link ........................................................................................................ 31
Name link .......................................................................................................... 31
Play link .............................................................................................................. 31
Display Link ........................................................................................................ 31
Polarity link ......................................................................................................... 31
HDCD Link ......................................................................................................... 32
Troubleshooting ......................................................................................... 33
Care and maintenance ............................................................................ 34
U.S. and Canadian Warranty .................................................................... 35
90-Day Limited Warranty .................................................................................. 35
Five Year Extended Warranty ........................................................................... 35
Obtaining Service ..................................................................................... 36
Specifications ............................................................................................ 37
Dimensions ................................................................................................ 38

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Unpacking and Placement
Send in Your Warranty Card! So far, you have only half a product. The other half is the ongoing service and
support we can provide you to complement your new component and help you
maximize your enjoyment of it. Unfortunately, we cannot give you this other half
of the product you just purchased unless you tell us where to find you
Sending in your warranty card will automatically add your name to our mailing
list for our customer newsletter, and will allow us to contact you for the occa-
sional special offer. We do not share this lait with anyone; all names are held in
strict confidence. We simply want the opportunity to provide superior service, as
our way of thanking you for buying one of our products.
Unpacking the Nº36 Unpack your Nº36 Digital Audio Processor and remove all accessories from the
carton. Keep all packing materials for future transport.
Included with your new Mark Levinson processor is a pair of knit, white gloves
designed to assist you in the initial unpacking and placement of your new pur-
chase. Please accept them as a token of our appreciation for having purchased
one of our products.
Placement of the Nº36 The Nº36 should be placed close to your digital source equipment, keeping inter-
connect cabling short. We strongly recommend shelf mounting to allow for
proper ventilation. The Nº36 is designed for continuous operation, which is why
it features a standby mode rather than a full “off” mode—it is designed to be
connected to the AC mains at all times for the best performance.
Be sure to allow 3 to 4 inches of clearance above the Nº36 to allow heat dissipa-
tion through air circulation.
Drawings are included in this manual to facilitate special installations and custom
cabinetry (see “Dimensions”).

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Operating Voltage
The Nº36 Digital Audio Processor is set at the factory (internally) for 100V, 120V,
200V, 230V, 220V, or 240V AC mains operation @ 50 or 60Hz. (230V/50Hz only in
European Union countries, in compliance with CE regulations.) This voltage set-
ting cannot be changed by the user. Make sure that the label on the bottom panel
of the Nº36 (adjacent to the AC cord) indicates the correct AC operating voltage
for your location.
If the voltage indicated on your Nº36 is incorrect, or if you wish to change the
AC operating voltage of your Nº36 as the result of moving to a different country
than the one in which you purchased your digital audio processor, see your Mark
Levinson dealer.
The Nº36 can be powered by a normal 15-ampere AC mains line. If other devices
are also powered from the same AC line, their additional power consumption
should be taken into account.
For optimal sonic performance and longevity, the Nº36 is designed to remain
powered at all times (the standby switch merely mutes the processor’s outputs
and turns off the display). There is an initial break-in period of approximately
300 hours before the Nº36 achieves optimum performance.

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A Quick Start…
We recognize that many people are understandably eager to begin listening to
their new components, and that reading the manual is often done (if at all) at a
later time—perhaps while listening to music through the new product itself. We
strongly recommend that you read this manual thoroughly, as the Nº36 Digital
Audio Processor incorporates several unusual features which enhance its opera-
tion.
Fortunately, we can help you get some music up and running on your system
quickly, so that you may begin enjoying your new digital processor while reading
more about it. The goal here is simply to make some music as quickly as pos-
sible. The following procedure assumes that the rest of your system is already
connected (e.g., preamplifier to power amplifier, to speakers, etc.).
1 TURN OFF YOUR ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS
This minimizes the opportunity for a momentary electrical surge disturbing
your system while making connections. If you have a large power amplifier,
allow its power supply to fully discharge before proceeding (which may
take as long as several minutes, depending on its design).
2 CONNECT THE AC CORD TO THE Nº36 AND TO YOUR AC OUTLET
The AC receptacle for the power cord is located underneath the Nº36, in
the center of the unit. (This design reduces noise by bringing the power
into the chassis precisely where it is needed rather than routing it through-
out the unit.) The Nº36 will take a few moments to initialize and will then
be ready to use.
3 CONNECT A DIGITAL SOURCE TO INPUT 1 OR 5
Inputs 1 and 5 on the Nº36 are configured from the factory for CD trans-
ports, the most common type of digital transport. Input 1 is an aes/ebu
(XLR-type) digital input; Input 5 is an S/PDIF (RCA-type) digital input.
These digital inputs are found on the rear of the Nº36. Use high quality
digital cable such as Madrigal MDC-1 for XLR-type, or MDC-2 for RCA-type
connections. (All other inputs are configured as “not used” and will need to
be named before they can be used. Naming of inputs is covered in this
manual.)
4 CONNECT A SET OF ANALOG OUTPUTS TO YOUR PREAMPLIFIER
The Nº36 has both balanced (XLR) analog outputs and single-ended (RCA)
outputs. They are found on the outside edges of the rear panel. As viewed
from the front, the left side contains the Left channel and the right side
contains the Right channel. Use high quality analog cable such as Madrigal
HPC.

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5 SELECT THE INPUT YOU ARE USING BY PRESSING ITS FRONT PANEL BUT-
TON
6 TURN ON THE OTHER COMPONENTS; SLOWLY RAISE THE VOLUME
Congratulations! You should now be able to enjoy your favorite music while
reading the rest of this manual. [Note that it is always a good idea to turn
on your power amplifier(s) last, in case one of your other components ex-
hibits a turn-on transient of some sort.]
Warm up/break-in period Although your Mark Levinson Nº36 digital processor delivers outstanding perfor-
mance straight out of the box, you should expect to hear it continue to improve
as it reaches its normal operating temperatures and its various components
“break-in.” It has been our experience that the greatest changes occur within the
first 25-50 hours, but that the Nº36 will continue to improve in sound quality for
about 300 hours, after which time it remains quite constant.
The only exception to this rule is if power is removed from the unit, allowing it
to cool down. In this case you should expect a brief warm-up period before the
Nº36’s sound quality is at its best. (Fortunately, you will never have to repeat the
full 300 hour break-in period.)

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Special Design Features
Congratulations on your purchase of the Nº36 Digital Audio Processor. The Madri-
gal design team is confident you will enjoy the outstanding performance of the
Nº36 for many years. In case you are interested in technical details, what follows
is a brief outline of some of the key technologies in your new processor.
An “intelligent” FIFO Unlike previous processors which were highly dependent on the quality of the
digital signal they were fed, the Nº36 Digital Audio Processor delivers outstanding
performance with even less-than-ideal digital signals.
“FIFO” stands for “First In, First Out.” It describes a simple buffer in which the
digital information is stored temporarily on its way to being converted to analog.
Just as a large water tower can provide a steady source of water to a small town,
despite hour-to-hour variations in the supply of water from the well, a FIFO can
provide a steady, consistent source of digital data to the converters which are re-
sponsible for changing that data into music. Even if there is significant “jitter” (in-
consistencies in timing) in the incoming digital information, the output of the
FIFO is controlled by a special clock with tremendous accuracy. The result largely
eliminates the jitter and allows the musical information to be reproduced cleanly,
without jitter-induced distortions.
The trouble with most FIFOs lies in their behavior when the incoming signal is
poor enough to cause the “water tank” to overflow or to be emptied. Normally, a
FIFO would then have to “invent” false data to fill the gap, throw away excess
data, or revert to non-FIFO operation. None of these approaches is acceptable, as
they all represent serious performance compromises.
Of course, one could simply use an extremely large buffer. Unfortunately, this so-
lution is a poor one.
A larger buffer implies a longer delay between when information goes in and
when it starts coming back out. With laserdiscs, for example, you must keep the
in/out delay small so as to keep the soundtrack synchronized with the picture on
the screen. An oversized buffer would make every movie’s audio out of step with
its video, an unacceptable situation. Of course, one could bypass the FIFO for
movies, at the cost of losing all of its distortion-reducing benefits.
Madrigal engineers have developed a proprietary buffer management scheme
which reduces reproduced jitter to less than 20 picoseconds while maintaining
the synchronization of sound and picture in movies. It employs a buffer large
enough to absorb the jitter found in transports of reasonable quality, yet small
enough to have imperceptible delay. The rate at which data is released from the
FIFO buffer is controlled by software to track the long-term data rate of the in-
coming signal, allowing the buffer to absorb all the short-term variations which
cause sonic degradation. This approach yields a “smart” FIFO buffering scheme
which rejects virtually all incoming jitter without requiring an enormous buffer
and suffering the consequent audible delay. It also avoids the sonic penalties asso-
ciated with the various strategies used when a buffer overflows or empties.
The “smart” FIFO operates at both 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz sampling rates. The Nº36
reverts to non-FIFO (recovered clock) operation for 32 kHz sampling rates (a
proposed but rarely used standard for digital satellite transmission). It also reverts