Numark CDN77usb User manual

Numark CDN77USB guide (using USB sticks)
This guide will take you through a couple of the functions and best practice in
using the Numark CDN77USB CD and MP3 player at FromeFM.
There have been a number of reports recently about the CD player acting up.
This is due to the amount of usage it gets and affects the left deck more than
the right as it gets more usage. It is likely that the left laser has become
defocused which is why it often works fine for professionally produced CDs
but not ones made at home. We will be replacing it soon but in the mean-time
we are keen to ensure that no presenter is struggling to play a track on air.
The most efficient, quick and simple way to play music on FromeFM is use to
MP3 files added to a USB stick. Using a USB stick means you don’t need to
keep opening and closing the tray to change CDs and you are able to use
both the left and the right deck from the same USB meaning you can do your
entire show from a single USB.
First things first, you will need to convert the songs for your playlist into MP3
files. It is crucial that the files are MP3 and not .M4A (iTunes), .WMA
(Windows Media) or any other format including .WAV .OGG .AAC etc.

You can use tools like iTunes or other CD ripping software to create these
MP3 files from CDs or you can purchase them from digital media stores, or
download from Soundcloud/Bandcamp etc.
Once you’ve got all your music ready it’s time to copy them onto whatever
USB stick you intend to use. We recommend that you use one USB stick
solely for use in the player rather than a general use one that also includes
other files such as Word files, Excel or images.
If you want to you can sort the files into named folders. This is useful if you
want to plan several shows in advance, or if you want to put a large number of
files onto the USB from different artists and albums and want to flick between
them like you would a CD changer.
Now we come to the fun part of actually getting these files into the memory of
the audio player and through the desk.
Pop the USB into port A or B, it doesn’t really matter. Port B is slightly easier
to get the stick into as its lower and not as close to the edge of the rackmount.

The audio player will pick up the metadata from the tracks to show on screen
so it’s useful to ensure every track has a title then you can see it on the
screen.
The audio player will generate the track numbering based on the filename of
each track. I tend to then rename the files by preceding it with a track number.
E.g.
01 Abba – Mamma Mia.mp3
02 Military Wives charity single.mp3
03 Adagio in D Minor (John Murphy).mp3
Sometimes the audio player will automatically detect the presence of the USB
and switch focus to it but this isn’t always the case. It’s easy to switch sources
though simply click on the “Source” button to switch between CD, USB A and
USB B.

After a few seconds the root contents of the USB will be loaded into the
memory of the CD player. If you are using multiple folders then you may need
to find the relevant location by pressing the folder button and using the twisty
knob to locate the right place. Press the knob in to select the folder. Press the
folder button to go back up a level.
Once you’ve selected your folder (or you are staying in the root of the USB)
you are ready to select your tracks.
You can use the same source and folder controls on the other deck of the
player as if it were a different CD meaning you can have one folder on the left
side and a different one on the right for example.
Simply use the normal track changing knob to skip forward and back through
the tracks. They will be in the same order as the filename you put them on the
stick with.
Tap the Play button as normal to play.
All the other controls are identical to using CDs.

What if you don’t have a USB?
If you don’t have the audio files as MP3 then where possible please use
original CDs rather than burned CDs/CD-Rs. CD-Rs have thinner surface
layers for data storage and are more susceptible to damage and scratches.
When the laser is slightly out of alignment (as is the case in the left deck right
now) or if there are micro scratches on the surface, the audio player can have
difficulties.
If you really MUST use burned CDs though please try these tips:
•Make sure you are using a single use CD-R rather than a rewritable
CD-RW.
•Make sure the disc is “finalised”, this means you cannot burn anything
else onto the disc after the original burn.
•Make sure you are burning as "Audio CD" format not DATA.
•If neither of the above works, it may just be that the brand of CD-R disk
you are using does not work well with the audio player. This happens
sometimes with budget discs. Try a different brand. Cheaper white
labelled brands have more trouble than established brands like Sony or
Memorex.
•Burn at a slower speed! Try burning a disk at 1x (rather than 4x or 8x
or whatever speed your burner drive supports). Very often audio CD's
burned at slower speeds will work in audio players while discs burned
at higher speeds won't. It's been said that the laser encoding is
somehow "clearer" when burning at slower speeds and this helps audio
players, which often have a problem with home-burned CD's, to cope
with the discs.
•Ensure you record all your audio CD's in "disc at once" mode, meaning
the whole disc is burned in one pass without turning off the laser. Audio
players like discs burned like this better. If you burn the disc "track at a
time" the laser is turned off between each track, and audio players
often cannot find any track other than the first one on such disks.
•If all this fails use the Laptop to play CD’s.