TAG MCLAREN AUDIO DPA32R User manual

01
DPA32R DAB option
contents
7659A
02 controls
04 welcome
08 key features
09 getting started
12 tuning methods
13 station memory
15 menu functions
19 DAB antenna
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controls
03
controls
02
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05
There are many spin-offs into audio
from our expertise in automotive
electronics,mechanical engineering and
the material science of Formula One
racing:multi-layer printed circuit boards,
fast digital signal processing,electronic
noise suppression,radio frequency
technology and software expertise to name
but a few,all prerequisites of an
outstanding audio product.Material
science applies,for example,to audio
interconnects and resonance-free
loudspeaker cabinets,suspension
technology to decouple audio products
from the sound field they work in,very
high-speed wireless telemetry systems to
distortion free radio reception.
TAG McLarenAudio’s aim is sonic
perfection combined with aesthetic delight
and solid build quality - a rare combination
in hi-fi but one which we are delivering.
It is our technical expertise,combined
with the strongest desire to be the best,
which has produced this leading-edge,hi-
technology Digital Radio Upgrade for your
DPA32RDAB.Building on our successful
tunerT32R,the Digital Radio Upgrade
allows high-fidelity,interference free
Digital Radio (DAB) reception.We are
convinced that with this Upgrade you will
not be disappointed.
Dr Udo Zucker
Chief Executive Officer
welcome
04
TAG McLarenAudio exists with one aim
in mind:to produce the very best audio
and audio-visual equipment in the world.
Like many people,I often have my best
ideas when relaxing to a piece of music.
For years, knowing the technical
capabilities ofTAG McLaren,I have
nurtured the ambition to push music
reproduction to the absolute limit;that's
why we formedTAG McLarenAudio.
At the core of our development team
are highly experienced engineers whose
heritage of award-winning hi-fi and world-
beating electronic control systems is
envied by many and equalled by few.
welcome to
Dr. Udo Zucker – Physicist, PhD in
Science, designer of award-winning
electronics, dedicated audiophile and
Chief Executive Officer of TAG
McLaren Audio
Pushing technological
boundaries; TAG McLaren’s F1
electronics
welcome
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welcome
07
welcome
06
Thank you for purchasing theTAG McLaren Audio Digital Radio Upgrade for the DPA32RDAB
DAB receiver card
The biggest news in radio of late is Digital Radio (also called
DigitalAudio Broadcasting or simply DAB).Digital Radio is
the most significant advance in radio technology since the
introduction of FM stereo.Digital radio provides high-quality
sound,combined with virtually interference-free reception.
Adding the optional Digital Radio Upgrade to the
DPA32RDAB gives you a fully remote-controlled high-precision
Digital Radio,built to the most demanding
standards,including full RadioText shown
on the DPA32RDAB’s display or,if you own a
TAG McLarenAudio av processorAV32R,
on your television.
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The fully software-upgradable Digital Radio Module is based on
the latest technology. It is capable of receiving Digital Radio
transmissions on both band III (174 MHz - 240 MHz) and L-band
(1452 MHz - 1492 MHz) using a 50Ωantenna. It supports all
existing DAB modes (I, II, III and IV), features high selectivity
through the use of a high-order recursive digital filter and
supports the sampling rates of 24kHz and 48kHz.
The timing of digital data decoded from the Digital Radio signal
is as important as the data itself. Timing inaccuracy, known as
‘jitter’, is responsible for a wide range of subtle distortions. TAG
McLaren Audio uses its award-winning CD reproduction
technology to reduce jitter to its technical minimum by using a
very stable electronic clock, which is synchronized to the DAB
data to provide accurate timing.
The Digital Radio Upgrade has been tightly integrated into the
DPA32RDAB operating system for ease of use.
09
getting started
08
key features
digital radio
(DA) receiver
module
stable internal
timing clock
tight
integration
with the DPA32R
Adding the Digital Radio Module makes your DPA32RDAB a very
sensitive radio signal detector and, as such, it can pick up
interference from other nearby equipment. You may need to move
your DPA32RDAB or the interfering equipment if problems occur.
Connect a Digital Radio antenna to the socket marked digital
radio (DAB) rf input (option) on the rear of the DPA32RDAB. Best
results are achieved using a dedicated external Digital Radio
antenna, an indoor antenna may prove insufficient to receive
weak signals.
Press the power button in. The blue power LED will come on, the
display window will light up and the mute LED will illuminate
briefly whilst all voltages are stabilising.
Immediately after the power has stabilised, the DPA32RDAB will
begin scanning through all of the available Digital Radio
frequencies to find all stations. If Digital Radio (DAB) is selected
during this phase the upper line of the display will show
“SCANNING” while the lower line of the display will show a
progress indication.
Press the dab key on the remote control or repeatedly the INPUT
digital button on the front panel until Digital Radio is shown on
the lower line of the display.
positioning
antenna
connection
switching on
Switch into
digital radio
(DA)
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front panel display
when digital radio
is selected
11
getting started
10
getting started
Once all available Digital Radio stations are found (which will
only take a few seconds), the display will show the station name
and the scrolling radio text (factory default). The display can be
configured by you so it might look different (see page 11 for
details). Pressing the data key repeatedly allows you to set the
information you wish to be shown in the upper and lower parts of
the display. You can also scan through all available options using
the station + and station - keys on your remote while in this mode.
The displayed option is automatically selected after a few seconds
or when pressing enter. Press cancel or return if you don’t want to
change the display configuration.
front panel display
when digital radio
is selected
(cont’d)
The options for the upper display are :
Station Name the station you have tuned into
Time as broadcast by the station
Ensemble the name of the network, such as BBC or
Digital One, broadcasting this station
The options for the lower display are :
Station Name the station you have tuned into
Time as broadcast by the station
Date as broadcast by the station
Radiotext additional information provided by the
broadcaster
Program Type Some radio stations send only a specific
type of program, such as Jazz, Classic
or Speech. Program Type makes
searching for station with a specific
content more convenient, see page 17 for
details
Ensemble the name of the network, such as BBC or
Digital One, broadcasting this station
Signal Quality an indicator of the quality of received
information. Digital Radio is able to correct
errors in the digital data stream if not too
severe, hence you might not be able to hear
any significant differences between perfect
reception (100%) and a lower signal quality.
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auto scanning
manual
scanning
station selection
signal quality
indicator
Whenever the DPA32RDAB is powered-up, it will scan through all
DAB frequencies to find stations. If Digital Radio is the selected
input, the upper line of text will show “SCANNING” while the
lower line of the display will show a progress indicator. The
DPA32RDAB will sort all found stations in alphabetical order of the
station names.
Should you wish to re-scan for the latest Digital Radio stations
press and hold down the dab key on your remote control for 3
seconds. The scanning process will then begin. The DPA32RDAB
will sort all found stations in alphabetical order of the station
names.
Alternatively, you can start scanning from within the Digital Radio
menu system, for details see page 15.
Press the station - or station + keys on the remote control to select
the previous or next Digital Radio station. When a new station
has been selected the transmitted data rate will be briefly
displayed in the top left hand corner of the display. This is for
information only and cannot be changed by the user.
The DPA32RDAB can display a Signal Quality indication (see page
10 for information) which can be used to adjust the receiving
antenna for maximum reception.
13
station memory
12
tuning methods
storing stations
The DPA32RDAB has 99 station memories.
To store a selected station, press the store button on the Remote
and key in the memory number you wish to use(1).
The lower line of the display will ask which preset location you
wish to store the station in and the memory indicator will flash.
You will also be shown the next available preset location. If you
wish to store the station in the suggested location, press enter, or
simply wait for approximately 10 seconds and the station will be
stored automatically. If you wish to specify your own preset
location, enter the number. If you decide not to store a station in
the memory after pressing the store key, press the cancel or return
key on the Remote. Nothing will be stored and the DPA32RDAB will
return to normal operation.
To store a station in memory locations 1 to 9 press the required
number key from 1to 9, the DPA32RDAB will wait 3 seconds
before the station is stored. For faster access precede 1 to 9 with
0, or press enter after entering the number. For 10 to 99, press
the number keys for the two digits in turn. You will be warned if
you try to use a memory already in use.
1. The memories do not have to be used sequentially, i.e. you can select any
memory number
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To recall a station stored in memory, press a number key for
memories 1 to 9 or both digits for memories 10 to 99. If you
select digits 1 to 9 only, the DPA32RDAB will wait 3 seconds before
the stored station is selected. For faster station access precede 1
to 9 with 0.
The memory location number is shown on the left of the front
display, with the station name on the right. When you are not on
a stored station, the memory location number display is turned
off, and DAB is displayed instead.
The DPA32RDAB remembers all its settings, including the station
memory, even if unplugged from power. It will return to its last
setting when it is switched back on, except if power was switched
off during storing a station.
15
menu functions
14
station memory
accessing the
digital radio
menu
The DPA32RDAB has many features that can be accessed with the
menu key.
Pressing the menu key on the remote selects a list of menu items
described in the manual shipped with the DPA32RDAB. After
installing the Digital Radio Module a new item will be added,
called Digital Radio. You can easily reach it by pressing menu
followed by station +. Select its options by pressing enter. As with
all menu items you can scroll through the different options using
the station + or station - keys. Press enter to make a selection,
return leaves the option list without making a selection. Press
menu again to leave the advanced features list, accepting all
your selections, press cancel to leave without making any
changes.
The menu item Digital Radio offers these options:
Find all stations
This will refresh the complete station list. All Digital Radio
frequencies are re-scanned to find new stations. All stations are
stored in the alphabetic sequence of their station names. This
process will guarantee that all available Digital Radio stations are
found and made available. Different to analog radio all available
stations are named by their broadcaster. This makes tuning easy
and convenient. Only if new stations are added by the
broadcaster will the station list need updating. This happens
automatically whenever the DPA32RDAB is powered-up or the dab
key is pressed for more than 3 seconds.
recalling stored
stations
memory
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Erase station
Erases the current station from the station memory. You can
restore it at any time using the store key on the remote
Clear all stations
Clears the complete station memory.
Dyn range ctrl
Dynamic range control reduces the volume of very loud passages
and increases the volume of very quiet passages, this is
meaningful when listening at night at reduced volume or if there
is a loud background noise. This can be set to ‘on’ or ‘off’, the
default setting is ‘off’.
Sample rate
The sample rate of the DAB digital output can be set to 44.1kHz,
48kHz, 96kHz, or be switched off depending on the digital
recording device or digital-to-analog converter you have
connected. The default setting is 44.1kHz.
Program search
To search for specific program types being broadcast press enter
and scroll through the list of available program types using the
station + and station - keys. After you have found the program
type you want press enter, the pty icon on the front display will
illuminate and the search will automatically start. The Digital
Radio will tune into the first station which has been designated by
17
menu functions
16
menu functions
the broadcaster for the selected program type. Pressing station +
or station - within 60 seconds (whilst the pty indicator is
illuminated) will search the next or previous station with the same
program type.
Caution: The quality of the selection depends on the information
sent by the broadcaster, and often broadcasters do not send up-
to-date program type information.
The most common program type options available are shown
below, only one item can be selected from the list at a time
‘Affairs’ - topical programs expanding on current news
‘Culture’ - national or regional culture programs
‘Drama’ - radio plays
‘Education’ - educational programs
‘Information’ - weather, medical advice etc.
‘L. Classical’ - classical music
‘M.O.R. Music’ - easy listening
‘News’ - news programs
‘Other Music’ - music not fitting into other categories
‘Pop Music’ - popular music programs
‘Rock Music’ - rock music programs
‘Science’ - natural science and technology programs
‘S. Classical’ - orchestral performances
‘Sports’ - sports programs
‘Varied’ - general programs
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19
DA antenna
18
menu functions
DA fact. defaults
This will restore all Digital Radio settings back to their factory
defaults. Parameters included are: station name and radiotext are
shown on the display, 'Dynamic Compression' and 'Program
Search' are switched off.
outdoor antenna
indoor antenna
In order to receive DAB radio signals, your DAB receiver module
needs to be connected to a suitable DAB antenna. To get the best
performance, you should use a dedicated, high-performance
outdoor antenna(1).
Using high-quality, 50Ωcable terminated with a BNC connector,
connect your DAB antenna to the socket marked digital radio
(DAB) rf input (option) on the rear of your DPA32RDAB. The
antenna should be matched to a 50Ωload and designed for
174 - 240 MHz (and depending on your location(2) also 1452 -
1492 MHz) operation.
You should have your antenna installed by a qualified contractor
to make sure you get the best possible signal and that the
installation is safe.
Even if you do not have a high-performance outdoor antenna,
you can still use your Digital radio , although at reduced
capability(3). To provide the best signal strength, this antenna
(supplied) should be vertically mounted(4).
1. Please visit our website www.tagmclarenaudio.com to download the technical
paper describing DAB antennas and their installation
2. Please consult your retailer if you are unsure of which antenna to purchase
3. The supplied DAB antenna will only allow you to receive stations which have a
strong signal, so your choice of available stations may be much reduced
compared to an outdoor DAB antenna
4. Move the antenna until you have best reception
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