Berkeley Audio Design Alpha USB Manual de usuario

PRELIMINARY USER GUIDE v1.1

Berkeley Audio Design

Alpha USB

The Alpha USB is an asynchr n us High Speed USB t digital audi interface designed t

pr vide the highest p ssible audi quality fr m c mputer audi s urces. Please take a few

minutes t familiarize y urself with this User Guide bef re c nnecting p wer t the Alpha USB.

D ing s will help ensure the best p ssible perf rmance.

INSTALLATION

The Alpha USB sh uld be installed in a space with several inches f clearance ab ve, behind

and n b th sides f the chassis t pr vide adequate ventilati n. Av id placement directly

ab ve ther equipment that pr duces significant heat.

Power Connection

The Alpha USB is designed t run c ntinu usly when c nnected t AC mains p wer. There is

n p wer switch and as s n as AC p wer is c nnected the unit is p wered n. Units f r sale

in the United States are set internally f r 120VAC perati n. An Alpha USB dealer can select

240VAC perati n f r use utside f the United States by setting an internal switch and adding

a 240V label t the rear panel. 100VAC p wer perati n requires a specific p wer transf rmer.

P wering the Alpha USB fr m the same p wer s urce as the D t A c nverter and ther

anal g c mp nents is rec mmended. Its p wer supply has several layers f is lati n between

the p wer c rd and the digital circuitry, s it behaves best when treated as an anal g

c mp nent. The c mputer sh uld be p wered fr m a separate circuit where p ssible t

minimize p wer line n ise.

Signal Connections

Alpha USB ear Panel

The Alpha USB has a High Speed USB 2.0 input data c nnecti n and has switch selectable

utput signal type – either c axial SPDIF using a BNC c nnect r r balanced AES using an

XLR c nnect r. Sampling rates up t 192 kHz and w rd lengths up t 24 bit are supp rted.

Lead Dress

It is g d practice t keep vari us types f signal and p wer cables physically separated fr m

each ther. This is especially imp rtant f r the USB cable t the c mputer. It sh uld be r uted

away fr m the chassis f the Alpha USB and any ther c mp nent r cable that is part f the

audi system. 1.5 meters is a g d default length f r USB, SPDIF and AES cables.

OPE ATION

Alpha USB Front Panel

Controls & Indicators

• Output Select: switch selects c axial SPDIF r balanced AES type utput

• Status LED: Green indicates USB L ck, Amber indicates Standby

The Alpha USB has ne c ntr l and ne bi-c l r indicat r LED. The digital audi utput is

available as either a 75 hm SPDIF signal n a BNC c nnect r r as a 110 hm balanced

AES type signal n an XLR c nnect r. A switch n the rear panel selects which utput is

active. Only ne utput is active at a time in rder t minimize jitter. Whenever p ssible, use

f the balanced AES signal utput is rec mmended f r best perf rmance.

The indicat r LED n the fr nt panel is amber when AC line p wer is n but the USB

c nnecti n is n t active. As s n as the USB c nnecti n t the c mputer is established and

the c mputer and the Alpha USB are talking t each ther, the LED turns green.

In n rmal use, AC p wer t the Alpha USB sh uld be applied first. Then the c mputer sh uld

be p wered up r the USB cable c nnected. N thing catastr phic happens if the c mputer

side is p wered up first, but since the Alpha USB audi master scillat rs are n t p wered, the

USB driver in the c mputer may bec me c nfused. If this happens, unplug the USB cable and

then plug it back in.

The Alpha USB has n AC p wer switch and is designed t be left p wered n. It draws nly

3 watts f p wer and when the USB input is n t active, the unit g es int a standby m de.

Computer Configuration

The Alpha USB is designed t w rk with b th Apple Macint sh and Wind ws PC c mputers

and als w rks with s me versi ns f Linux. F r Linux, the perating system must be ALSA

1.0.23 r ab ve. It must als have the ability t select the utput device.

Apple Macintosh Computers

The Alpha USB interface c nf rms t the new USB 2.0 High Speed audi interface standard

that supp rts sample rates up t 192 kHz/24-bit. This means that f r Apple Macint sh

c mputers using the Sn w Le pard r later perating system, the USB Audi Driver fr m

Apple interfaces pr perly t the Alpha USB. It is n t necessary t install a cust m driver. This

is als true f r s me versi ns f Linux, but n t Wind ws at this time. F r ptimum audi quality

with a Mac, use f high res luti n music server s ftware such as Pure Music

is highly

rec mmended.

The Pure Music applicati n uses iTunes t manage files and as a user interface, but the audi

data is played thr ugh its wn engine, bypassing c re audi in the Mac f r bit-perfect utput. It

als has the ability t switch sample rates n the fly in full c rdinati n with the Alpha USB and

Alpha DAC, while maintaining bit accurate transparency.

Please follow the steps below in exact order t install and ptimize Pure Music f r use with

the Alpha USB.

• Plug the Alpha USB int ne f the USB p rts n the Mac. See N te bel w.

• Under the Apple Menu, click n “Ab ut This Mac”.

• Click n “M re Inf ”.

• In the C ntents c lumn under Hardware, click n “USB”.

• In the USB Device Tree “Alpha USB Digital Output” sh uld appear.

• Make sure it is the nly active device n its USB High-Speed Bus. See N te bel w.

• If necessary, m ve the USB cable t a different p rt, r disable the c nflicting device

and check again.

• Quit the System Pr filer.

• Open the Audi MIDI Setup applicati n in the Utilities f lder.

• “Alpha USB Digital Output” sh uld appear n the list f devices.

• It sh uld NOT be selected as an utput device. Select “Built-in Output” f r music and

system s unds.

• Quit the Audi MIDI Setup applicati n.

• Launch Pure Music.

• If y u have altered the default settings, g t Preferences under the Pure Music Menu.

• Click the “Defaults” butt n near the b tt m, and accept the acti n. PM will re-launch.

• On the Pure Music menu bar under Metering, click n “Signal Metering” t un-select it.

• Under the Music Server menu, click n “Mem ry Play” and “Disable DSP Opti ns” t

select them.

• Under the Pure Music menu, click n “Audi Setup…”

• In the Output Device area, select “Alpha USB Digital Output” in the dr p-d wn list.

• Check the b x “Enable Exclusive Access (“H g” M de)”.

• Near the b tt m f the wind w, click n the “Click t Apply Changes” butt n.

• After PM re-launches, nce again g t Pure Music > Audi Setup…

• T the right f the H g M de check-b x is a b x f r “Native Integer F rmat Supp rt”.

• Click t check the b x. N te: Native Integer F rmat Supp rt is n t available at present

with the Li n perating system. F r the Li n perating system d n t check the b x.

• The menu sh uld cl se and take y u t iTunes with the message “N nmixable Integer

Output Stream” (if selected) and “Select track and press return”.

• Select a track and press play r return.

• The track sh uld start playing thr ugh the Alpha USB, and n the Pure Music bar ab ve

iTunes there sh uld be a series f status messages in small green letters:

• Alpha USB Digital Output

• Native Sample Rate (xxx kHz)

• Playing fr m Mem ry

• Native Integer Device Stream (if selected)

• DSP Opti ns disabled

• Pure Music setup is c mplete.

N te: n t all USB c nnecti ns n a c mputer are equal. USB d es n t have a guaranteed

latency m de, s f r a real time task like audi delivery, it is imp rtant t c nnect the Alpha

USB interface t a lightly l aded hub. All USB devices and where they are c nnected can be

seen under “Ab ut This Mac” under the Apple Menu. Click n it, and then n “M re Inf ”,

which launches the system pr filer. Click n “USB” under Hardware t see the full list.

Windows PC Computers

Micr s ft has n t yet supplied a driver c nf rming t the new USB 2.0 High Speed audi

interface standard. Theref re Micr s ft Wind ws PC’s require the included Alpha USB

Wind ws driver which w rks with Wind ws XP, Vista and 7. Vista is n t rec mmended.

Wind ws 7 w rks very well as an audi server and is preferred ver XP.

T install the Wind ws driver, insert the Alpha USB Wind ws Driver CD, view its c ntents,

pen the AlphaUSB_Wind ws_Driver_1v26 f lder, and run ‘setup.exe’. F ll w the

instructi ns, which include c nnecting the Alpha USB t a USB p rt, and, usually, exiting any

Micr s ft Wizard that tries t d things aut matically. During the installati n tw dial g b xes

will appear warning that Micr s ft has n t blessed the s ftware. Click n the “Install Anyway”

butt n in b th cases.

Free Wind ws c mpatible music players such as Media M nkey and F bar, r f r-purchase

music players such as JRiver Media Center sh uld be used t pr vide bit-perfect utput.

Wind ws Media Player is n t rec mmended.

F r Wind ws XP, ASIO must be used t c nnect the music player t the USB utput t get bit-

perfect data. The Alpha USB ASIO driver identifies itself as “TUSBaudi ASIO driver” in the

music player’s utput select setup dial g. A “Kernel Streaming” utput may als appear. D

n t select it. Kernel streaming is an experimental pr t c l that is nly l sely specified, and it

d es n t w rk with the Alpha USB. Media M nkey, F bar and JRiver Media Center all

supp rt ASIO f r Wind ws XP

F r Wind ws 7, the preferred c nnecti n is WASAPI. It pr vides l w- verhead, bit-perfect

data utput with aut matic sample rate switching, and w rks very well. Media M nkey 3 d es

n t supp rt WASAPI s F bar r JRiver Media Center sh uld be used with Wind ws 7. When

MediaM nkey 4 is released it will supp rt WASAPI and sh uld als w rk well with Wind ws 7.

When using JRiver Media Center 15 r later, WASAPI - Event Style utput m de sh uld be

used.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Input: High Speed USB 2.0 c nnecti n - type B receptacle

• Output: switch selected, c axial SPDIF - BNC, 75Ω r balanced AES type - XLR, 110Ω

• Supp rted sampling rates: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, 192 kHz

• Supp rted w rd lengths: up t 24 bit

• Supp rted perating systems: Apple Macint sh and Micr s ft Wind ws

• Encl sure dimensi ns: 2.3”H X 10.5”W x 5”D, 2.55”H including feet

• Mains p wer: 100 r 120 r 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, IEC p wer input c nnect r

• P wer c nsumpti n: 3 Watts line, 1.5 Watts USB, designed f r c ntinu us perati n

F r further inf rmati n n the Alpha USB, please c ntact Berkeley Audi Design, LLC at:

inf @berkeleyaudi design.c m r call 1-510-277-0512

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