Genelec 2029A manual General description, Digital Audio, Integrated Construction

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2029A Digital Monitoring Speaker

1. General description

Genelec 2029A Digital near field mon- itor has a digital audio interface allow- ing you to input the digital audio straight into the loudspeaker. This has several significant advantages.

When you are working with a digital audio workstation or you are process- ing audio in a modern studio, your sig- nal is digital. The 2029A Digital allows you to listen to what you have in your digital format.

The 2029A Digital supports all the same modes of operation as the ana- log 1029A. You can use it with a sub- woofer. You can use it in surround au- dio systems. You can even use the 2029A Digital as an analog speaker.

Due to its compact size, integrated construction, excellent dispersion and precise stereo imaging, this speaker system is ideal for near field monitor- ing, mobile vans, digital audio work- stations, broadcast and TV control rooms, surround sound systems, home studios, multimedia applications and also computer soundcards. As an ac- tive speaker this unit contains all you need- drivers, power amplifiers, active crossover filters and protection circuit- ry. The Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW™) technology provides excel- lent frequency balance even in diffi- cult acoustic environments.

2. Digital Audio

The quality of a digital audio signal is defined by the two parameters: word length and sampling rate.

The word length defines how precise- ly the audio signal is represented. Longer word length leads to smaller noise and distortion level. The typical word length in CD records is 16 bits. Studio recording systems use word lengths of 20 bits and above.

The sampling rate determines what fre- quencies can be represented in the

digital audio signal. A higher sampling rate allows higher frequencies to be recorded. Studio recording systems use sampling rates of 44 kHz and above.

Turning the digital presentation to an analog signal using a DA converter involves significant sources of error. Your digital-to-analog converter may have inferior performance. It may be misaligned with your amplifiers. The interface between the converter and the amplifier may distort the signal or it may change the frequency balance. Your monitoring volume level may need to be adjusted in the digital do- main instead of analog.

Genelec 2029A Digital allows you to solve all of these problems. The align- ment of the whole system right from the digital input connector is carefully balanced, to make sure that you hear the whole digital truth, and nothing but the truth. All you have to do is to supply the digital signal, and adjust for the volume you desire.

The IEC958 or EIAJ CP-340 standards define one of the most popular digital audio interfaces in use today, often called S/P-DIF. It uses the same RCA connector and interface cables that most consumer audio equipment use today. The standard is versatile enough to be suitable for consumer use as well as studio audio signal pro- cessing. You typically find it on pro- fessional digital audio workstations and high quality sound cards.

3. Integrated Construction

As the digital interface and amplifiers are built into the speaker enclosure, the only connections required are the mains supply and the digital input sig- nal, making the 2029A Digital very easy to set up and use.

Digital interface

The digital audio interface comprises a digital audio receiver and a digital- to-analog converter (DA converter).

The digital input accepts an S/P-DIF digital audio signal having a word length up to 24 bits and sampling rate up to 55 kHz.

The DA converter has an interpolator increasing the internal sampling rate to four times the original, before inter- polation to 128 times the original sam- pling frequency in a fourth order delta- sigma modulator, and digital-to-ana- log conversion in a switched capaci- tor integrator and an analog low-pass filter. This conversion process has high resilience to clock jitter and excellent linearity.

Drivers

The bass frequencies are reproduced by a 130 mm (5") bass driver mounted in a 4.5 litre vented cabinet. The -3 dB point lies at 68 Hz and the frequency response extends down to 65 Hz (-6 dB).

The high frequency driver is a 19 mm (3/4") metal dome. Uniform dispersion is achieved with the revolutionary DCW™ Technology pioneered by Genelec.

Magnetic shielding is standard on Genelec 2029A Digital. Shielding is vital for applications such as video post production, where stray magnetic fields must be minimized.

Crossover

The active crossover network is acous- tically complementary and the slopes are 24 - 32 dB/octave. The crossover frequency is 3.3 kHz. The room re- sponse controls ('treble tilt', 'bass tilt' and 'bass roll-off') allow perfect repro- duction in any room installation.

Amplifiers

The amplifier unit is built inside the speaker enclosure. The bass and tre- ble amplifiers both produce 40 W of output power. The fast, low distortion amplifiers are capable of driving a ster- eo pair to peak output sound pressure levels in excess of 110 dB at 1 m. The unit incorporates special circuitry for driver overload protection.

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Contents Genelec 2029A Digital Integrated Construction General descriptionDigital Audio How to set up for digital signals InstallationContents of Genelec 2029A Digital delivery package How to set up for analog signalsSetting tone controls Monitor placementHow to set up Genelec 1091A subwoofer Room placementGuarantee MaintenanceSafety Considerations Mounting OptionsSystem Specifications