Madrigal Imaging AVP2 owner manual Special Design Features, ment in a digital volume control?

powerful hardware

software updatable

multichannel

Special Design Features

Congratulations on your purchase of the Proceed Audio Video Preamplifier (AVP2). We have gone to great lengths to ensure that the AVP2 remains “future-proof” even in these times of change. As a result, you will be able to en- joy the outstanding performance of the Audio Video Preamplifier 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 product.

The AVP2 shares the same type of powerful DSP engine used in the Mark Levinson Nº40 Media Console, employing multiple Analog Devices SHARC DSP chips in a Madrigal-designed operating system. This DSP engine has sufficient power to handle the decoding requirements of Dolby Digital, DTS, MPEG2, THX, and many other decoding schemes. In addition, its power and flexibility provide for future updates to handle as-yet-undefined digital audio standards that may be adopted in the future, such as a secure digital interface for DVD-Audio or SACD (should the recording industry ever manage to agree on such a thing).

The AVP2 includes eight channels of digital to analog conversion, all of which
can process and convert 192 kHz digital information. In addition, all volume con-
trols within the AVP2 are implemented in the analog domain, allowing the DACs
to run at their maximum resolution at all times. (This approach stands in contrast
to digital volume controls, which operate by requiring the converters to operate at
less than their maximum capabilities. After all, what would be the point of having	15
24 bit/192 kHz music formats if you end up throwing away much of the improve-

ment in a digital volume control?)

All the software that the AVP2 uses is stored in special “flash” memory that can easily be updated as improvements are made available. These improvements can affect both operational and performance enhancements, and can accommodate new industry standards for digital audio (which seem to proliferate with every passing every year).

With a simple software download a short time after such a new digital audio standard is announced, your Audio Video Preamplifier would be able to decode and play back the new digital signal. The previous generation of AVP, for example, saw several significant software updates that provided support for both new sig- nal formats and important feature enhancements.

The Audio Video Preamplifier is designed to be flexible with respect to its audio configurations, as well. In its standard configuration, it provides the standard 5.1 channel selection of outputs made popular by home theater. However, it also in- cludes an extra two channels that may be used in any of several ways, whether to accommodate larger rooms (separate side and rear speakers) or more sophisti- cated audio processing (Dual Drive™ surrounds, for example).

It is just a matter of what you want the system to do. You can have the system work the way you want it to work, rather than being limited to the way we thought you’d want it to work. (After all, a no-compromise, high performance au- dio system should not be “one size fits all.”)