Blue Smoke THE BLACK BOX Manuel utilisateur

Blue Smoke

ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS

THE BLACK BOX™

USER'S GUIDE

DEERFIELD, IL 60015

847-977-0220

WWW.BLUESMOKESYSTEMS.COM

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Your Black Box™has been configured in advance at our facilities. All aspects of the

system are ready to use “out of the box.”1

Please read the documentation thoroughly prior to using your Black Box™for the

first time. While, at its heart, The Black Box™is a standard computer system,

great care has gone into its design. We strongly recommend that you familiarize

yourself with its unique operation prior to your first use.

1If you have purchased a Touch-Screen, NAS or other accessory directly from Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems,

then it has also been installed and configured for you. If you have purchased accessories from another vendor, you

will need to follow the manufacturer’s instructions prior to using them with your Black Box™.

The Black Box™ – Break-In Period

Please allow 24 hours for “break-in” of The Black Box™. The break-in period will allow

your Black Box™to acclimate to your system and environment. Sometimes static

charges can build up due to changes in humidity while shipping. The break-in period

will allow for any static to normalize and dissipate. Once connected to your system,

The Black Box™ should remain powered on permanently for optimal performance. We

recommend using a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) with The Black Box™ to

ensure that no power outages or voltage spikes are allowed to damage your system.

P a g e | 2

CONTENTS

Getting Started.......................................................................................................................................................................... 5

In the box............................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Other required system components........................................................................................................................... 5

Preparing for Setup: Know Your NAS ............................................................................................................................ 6

Getting to know The Black Box™....................................................................................................................................... 7

Setting Up Your System –Hardware Connections..................................................................................................... 8

Step 1: Connect The Black Box™ to all peripheral components......................................................................... 8

Step 2: Connect your Black Box™ to your network ................................................................................................. 9

Step 3: Connect The Black Box™ to a DAC................................................................................................................... 9

Step 4: Set the hardware upsampling toggle switch.............................................................................................10

Setting up your system —Software Configurations...............................................................................................11

Step 1: Turn on The Black Box™....................................................................................................................................11

Step 2: Rip music and create your music library on the server.......................................................................12

Enable BitPerfect™ Ripper to search the Internet for album information. .............................12

Set the correct output path .........................................................................................................................13

Rip a CD ...............................................................................................................................................................13

Listening to Your Music ......................................................................................................................................................14

Step 1: Build your music library....................................................................................................................................14

Using Media Center to build your library..............................................................................................15

Use Media Player to build your library...................................................................................................16

Step 2: Choose the sample rate for playback ...........................................................................................................17

Choose the sample rate on your Black Box™ .......................................................................................17

Hardware upsampling...................................................................................................................................18

Software upsampling.....................................................................................................................................20

Step 3: Using the BitPerfect™ volume lock ...............................................................................................................23

Step 4: Listening to your music files............................................................................................................................24

Use Media Center to play your music......................................................................................................24

Use Media Player to play your music ......................................................................................................25

Playing High-Resolution Music Files .............................................................................................................................28

P a g e | 3

Additional Media Formats Supported by Media Center........................................................................................28

Backing Up Your Black Box™............................................................................................................................................29

Contact Information .............................................................................................................................................................30

P a g e | 4

for purchasing The Black Box™ from Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems. The

Black Box™ represents an exciting new chapter in the history of audiophile music

reproduction. At its heart The Black Box™ is a computer, yet it is a computer specifically

designed and engineered to provide the best reproduced musical experience possible,

regardless of media. We have worked long and hard to ensure that your Black Box™ will

provide you with many hours of “no compromise” music playback and enjoyment.

By leveraging the Windows™ environment, we are able to bring an unparalleled level of

customization and expansion capabilities to the system. Through our use of specially hand-

picked and hand-crafted components, drivers, case design, innovative “low-power” approach,

solid-state technology and proprietary DSP-based upsampling —we have created a system

that offers no apologies and delivers spectacular digital playback.

At Blue Smoke Entertainment, we are true music lovers. Music is our passion, so it is our joy

to share this innovative new product with you. So let’s install your system so that you may sit

back, relax, and let the music play!

Before beginning the setup process, please write down some important information about your

equipment here. This information can be found on the bottom of your Black Box.

Black BoxTM Serial Number: ____________________________________________

Black BoxTM Sound Card Serial Number: ___________________________________

Windows Product Key: _________________________________________________

Thank You

P a g e | 5

GETTING STARTED

IN THE BOX

The Black Box™ Audiophile PC

Power Supply

Proprietary Black Box™ digital cable

User Guide (this document)

Windows™ Operating System DVD (installed)

Wireless keyboard/Mouse Controller

OTHER REQUIRED SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Music Storage (e.g., Network-Attached Storage [NAS])

Video Display

Digital to Analog Converter (DAC)

Ethernet Cable for connection to home/Internet network router

P a g e | 6

PREPARING FOR SETUP:KNOW YOUR NAS

Before placing The Black Box™ into your music system, you need to make sure you have a home

computer network (hard-wired strongly preferred) so that you have connections between your router

and both your Internet source and a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) device.

To prepare for setup of The Black Box™, insert one end of an Ethernet cable in an available port on

the router (or an attached hub or switch). Run the cable so that the other end will be available to plug

directly into The Black Box™. Depending upon your physical layout, there may be a significant

distance between The Black Box™ and your router. You may wish to hire an electrician or someone

familiar with running cable between rooms/floors of your home to assist you.

If you are using a NAS (recommended) for music storage, it will have a server name and password as

well as a specific folder for holding your music files. Please note this information in the spaces below;

you will need this information during setup of The Black Box™. We have provided our recommended

settings, (our standard settings for Blue Smoke provided units) as well.

Server Name: BlueSmokeServer

Server Password: BlueSmoke1

Music Folder Name: Music

NAS

The Black Box

Router

Internet

bother with placing The Black Box™ in a home-computer network? There are several great reasons for

doing this. First, an Internet connection allows our software to search the Internet for music metadata (album

track information, cover art, etc.) Moreover, you’ll get access to music downloads/purchases, available updates,

and application downloads that will let you customize your Black Box™ to fit your individual tastes. (Optional

digital filters for our hardware upsampling may be available from us in the future. Please read details below.)

Also, the NAS itself provides great benefits, including easy setup of backups so your music library is secure.

Finally, the Ethernet connection from the NAS to The Black Box™ provides a superior and stable connection for

high-quality music reproduction and is much better than other connection.

Why

P a g e | 7

GETTING TO KNOW THE BLACK BOX™

NOTE: Please take the time now to study the rear panel of The Black Box™. Even though you are not

connecting anything to The Black Box™ yet, you will see that there are Ethernet jacks available for

connection to the router discussed in this section.

Heat Sinks

CD/DVD Slot Drive

Power On/Off

Front View

Rear View

TOSLINK Output & Input

Ethernet

VGA Input

SP/DIF Output & Input

Hardware Up-

sampling Toggle

Switch

HDMI

Proprietary Black

Box™ Digital Output

(used with the

included Black Box™

digital cable)

4 Available USB Ports

to be used for:

Keyboard dongle

Touch-screen

monitor

Other

Power Supply

Input

DVI Port

Serial Ports

P a g e | 8

SETTING UP YOUR SYSTEM –HARDWARE CONNECTIONS

IMPORTANT: The Black Box™ should be placed so that there is a 4-inch space on both sides and on

top for proper airflow. The Black Box™ includes no fans or moving parts (other than the DVD drive

while ripping), so it needs airflow over its heat sinks (sides of chassis) to avoid overheating. Do not

place in an enclosed area without adequate airflow.

The following four steps are required to fully connect your Black Box™to your system.

STEP 1:CONNECT THE BLACK BOX™TO ALL PERIPHERAL COMPONENTS

a. Connect the monitor using the instructions provided by the monitor’s manufacturer.

With most touch-screen monitors, you will need to connect the monitor to both The Black

BoxTM’s VGA output for video and an available USB port.

Note: Follow all manufacturer instructions regarding installation of software/drivers required

for your monitor.

b. Connect the keyboard by inserting the wireless keyboard dongle (a small USB device included

in your keyboard box) into one of the USB ports.

c. Connect the power supply to The Black Box™ and electrical outlet. We strongly recommend

the use of an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). It is recommended that The Black Box™

remain powered-on at all times.

P a g e | 9

STEP 2: CONNECT YOUR BLACK BOX™TO YOUR NETWORK

The Ethernet cable that runs directly to your router should be inserted into one of the two Ethernet

jacks on the back of The Black Box™. We assume that if you plan to use a NAS for your music

storage, it is already connected to the same network.

NOTE: It is critical that you DO NOT insert the Ethernet cable into the proprietary Black BoxTM digital

output, as this could result in system failure.

STEP 3: CONNECT THE BLACK BOX™TO A DAC

Connect The Black Box™ to your digital-to-analog converter (DAC). You will use your own digital

output cable, unless you are using the proprietary Black BoxTM connection (see below). You have the

following output options on the back of The Black Box™:

TOSLINK (limited to 96kHz)

S/PDIF (on BNC connection)

Proprietary Black Box™ Connection (see below for details)

Ethernet

Table des matières

Manuels Système stéréo populaires d'autres marques

LG CM3330B Manuel utilisateur

Sony

Sony SS-CEP50 Manuel utilisateur

Cetacea Sound

Cetacea Sound CVS-II Manuel utilisateur

Aiwa

Aiwa XR-H66MD Manuel utilisateur

Denon

Denon UCD-250 Manuel utilisateur

Sanyo

Sanyo DC-MX41i Manuel utilisateur

Sharp

Sharp CD-ES600V Manuel utilisateur

Exibel

Exibel BDX600-UK Manuel utilisateur

Sanyo

Sanyo DC-F320 Manuel utilisateur

Philips

Philips FWM583X Manuel utilisateur

Sharp

Sharp CD-C462 Manuel utilisateur

Onkyo

Onkyo CBX 300 - CD / MP3 Clock Radio Manuel utilisateur

Aiwa

Aiwa XR-EM70 Manuel utilisateur

Cyrus

Cyrus Lyric Manuel utilisateur

Philips

Philips MCM159/98 Manuel utilisateur

Philips/Magnavox

Philips/Magnavox Magnavox FW 62C Manuel utilisateur

RCA

RCA RS3965SB Manuel utilisateur

Sharp

Sharp XL-UH240 Manuel utilisateur