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The Nº390S is the successor to the Nº39 CD
Processor and delivers a remarkable improvement
in sonic performance over the original design. The
Nº390S features a complete redesign of the Nº39
Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) and Analog
Output Module. Borrowing heavily from the
design of Nº40 Media Console and Nº32
Reference Preamplifier, the Nº390S incorporates
our latest advances in DAC design, output buffer
and volume control technologies, all implemented
on a four-layer Arlon
®
circuit board.
Fully Balanced Design
The Nº390S is fully balanced in both the analog
and digital domains. Information from the disc
and single-ended digital inputs are immediately
converted to balanced signals and routed to
balanced DACs by a Low Voltage Differential
Signal receiving circuit. This design technique,
borrowed from Mark Levinson digital processors,
incorporates our Closed Loop Jitter Reduction
™
technology to preserve the precise timing of the
digital audio signal.
A four-layer Arlon
®
printed circuit board provides
the foundation for the critical analog audio circuit.
First used in the Nº32 Reference Preamplifier, this
material offers superb dielectric properties and
helps the Nº390S achieve remarkable perform-
ance with complex, low-level audio signals.
Design of the fully balanced DAC/analog output
module follows the Mark Levinson tradition of
rigorous component selection. An unusual hybrid
design approach incorporating both advanced
surface-mount and “through-hole” technologies,
allows us to utilize the optimum part at each loca-
tion in the circuit, without the constraints on
parts selection normally associated with tradition-
al PCB assembly practices. Every active device has
been painstakingly selected for top technical
performance, with final device selections deter-
mined by numerous, controlled sonic evaluations.
Advanced Digital Filter Techniques
Just as with Mark Levinson Digital Audio
Processors, the Nº390S incorporates advanced
digital filter techniques carefully chosen to opti-
mize the sonic performance of its on-board digital
processor. Whether playing a CD, or decoding a
digital signal received through an auxiliary input,
sample depth is increased to 24 bits and sample
rate increased to 352.8kHz or 384kHz (input rate
dependent) before conversion to an analog signal.
This sophisticated processing of the digital signal
before conversion (often referred to as “upconver-
sion,” “upsampling,” or “oversampling”) is a
fundamental contributor to the excellent sound
achieved by all Mark Levinson digital processors.
The Nº390S confirms its internal conversion rate
on its front panel display each time a disc is
loaded, or an auxiliary input is chosen and locked.
The Nº390S also incorporates High Definition
Compatible Digital
®
(HDCD) decoding to take full
advantage of the resolution available from HDCD-
encoded 16-bit CDs. By encoding information
more efficiently within the 16-bit space available
on the disc, the HDCD format retains more of the
resolution inherent in modern high-resolution
recordings.
Digital-to-Analog Conversion
Digital-to-analog conversion within the Nº390S
features a Mark Levinson-developed, balanced
implementation of a high-performance DAC. This
multi-bit Sigma/Delta DAC device delivers superb
technical performance. In addition to its unusual
multi-bit architecture and unlike typical Sigma/
Delta devices, this DAC has a differential current
output stage, which allows us to optimize the crit-
Nº390S
CD PROCESSOR