Channel D Lino Manuale operativo

Channel D Lino

Balanced Direct-Coupled Wide Bandwidth Low Distortion

Low Noise Precision Phono Preampliﬁer

Installation and Use Guide

For Low Output / Low Impedance Moving-Coil Phono Cartridges

Use Guide Revision 3b

Channel D Lino Installation and Use Guide

www.channel-d.com

ContentsCopyright©2015,2016,2017ChannelDAllRightsReserved

Table of Contents

Page

Getting Started 1

Signal and Power Connections 2-3

Accessing Internal Components 4

Signal Routing Configurations for Balanced Outputs 5

Cartridge Loading and Preamplifier Gain 6-7

Input Ground Bypass Jumper 7

Output Ground (Pin 1) Bypass Jumper 7

Single Ended / Balanced Jumpers 7-8

“Neumann” RIAA Curve Modification Jumper 8

Specifications 9

APPENDIX - Sample RIAA Accuracy Graph 10

Page 1

Congratulations on your purchase of a Lino phono preampliﬁer! The Lino is a low noise, low

distortion fully balanced preampliﬁer featuring a wide frequency bandwidth of 200 kHz. This provides

you with the key to obtaining stunning, three-dimensional music reproduction from your LP records.

The Lino is speciﬁcally designed to deliver extremely high quality music reproduction from low output

moving-coil cartridges.

The Lino incorporates newly available power supply components that enable circuit design strategies

delivering power supply performance very closely approaching that of our ﬂagship Seta rechargeable-

battery phono preampliﬁers. Like our ﬂagship Seta models, modern manufacturing methods are used,

including a low-noise, four-layer circuit board and precision, surface mount components. Surface mount

components provide the shortest signal paths and highly optimized circuit layouts, with low stray

inductance, capacitance, improved unit to unit consistency and performance all eclipsing old-fashioned

through-hole designs. The result is a phono preampliﬁer with exquisite performance far exceeding

expectations, especially considering its relatively modest price in the arena of most high end components.

The Lino is perfect as a preampliﬁer for connecting to high resolution (192 kHz / 24 bit), balanced-input

analog to digital converters (ADCs). The Lino’s Flat output used in conjunction with Channel D’s Pure

Vinyl™ software providing RIAA EQ correction combines the strengths of the latest, 21st century cutting-

edge analog and digital technologies, delivering superb, high deﬁnition, transparent vinyl playback.

For audiophiles requiring an all-analog signal path, the high precision (within ± 0.1 dB) RIAA EQ module

provides standard RIAA-corrected phono preampliﬁer outputs, transforming the Lino into an extremely

high performance balanced/XLR and unbalanced/RCA phono preampliﬁer. The beneﬁt of also having the

availability of selectable Flat outputs will facilitate linking analog LP playback with the performance and

ﬂexibility of high resolution digital audio, should you desire to do so later in the future.

Getting Started

Please take the time to read this Installation and Use Guide to familiarize yourself with the installation

and operation of the Lino.

Important: If the package you received from your shipper is below room temperature, please allow the

sealed inner carton containing the product to acclimate at room temperature for a few hours before

opening it, to avoid causing condensation on cold internal surfaces.

After unpacking, connect the provided external power supply to an AC power source and plug the barrel

connector into the power jack on the rear panel of the Lino. The following items are included. Please

check the package and notify Channel D of any shortage:

• LinoPreamplifier

• External5voltpowersupply,2.1mmtippositive,110to220Volt50-60HzInput,USdomestictwoconductor

powercord(canbeusedwithinternationaladapters)

• PerformanceMeasurementGraphshowingyourownLino’sRIAAEQaccuracy

All signal connections can safely be made to the Lino while the power supply is connected and powered.

Be sure to mute the Pure Vinyl application software, if running on the computer, or otherwise mute or

power down your power ampliﬁer(s) while making signal connections, to avoid generating noises

which could damage loudspeakers.

The internal signal routing of the Lino is highly conﬁgurable. If the available choices seem overwhelming,

rest assured that you can simply use the factory, “out of the box” settings, which are already preconﬁg-

ured for the most common usage scenario based on the options included with your Lino.

Page 2

Balanced Outputs

Balanced Phono Inputs

Power Connector Jack

Unbalanced (Single Ended) Optional RIAA Phono Outputs

Turntable Ground

Binding Post

Unbalanced (Single Ended) Phono Inputs

Signal Inputs

•The RCA inputs may be used with conventional shielded cable (single-ended) phono connections.

They also serve as single-ended to balanced adapters (provided that the turntable ground connec-

tion is isolated). Consult the section of this Installation Guide concerning the proper conﬁguration

of the internal single ended / balanced jumpers. The factory setting is with the jumpers set for

balanced, which usually would be the best conﬁguration, even if used with RCA interconnects.

•The XLR inputs are intended for use with balanced (shielded twisted pair or star quad) turntable

connections. For optimum, low noise operation this is the preferred type of connection. Balanced

wiring provides better noise immunity (because of common mode noise rejection) than conven-

tional shielded (single conductor plus shield) cable.

Note: The RCA and XLR inputs are connected in parallel (barrel / shield = XLR pin 3; “hot” =

XLR pin 2). The RCA barrel is electrically isolated from the chassis / circuit common.

Balanced Outputs

•The low impedance, balanced XLR outputs are normally intended for connection to the balanced

inputs of a professional audio interface, for use with Channel D’s Pure Vinyl software (for

Macintosh computers) for applying RIAA compensation (or other similar software on other

computer platforms). (Consult the Pure Vinyl software User Guide for more information.)

•The Balanced outputs also can be conﬁgured as standard RIAA phono preampliﬁer outputs via an

internal jumper setting.

If necessary, XLR pin 3 may safely be connected to circuit common / ground, as the Lino has servo

balanced (ground sensing) outputs.

Page 3

RCA Unbalanced (Single Ended) Outputs (RIAA EQ)

•This corresponds to a standard phono preampliﬁer (with RIAA EQ curve) output signal.

The RCA phono outputs are true, single ended (unbalanced) connections derived by differentially

summing the balanced signal “legs,” rather than taking the unadvisable shortcut of only using the

positive polarity signal leg of the balanced circuit, which would deliver poor performance.

Also, the standard RIAA EQ compensated signal appearing on the RCA output connectors is

generated from a signal side chain independent of the XLR / balanced outputs, and may be used

simultaneously with the XLR outputs without compromising the performance of the Lino.

The Lino is available in a lower price conﬁguration omitting standard phono preampliﬁer RIAA

outputs. This conﬁguration must be used with external RIAA EQ, such as an analog to digital

converter and Channel D Pure Vinyl software.

Power

•Connect the 5 volt power adaptor to the power input jack.

Important note: Do not replace the power supply with a different one. The two-

wire power supply has been very carefully selected for galvanic isolation and low

noise. If replaced with a linear supply or a three-wire supply even of exactly the

same rating, the internal circuitry may be damaged. This will void the warranty.

In answer to user inquiries, the performance of the Lino will not be improved by

substituting a battery for the power supply. The Lino depends on having a

relatively stable 5 volt (within ± 0.2 volt) DC input. This is not possible to

achieve with any type of battery without also providing additional regulation.

Input supply voltages above 5.2 volts will likely damage the Lino. Voltages

below 4.8 volts will result in diminished performance or no output.

The external, brick style supply adapter provides a galvanically isolated (a key

consideration) raw DC voltage. The output is not used "straight" from the adapter,

but stepped up inside the preampliﬁer to split supplies and then very highly

ﬁltered in multiple stages.

The circuitry employs a 4 layer circuit board with separate and continuous low

inductance, low impedance internal ground and power planes congruent with the

preampliﬁer circuitry. The resulting power supply rails have much lower noise

and ripple and tighter regulation than a linear DC supply can provide. This is

borne out in the signal to noise performance. A welcome additional beneﬁt is very

low idle power consumption and negligible heat production.

This kind of design wasn't even possible as recently as just 10 years ago.

However, we now have a plentiful palette of new components to pick and choose

from, thanks to the burgeoning consumer electronics industry's continuing quest

for increasing miniaturization and reduced power consumption.

Chassis Ground

•Securely connect the chassis ground wire from your turntable / tonearm (if so equipped) to the

grounding lug on the rear panel of the Lino. If your turntable doesn’t have a grounding connection,

leave this terminal disconnected. Important: only connect the ground to a turntable chassis or

ground wire, not to a ground connection on any other equipment.

Top View

Do Not Remove Screws

Remove

Remove 4 Philips Screws

to Access Internal Components

Page 4

Top View

Do Not Remove Screws

Remove

Remove 4 Philips Screws

to Access Internal Components

To access the internal components for cartridge loading, gain and conﬁguration settings, remove

four Philips - head screws attaching the lid. The screws closest to the front and back of the unit

attaching the front and rear panels should not be removed.

FRONT OF LINO

Page 5

Balanced Output Conﬁgurations - Flat or RIAA output

Front of Lino

FLAT

RIAA

FLAT

RIAA

Use Jumpers to Bridge for FLAT or RIAA Output Signal

Selection of Signal Routed to Balanced Outputs

Back of Lino

The locations of the Balanced signal output conﬁguration jumpers on the circuit board are shown

above. Disconnect the Lino power supply before making these conﬁguration settings.

Lino preampliﬁers ordered in a conﬁguration omitting the RIAA EQ module will not include

these jumper settings and will be connected for Flat balanced outputs. An external analog to

digital converter (ADC) and Pure Vinyl would be required to provide the necessary RIAA EQ.

(1) Flat Phono Preampliﬁer for using with

an external ADC and Pure Vinyl: Use stur-

dy tweezers or ﬁne tipped pliers to grip and

move the internal BAL OUT jumpers to di-

rect the FLAT signals to the outputs. Con-

nect the Balanced outputs to the Balanced

inputs of your ADC.

(2) Stand Alone, Balanced Phono Stage:

Move the internal BAL OUT jumpers to di-

rect the RIAA signals to the Balanced out-

puts (two locations, as labelled on the circuit

board). This is the factory conﬁguration, un-

less Channel D is advised in advance of ship-

ment that you intend to use the Lino with an

external ADC.

Page 6

Cartridge Loading: Internal DIP switches (red, above) are used to select the preinstalled cartridge load

(consult the cartridge manufacturer’s speciﬁcations for proper load setting for your cartridge). Four

standard load values are available (plus parallel combinations). Other values can be obtained by inserting

resistors (with 5 mm lead spacing) into the provided circuit board R sockets.

Preampliﬁer Gain: The gain is adjustable via DIP switches (green, above).

If you’re accustomed to using conventional phono preampliﬁers, the Lino “Flat” gain settings may seem

somewhat lower than usual. The gain settings are tailored to using the Lino with Channel D Pure Vinyl’s RIAA

EQ compensation curve and an analog to digital converter. The required gain is about 10 to 12 dB less than

needed in a conventional phono preampliﬁer, because the signal is provided to Pure Vinyl with treble emphasis

(boost) intact. This is advantageous, reducing distortion and increasing the dynamic range of the conversion

process. Note for the technically knowledgeable: this gain turns out to be somewhat less than the maximum 20

dB boost of the RIAA compensation curve at 20 kHz, due to the frequency balance of most music. If you would

normally use a preampliﬁer gain of 64 dB for your moving-coil cartridge, the proper setting on the Lino would

be 52 dB. The RIAA module and outputs incorporate an extra 12 dB of gain, as reﬂected in the table.

Load (Balanced)

100 Ohms

200 Ohms

500 Ohms

2000 Ohms

140 Ohms

70 Ohms

60 Ohms

Left LOAD DIP switch

1 On

2 On

3 On

All Off

2, 3 On

1, 2 On

All On

Right LOAD DIP switch

1 On

2 On

3 On

All Off

2, 3 On

1, 2 On

All On

Gain (Flat / RIAA)

43 dB / 55 dB

46 dB / 58 dB

49 dB / 61 dB

52 dB / 64 dB

Left DIP switch

All Off

#1 (+3) On

#2 (+6) On

#3 (+9) On

Right DIP switch

All Off

#1 (+3) On

#2 (+6) On

#3 (+9) On

Page 7

The Pure Vinyl User Guide includes complete information on setting the proper preampliﬁer gain for

transferring LPs to digital ﬁles (with an external ADC - not included). Brieﬂy, you should aim for “Dry”

signal level peaks in Pure Vinyl between -20 and -4 dBFS, for the music that you usually play.

Provided that peaks usually reach these levels, it’s not necessary to have to adjust the gain setting

frequently, or at all. It’s prudent to allow at least 4 to 6 dB of headroom below full scale, to accommodate

unexpectedly loud modulation levels. (At the low end of the suggested signal range above, be certain that

a signal peak represents music and not “pops” or “clicks,” which also should remain below 0 dBFS at the

high amplitude end of the signal range.)

If your audio interface permits setting nominal input signal levels to consumer or professional

format (true of professional audio interfaces from Lynx, RME, etc.),ﬁrst try the consumer (“-10 dbV”)

setting, in conjunction with the minimum gain setting on the Lino.

•If signal levels are too high, set the input of the audio interface to professional (“+4 dBu”)

format.

•If the levels are too low, increase the gain on the Lino. (For monitoring / playback, if the output

levels of your interface can be adjusted independently of the input levels, use the +4 dBu setting

for the output.)

Input Ground Bypass Jumper

The internal ground jumper bypasses (in the bridging position) the 100 ohm local ground isolation input

resistor (connected between XLR Pin 1 and circuit common) directly to common. This may provide more,

or less, “hum” immunity, depending on your other equipment. Factory setting is with the jumper

bridged.

Output Ground (XLR Pin 1) Bypass Jumper

The output ground jumper bypasses (in the bridging position) the 100 ohm local ground isolation output

resistor (connected between XLR Pin 1 and circuit common) directly to common. This may provide more,

or less, “hum” immunity, depending on your other equipment. Factory setting is with the jumper

bridged.

Single Ended / Balanced Input Jumpers

Two jumpers marked on the circuit board as S.E. are used to conﬁgure the Lino for single ended or

balanced operation. In single ended operation, the negative cartridge terminals are connected to circuit

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