Mark Levinson N390S - Manual (Page 14)

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Convenience Features Too often, high performance CD players have eschewed convenience
in the hopes of seeming more “performance-oriented.” While there
were good arguments for such a “minimalist” design in the days
of analog turntables, the time is long gone when the audiophile
needed to give up operational convenience for musical performance.
After all, convenience features in a digital product are largely a
matter of writing appropriate software, and have no affect on the
quality of the digital data itself.
The Nº390S supports a variety of custom programming options,
including “delete programming” wherein selected tracks are
omitted from the play list. This allows the user to skip the one or
two songs on an otherwise good disc that have been overplayed
ad nauseam. The Nº390S will remember such programs for
thousands of discs, should you want to save that many programs.
Communications Links As with all Mark Levinson 30-series components, the Nº390S
incorporates a sophisticated inter-component communications
bus. Unique among high performance audio systems, Mark
Levinson 30-series components offer a degree of system integration
that makes even complex systems a pleasure to use.
For example, bringing the Nº390S CD Processor out of standby
will also bring the Linked preamplifier and power amplifier(s) out
of standby, and select the appropriate inputs on the preamplifier
so that a CD can be enjoyed. Even a sophisticated system with
many components can thus offer one-button simplicity of
operation.
In short, the Mark Levinson Nº390S establishes a new standard for
performance and practicality among high end CD players and
should be auditioned by anyone who desires the finest in digital
audio.
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 way of an LVDS (Low Voltage Differential
Signal) transmission line. This design technique, borrowed from
separate Mark Levinson digital processors, preserves the faultless
timing of the digital audio signal made possible by our Closed
Loop Jitter Reduction (CLJR) system mentioned earlier in this
manual.
An Arlon 25N® printed circuit board provides the foundation for
the critical analog audio circuit. First used in the Nº32 Reference
Preamplifier, this superior material offers superb dielectric properties
and helps the Nº390S achieve remarkable performance with
complex audio signals.