Little Labs MONOTOR, Operator'S Manual

Page 1: ...MONOTOR O p e r a t o r s M a n u a l ...

Page 2: ...manual printing pdf formatting 04 2016 using this manual or any part of it without permission is a violation of copyright laws monotor is a registered trademark of little labs ...

Page 3: ...o align the plug and jack properly when inserting The 3 5 mini jack sums what is plugged into it with the signal from the main trs xlr jacks but after the MONOTORs level potentiometer and mono functions So the volume when using this 3 5 mm jack will be controlled by what is feeding it e g iPod phone Do not place the MONOTOR in close proximity to a wi fi router the high gain although well shielded ...

Page 4: ... in the audio signal chain of the mastering rooms was carefully selected and anything not necessary was deleted compared to the studios large mixing consoles going through necessarily dozens of amplifiers before reaching your ears the resolution between the two was readily apparent The mastering rooms were very carefully appointed under the direction of a legendary staff of mastering engineer grea...

Page 5: ...worldhasbeenneglectedwithfewofferings most of it junk or the more expensive stuff available includes the gimmick cross feed circuitry and quite often is driven by several active stages with unsuitable output drivers great for old consoles to get a guitar sound but not for driving high resolution headphones Manyaudiophileheadphoneampsexistwithofteneuphonicyetinaccurate reproduction and at a ridicul...

Page 6: ...e to drive even high impedance phones to full volume without any strain whatsoever andnodetectablehissevenatthehighestvolumes TheMONOTORwhen I say it is state of the art it truly is and could not have been built just a year ago I m proud to say this is not a rehashed old analog circuit with this labor of love we ve taken analog to another level The MONOTOR paired with a good set of headphones will...

Page 7: ...lume range on the level control So cheers thank you for your purchase be sure to take a look at the rest of the manual especially the read this first part Oh and thanks to all the people for the help patience and good insights while developing this product especially Zack McCormley DTS John Caldwell TexasInstruments Raymond George andJoyceLui G Jmfg and my wonderfully supportive amazing girlfriend...

Page 8: ...bypasses the left side of the level potentiometer the right the right side of the level potentiometer These can be used for a variety of scenarios see more in the manual The most common is when using the monotor with a high quality digital to analog converter that has a built in level control like the Oppo 105 The highest quality level pot is no level pot Stereo mono function switch selects stereo...

Page 9: ... talkback This input sums with the main inputs post the mono functions and volume control The xlr combo jack inputs to the MONOTOR are typically fed from line level sources such as your stereo buss of your console the output of your D to A converter the output of the monitor section of your console a cd or dvd player a phono pre amp a tape machine or to any line level device you want to monitor Th...

Page 10: ...ypically fed from line level sources such as your stereo buss of your console the output of your D to A converter the output of the monitor section of your console a cd or dvd player a phono pre amp a tape machine or to any line level device you want to monitor The inputs to the MONOTOR are balanced but the source can be balanced or unbalanced daisy chain hook up ...

Page 11: ...ch pushed in bypasses the left side of the level potentiometer the right the right side of the level potentiometer These can be used for a variety of scenarios but the most common is when using the monotor with a high quality digital to analog converter that has a built in level control like the Oppo 105 and some others The highest quality level pot is no level pot and there is no point in being r...

Page 12: ... for our IBP in between phase phase tool phase meters frustrated me because they show that something is out of phase but not what is out of phase The L R function on the MONOTOR lets you easily hear the audio that s out of phase everything in phase between the left and right channels is attenuated by more than 45dB In line monitoring and daisy chaining Multiple MONOTORS can be used in an installat...

Page 13: ... jack is talk back When demoing product at trade shows sealed back phones are essential Trying to explain what you are showing people while wearing phones is difficult A simple cheap stereo lavalier mic with a mute switch and either a wireless transmitter and base with a headphone out is a simple solution for talk back Even a super cheap behringer micromon ma400 can be used to split out to mul tip...

Page 14: ...11k Ω Balanced input impedance with level control out 8k Ω Un balanced input impedance with level control in 4k 5k Ω Un balanced input impedance with level control out 20k Ω Front end passive level attenuator varies input impedance depending on setting Headphone output impedance 0 5 Ω Crosstalk 1khz balanced mode 102dB Crosstalk 1khz un balanced mode 87dB Gain 13 8dB interface specifications ...

Page 15: ...just hope it doesn t dis courage people from seriously listening and comparing using their own ears as the final judge when making a headphone amp purchasing decision I do not dispute the accuracy of the measurements I do howev er disagree strongly with the conclusions drawn by the review er on some of the measurements In my 40 years of working professionally designing maintaining and manufacturin...

Page 16: ...e stepped attenuator but it tracks pretty damn well for what it is Of course you can use an IC based potentiometer that can track perfectly but then you just added another active step further from transparency Oh and regarding steps how many more than 30 is necessary How much power is necessary for driving a headphone I am using daily both the HD600 Sennheiser 300 ohms and an Au deze LCD X 20 ohms...

Page 17: ...ome drummer friends that love it super loud and use the monotor on stage to power their IEMS they couldn t be happier I worry about their ear health Frequency response The monotor is 3 dB down at 20kHz at 50kHz it s 1 7dB down this is on purpose I can assure you you cannot only not hear less than 1dB imbalance left to right you sure as hell can t hear 3 dB down at 20kHz Amplifying stuff that s not...

Page 18: ...ugh when I hear comments of the monotor being overpriced They wouldn t say that if they saw the BOM bill of materials In closing I didn t come here to bitch I came here to enlighten I appreciate what the reviewer has done but I want to encourage the consumer to look past the spec Any EE can make textbook audio gear that measures well but it takes ears and years to learn what really sounds well Che...

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Page 20: ...LE LABS 6711 Whitley Terrace HOLLYWOOD CA 90068 E MAIL littlelabs littlelabs com WEB www littlelabs com SALES SERVICE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FAX 323 851 6860 Manual Printing pdf formatting 04 2016 Revised 04 19 ...