advance product information 23425 MS250 MusicFile Server

questions and answers

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Q. What is the Arcam MS250? A. It is a world-class music replay and storage device. At its simplest the MS250 is an audiophile quality stereo CD player, with a built-in 400GB hard drive to store some 640 uncompressed CDs or up to 4,800 CDs (about 80,000 tunes) in compressed audio formats. When used to its full potential it is an extremely powerful home music server that supports multiple audio zones, via analogue, and which lets you make compilations of your own music on to CD-R. Furthermore it provides internet access for listening to internet radio.

music replay and storage

Q. How good is the sound quality? A. Unlike other music servers the sound quality of the MS250 when playing CDs is as good as an audiophile CD player. This applies to all four of its analogue outputs. This is because Arcams engineers used their expertise to design a custom sound card specifically for the MS250 using four Crystal CS4398 120dB dynamic range 24-bit stereo DACs, plus properly implemented power supplies and output filters, just like an Arcam CD player. When stored in uncompressed WAV format, music playback from the hard drive is of audiophile quality, just as you would expect from an Arcam CD player. Playback of compressed files (MP3, etc.) produces an extremely enjoyable musical experience, especially when using data rates of 320kBs or higher. Wolfson Analogue to Digital converters ensure even the analogue inputs enjoy superb audio quality, making them ideal for archiving non-digital material such as vinyl, tape or FM radio. Q. What happens when I first play a CD in the MS250? A. It loads and plays just like it would in a conventional CD player. However you can route the sound to any of the supported zones that you choose. Q. Does the MS250 recognise my CDs automatically? A. If your MS250 is connected to the internet it can automatically access an internet database. This recognises the vast majority of commercial CDs and also contains track lists, timings and genre information. You can easily enter tracklists for unknown albums via the remote control, used in the same manner as text entry on a mobile phone. Q. What kind of playlists can I make? A. You can sort your entire music collection by artist, genre, album or generate any number of custom playlists. The music can be sourced from the MS250 and also from anywhere else on your home network. Q. Can I play tracks in a random order? A. You can select a playlist, album, artist, genre etc., or the whole contents of the MS250, and then play this material in random order. The same track will not be played twice in the same session.
Arcam, Pembroke Avenue, Denny Industrial Centre, Waterbeach, Cambridge CB25 9QR, UK. www.arcam.co.uk Preliminary information only. Arcam has a policy of continuous improvement; we reserve the right to change any features without notice. Arcam and MusicFile are trademarks of A & R Cambridge Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Q. Can I burn anything on my MS250 to CD-R? A. The MS250s CD drive incorporates a CD burner. You can burn any music stored on an MS250 to CD-R or CD-RW for your personal use on other systems, such as your car. Q. Ive got loads of music on my PC - do I have to reload all of this? A. Not at all. Provided you can link your PC to the MS250 via an Ethernet or wireless network, all the music on your PC becomes available to the MS250. * Ethernet / wireless bridge required, not supplied Q. Can I record my old vinyl LPs? A. Yes, because the MS250 has two analogue inputs for external sources. Vinyl records will of course need to be played through an external phono preamplifier stage, which is usually already fitted to most stereo integrated amplifiers and receivers. Q. Can I use my iPod with my MS250? A. You can replay anything stored on your iPod or other portable storage device through one of the MS250s analogue inputs.
multiroom and networking with the MS250
Q. Can I listen to my music in more than one room? A. Yes of course. In the analogue domain the MS250 supports four zones, at line level, which can simultaneously send different music to each room (zone). This can be from a CD played in real time in the MS250, from the music library stored on the HDD, or streamed from broadband internet or routed from up to two external audio sources such as a radio tuner and set top box. In addition the system works in the pure digital domain. The MS250 is designed to integrate seamlessly into your home network via its Ethernet connection and access your music stored on other devices on the network such as your PC. It is also possible to use multiple MS250s on a home network. Q. How can you control different zones? A. Each analogue zone can be controlled from the main zone or locally. The latter typically uses an Arcam infra-red remote control handset and needs an infra-red link from each zone (such as a Xantech dinky link) back to the MS250. An RS232 port on the MS250 allows it to be integrated with third party multi-room controllers such as Crestron or AMX. Q. Do I need to connect my MS250 to external amplifiers? A. The audio outputs of the MS250 are at line level, so you will need an external stereo amplifier and speakers for each zone (room) that you are using. For best results use high quality hi-fi or A/V amplifiers. Zone one also has 44.1kHz SPDIF coaxial and optical digital outputs.

on-line services

Q. What can I access on the internet? A. When the MS250 is connected to the internet, a number of key services are available including up-to-date CD track information when storing and playing discs, plus internet radio services using the WMA or AMX formats. Hundreds of internet radio stations are available from around the world serving a wide variety of audiences. The quality of these services will of course depend on the data rates broadcast by the radio stations and the speed of your internet connection Q. What speed internet connection do I need? A. To get the most out of on-line music Service Providers youll need a broadband modem. We recommend a minimum speed of 500kbits/sec, which will allow 2 or 3 streams to be received simultaneously by different users.

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using the MS250
Q. What displays does the MS250 have? A. The MS250 has a large, clear display (a 6 line graphics VFD) on its front panel, which allows the user to browse and select playlists without the need for an external monitor. However an external video output (supporting composite, s-video and VGA) is provided, which allows a TV or monitor to be used to present more information and. Q. What about backing up my hard drive? A. The music on your MS250s hard drive can be backed to an external hard drive. Q. Once its installed, will any upgrades be possible to my MS250? A. The system software can be maintained and upgraded via a CD-ROM supplied by your dealer. Note that the hard drive is not designed to be user upgradeable.
The MS250 is designed and manufactured by Arcam in the UK
Bringing movies and music to life
Copyright A & R Cambridge Ltd. E & OE Jan 2007

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MS250 IR Codes

Introduction

This Application note lists the IR codes supported by the ARCAM MS250. Note that the ARCAM MS250 supports 4 independent zones for playback of music. These zones also have IR inputs on the rear of the unit so that each zone can be controlled by remote IR. When a normal IR code is received via a particular zone input then the associated action is applied to that zone. There are also 4 code banks that have discrete codes that apply to specific zones. These can be received on any of the zone inputs and the code bank zone will override the zone that the code was received on. All of the IR codes listed below can be used via the RS232 or IP control protocol. IR codes generate internal events, which are listed in the table below along with a brief description of the event function.
1 Arcam, Pembroke Ave, Waterbeach, CB5 9QR, UK
Ref: MS250 IR CODES 18/06/2007
MS250 IR Codes Normal IR Codes
The following table lists normal IR codes, which when received via a zone input (or via the front panel IR zone 1) will be applied to the zone that they are received from.
Hex Code 0x1500 0x1501 0x1502 0x1503 0x1504 0x1505 0x1506 0x1507 0x1508 0x1509 0x150C 0x150D 0x150E 0x1510 0x1511 0x1520 0x1521 0x1528 0x1529 0x152A 0x152D 0x1530 0x1532 0x1534 0x1535 0x1536 0x1537
Decimal Code 21, 0 21, 1 21, 2 21, 3 21, 4 21, 5 21, 6 21, 7 21, 8 21, 9 21, 12 21, 13 21, 14 21, 16 21, 17 21, 32 21, 33 21, 40 21, 41 21, 42 21, 45 21, 48 21, 50 21, 52 21, 53 21, 54 21, 55
Event I_0 I_1 I_2 I_3 I_4 I_5 I_6 I_7 I_8 I_9 STDBY MTE SETP VLUP VLDWN SKPF SKPB PGDWN PGUP REC OPEN PSE FBKWD FFWD PLY STP ZNE
Description "0" button "1" button "2" button "3" button "4" button "5" button "6" button "7" button "8" button "9" button Toggle standby state Toggle mute state Setup (jump to system settings menu) Volume up Volume down Skip forward Skip backwards Page down Page up Record Open / close CD tray Pause Fast backward Fast forward Play Stop Select zone (step through)
2 Arcam, Pembroke Ave, Waterbeach, CB5 9QR, UK
0x1543 0x1544 0x1545 0x1546 0x1547 0x1548 0x1549 0x154A 0x154B 0x1550 0x1551 0x1555 0x1556 0x1557 0x156B 0x156C 0x156D 0x156E 0x1570 0x1571 0x1572 0x157C 0x157D 0x157E 21, 67 21, 68 21, 69 21, 70 21, 71 21, 72 21, 73 21, 74 21, 75 21, 80 21, 81 21, 85 21, 86 21, 87 21, 107 21, 108 21, 109 21, 110 21, 112 21, 113 21, 114 21, 124 21, 125 21, 126 CD RDO INP1 INP2 DISP ALBM ARTST TRK LST UP DWN LFT RGT SEL RED GRN OSD SHW BACK CAPS HME STDBYALL BRTE PWROFF Select CD (jump to CD menu If CD present) Select radio (jump to Internet radio menu) Select analogue input 1 (jump to line input menu) Select analogue input 2 (jump to line input menu) Not currently used Select album (jump to albums menu) Select artist (jump to artist menu) Select track (jump to track menu) Select playlist (jump to playlist menu) Up Down Left Right Select Red Store and play CD immediately Green Play CD without identifying first Yellow Turn on/off the on-screen display Cyan Go to Now Playing screen Back Cycle text input mode (caps, normal, numeric) Home (jump to top level menu) Put all zones into standby Change display brightness (step through) Turn unit off completely
3 Arcam, Pembroke Ave, Waterbeach, CB5 9QR, UK

MS250 IR Codes Discrete IR Codes
The discrete IR codes are provided in banks of 32 codes each: Bank Bank Bank Bank 1: 2: 3: 4: 0x1580 0x159F 0x15A0 0x15BF 0x15C0 0x15DF 0x15E0 0x15FF (21, (21, (21, (21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 159) 191) 223) 255)
Each of these banks applies to the equivalent zone e.g. bank 1 applies to zone 1, bank 2 applies to zone 2 etc. Within each bank, each code at the same offset implements the same function, e.g. the code 0x1580 and the code 0x15A0 are mapped to the same event but the first would be applied to zone 1 and the second would be applied to zone 2 etc. The code offsets within each bank are mapped as follows: Hex Offset 0x00 0x01 0x02 0x03 0x04 0x05 0x06 0x07 0x08 0x09 0x0A 0x0B 0x0C 0x0D 0x0E 0x0F 0x10 0x11 0x12 Decimal Offset 18 Event STDBY MTE VLUP VLDWN SKPF SKPB PGDWN PGUP PSE FBKWD FFWD PLY STP INP1 INP2 RDO ALBM ARTST TRK Description Toggle standby state Toggle mute state Volume up Volume down Skip forward Skip backwards Page down Page up Pause Fast backward Fast forward Play Stop Select analogue input 1 (jump to line input menu) Select analogue input 2 (jump to line input menu) Select radio (jump to Internet radio menu) Select album (jump to albums menu) Select artist (jump to artist menu) Select track (jump to track menu)
4 Arcam, Pembroke Ave, Waterbeach, CB5 9QR, UK
0x13 0x14 0x15 0x16 0x17 0x18 0x19 0x1A 0x1B 0x1C 0x1D 0x1E 0x1F 31 LST UP DWN LFT RGT SEL HME SHW GENRE STDBYON STDBYOFF MUTEON MUTEOFF Select playlist (jump to playlist menu) Up Down Left Right Select Home (jump to top level menu) Go to Now Playing screen Select genre (jump to genres menu) Turn standby on (go into standby) Turn standby off (come out of standby) Turn mute on Turn mute off
5 Arcam, Pembroke Ave, Waterbeach, CB5 9QR, UK