The GUI

The graphical user interface of the N^o 40 deserves special mention. I will start by saying that this is the best design I have ever experienced. This is particularly important, as the complexity of these systems has grown to a point that setting them up can be frustrating and intimidating at times. That is not the case here.

The text is rendered with good resolution, which makes it easy to read. If you are using the LCD panel on the processor, you have to be within a few feet to read it. At any given point you can see the path from the top-level to wherever you are in the menu hierarchy. This makes navigation through the menus intuitive, and setup a relatively painless process.

One extremely neat feature is the process of assigning inputs. When this is done, a graphical depiction of the back panel is drawn on the screen. The card numbers, along with which type on connectors are offered on each card gets displayed. Inapplicable connectors for a given assignment are grayed out. For example, if you are assigning a digital input, all the analog inputs are grayed out. You simply move the cursor around and then hit enter to assign it to the current input.

The ML website states that they have been able to create an interface which is amenable to both an expert and a novice. I certainly feel that they have succeeded in doing this. The only sad part here is that many buyers may never get exposed to it given that they are likely to have the unit set up by a dealer and then use some external system to control it. Regardless, the UI designers have put a lot of thought into the design of this system, and they are to be commended for it.

The Remote Control

Most processors these days are accompanied by universal remotes. ML has chosen to supply one which is not of the universal variety. This is not surprising given that the majority of the owners are likely to use some external device to control the processor. What is surprising, however, is just how much care has gone into the design and look of the remote.

The remote is heavier that its size might indicate. It fits nicely into the hand, and while there are a small number of buttons, it is very functional. All the buttons, including the rocker buttons, have a good feel when they are pressed. The only issue I had here was with the "Down" button which would sometimes get stuck. The buttons themselves are not backlit, but the labels which are adjacent to the buttons are. There is a nice look to the remote when the labels are backlit with the soft blue-green light. One other detail worth mentioning is the processor's excellent reception of the remote even at wide angles.

While the functionality of most of the buttons is self-explanatory, the buttons labeled "F1" through "F3" deserve some mention. The function provided by these functions keys is programmable through the Setup menu. For example, one can use these function keys to select a particular input without having to cycle through all the inputs using the "Input" rocker buttons. Alternatively, one can use these function keys as a THX toggle or to pick a different listener position.

Setup

The speaker configuration entails the usual drill of defining crossover points, measuring the distance to each speaker, and setting the levels. What is unusual here is that the levels can be set in 0.1 dB increments. What's more is that you can define up to four different listening positions, each with its own independent level and distance setting.

The crossover selection offers two options for the slope; one conforms to the THX specification (a 2nd order high-pass for the speakers and a 4th order low-pass filter for the subwoofer), while the other offers a 3rd order slope for both the speakers and the subwoofer. I would have liked to see a 4th order high-pass option as well. The crossover frequency is independent of the slope choice. The selectable range is 30 Hz to 100 Hz in 10 Hz increments.

The N^o 40 allows for a 7.1 setup; however, two of these channels are designated as auxiliary channels, and their functionality is configurable. In a 7.1 setup, these channels will of course be relegated to back surround duty. If you have a 6.1 setup for example, you can use one of the auxiliary channels as a single back surround. The other auxiliary channel can be used as either a second mono sub or a stereo sub.

The N^o 40 provides the capability to create up to twenty logical inputs with customizable names. The analog and digital connectors for both audio and video can be assigned to one or more inputs. As was described in the GUI section, the interface makes the assignment process straightforward. Multiple audio sources can be assigned to an input. In this case the following priority has been established: HDMI, Digital, Analog. The force migration feature can be used to select an audio input with a lower priority.

An offset can be added to any analog input for level balancing. All analog audio goes through the ADC. I am surprised there is no pass-through mode. However, I personally prefer the audio to always be digitized in order to get the benefit of all the bass management and surround sound processing capabilities of a processor.

An audio delay can be applied on any input to synchronize the audio with the video in the case where there is some video processing downstream on the processor.

In my setup, the primary source of audio and video input into the N^o 40 was via the HDMI card. For video, the output was again relegated to the HDMI card. At present, I only have an HDMI cable running to the projector. I did not give the analog video section a workout, but I would be surprised if the quality were anything short of excellent there.

From an operational standpoint, there was an occasional operational glitch that I came across. This was infrequent, and as far as I can tell, random. The glitch manifested itself with flashing of the standby LEDs and the LCD panel. When in this state, the unit became sluggish responding to any commands. Repeated power cycles would eventually cause this erroneous behavior to cease. This issue coupled with some HDMI issues that I came across resulted in ML sending a replacement unit. I never saw this issue with the new unit.

Apart for the glitch mentioned above, the logical construction of the menu system coupled with the LCD panel on the front panel provided for a painless setup process.

Go to Part V.