American Audio CDMp3 PLAYER MP3 Flex 100 User Manual

							for  a  more  precise  adjustment  use  the pitch Slider  (7)  to  match  the  BPM’s  with  another  playing 
music  source.  Holding down  this button  will give  a  maximum pitch of  the  current  pitch range  set  to 
the unit.   
12. SGL/CTN - This function allows you to choose between single track play or continuous track play 
(all  tracks  in  order).  This  function  also  operates  in FLIP-FLOP  mode.  Press  this  button  for  1  second 
to turn A.CUE on and off.
13. BANK BUTTONS 1-4 - These buttons are used to store four (4) cue points. 
14. JOG WHEEL/EFFECTS PLATTER - This wheel has three functions;
A. The jog wheel will act as a frame search control when the CD is in pause or cue mode, 
  allowing you to set a cue point. 
B. The wheel also works as a pitch bend during Playback. Turning the wheel clockwise will in- 
  crease the pitch percentage up to 100%, and turning the wheel in the counter-clockwise direc-
  tion will decrease the pitch percentage down to -100%. The pitch bend will be determined on 
   how long you turn the jog wheel continuously.
C. The Jog Wheel is used for the scratch effect, when the scratch effect is activated.
15. CD LED - This LED will light up when a CD is loaded and the player is ready for use. If the light 
is off, there is no disc loaded or the disc was not read properly. Check your disc.
16. EJECT BUTTON - Pressing this will open/close the CD tray. The function will only when the unit 
is in cue/pause mode, this is to prevent accidentally ejecting the disc when in play mode.
17. mEmORY  BUTTON  -  This  button  allows  you  to  program  up  to  four  (4)  cue  points  into  the  four 
Bank ButtonS (13). The cue points can then be recalled at any time even when the disc has been 
removed and replaced at a later time.
18. PLAY/PAUSE  BUTTON  -  Each  press  of  the PLAY/PAUSE  BUTTON  causes  the  operation  to 
change from play to pause or from pause to play. While in play mode the button LED will glow, and 
while in pause mode the button LED will flash.
19.  CUE  PLAY  BUTTON  - Pressing  this  button  will  activate  the  CUE  PLAY  function  and  the  music 
will begin to play instantly starting from the last cue point.  
20.  CUE  -  Pressing  the  CUE  button  during  playback  immediately  pauses  playback  and  returns  the 
track to the last set cue point (see setting a CUE POINT, page 18). The red CUE LED will glow when 
the unit is in cue mode. The LED will also flash every time a new CUE POINT is set. The CUE button 
can be held down to momentarily play the CD. When you release the CUE button it instantly returns 
to the CUE POINT. A CUE POINT can also be set by pressing the MEMORY BUTTON (17) and press-
ing CUE. If the CUE button is pressed down the playback will start and continue until the CUE button 
is let go.
21. SCRATCH EFFECT BUTTON - This button is used to activate and deactivate the Scratch effect. 
If the SCRATCH button is pressed for 2 seconds, A. CUE scratch mode will activate. This will return 
playback to the last set cue point when the jog Wheel (14) touch sensor is triggered. The scratch 
LED will flash when A. CUE scratch is activated. To deactivate press the SCRATCH button.
22.  RELOOP    BUTTON  -  If  a  SEAMLESS  LOOP  has  been  set  (see  setting  a  SEAMLESS  LOOP    on 
page 20), but the CD Player is not actively in SEAMLESS LOOP mode (a loop is not playing), pressing 
the RELOOP  BUTTON will instantly reactivate the SEAMLESS LOOP mode. To exit the loop, press the 
out Button (23). LOOP will appear in the lcd diSplay (28) when the RELOOP function is avail-
 GENERAL FUNCTIONS  AND CONTROLS (Cont.)
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 GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND CONTROLS (Cont.)
able. If no active loop exist, pressing the RELOOP button will return you to the last set cue point.
23. OUT BUTTON - This button is used to set the ending point of a loop. A loop is started by press-
ing  the in  Button  (24),  and  pressing  the  OUT  BUTTON  to  set  the  loop  ending  point.  The  loop  will 
continue to play until the OUT BUTTON is pressed once again.
24.   SEAmLESS  LOOP  IN  BUTTON  -   “CUE  ON  THE  FLY”  - This  function  allows  you  to  set  a  CUE 
POINT  (see  CUE  POINT  page  18)  without  music  interruption  (“on  the  fly”).  This  button  also  sets  the 
starting point of a seamless loop (see SEAMLESS LOOP). The IN point will be set to the last use cue 
point.
25.  SEARCH BUTTONS -        
   This search button allows you to quickly scan backwards through a track. 
        This search button allows you to quickly scan forwards through a track.
26. TRACK SEARCH KNOB - This knob is used to search through the tracks on a CD or Mp3 disc.
Press this knob to change the character display, FileName, Artist, Title, etc.
27. FOLDER SEARCH KNOB - This knob is used to search through the folders on a Mp3 disc. 
28.  LCD  DISPLAY  - This  high  quality  LCD  display  indicates  all  the  functions,  as  they  are  occurring. 
This  display  is  viewable  at  several  comfortable  angles  (see  page  14).  The  display  ICONS  will  be 
explained in section D. 
						

							 GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND CONTROLS (Cont.)
©American Audio®   -   www.AmericanAudio.us   -   Flex 100MP3 Instruction Manual Page 13
Figure 5
Figure 4
34
3332313029
B. REAR PANEL (FIGURE 4)
29. POWER CONNECTOR - This connection is used to connect your main power. Be sure that your 
local power matches the unit’s required power. 
30. POWER BUTTON - This button is used to turn your unit’s power on and off.
31.  RELAY  JACK - Connect  the  supplied  mini-plug  from  the  RELAY  jack  on  the  rear  of  your  unit  to 
a  compatible  American  Audio®  mixer’s  CONTROL  out.  This  feature  is  only  available  on  American 
Audio’s “Q” series mixers. 
32. DIGITAL  OUT  -  Use  this  connection  to  create  near  perfect  copies  of  your  disc  to  a  Mini  disc, 
CD-R, or any other digital recording device.   
33. AUDIO OUT R & L - Audio out signals. Connect stereo RCA cables from AUDIO OUT to a mixer's 
line input.
C. FRONT PANEL (FIGURE 5)
34. TRANSPORT TRAY  - This tray is used to load and unload a compact disc. The tray is opened and 
closed  by  pressing  the OPEN/CLOSE BUTTON  (16). Never  attempt  to  force  the  transport  tray  open 
or closed when the power is turned off. 
						

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 GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND CONTROLS (Cont.)
Figure 6
35
48
47
46
45
44
43
40
38
42
41
39
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
36
D. LCD DISPLAY PANEL (FIGURE 6)
35. RELOOP  INDICATOR - Appears when a LOOP has been activated and disappears when a LOOP 
has been deactivated. 
36. mEmORY  BUCKET  INDICATOR - This indicator serves two functions. The bucket outline details 
the  cue  memory  status,  a  full  bucket  outline  indicates  the  cue  memory  is  full.  The  four  bars  in  the 
memory  bucket  detail  the  anti-shock  memory  state.  Each  bar  indicates  2  seconds  of  digital  anti-
shock. There is up to 10 seconds of anti-shock.
37. JOG WHEEL TOUCH INDICATOR - A hand icon will appear in the LCD when the touch sensor is 
triggered. When the jog Wheel (14) is set to Scratch Mode touching the jog Wheel (14) will hold 
playback in place.
38. CD PLAYBACK INDICATOR - This is a visual marker of the CD playback point, used to mark the 
location of the sound's cue point on your CD. This indicates the play position, spins during playback, 
scratching in either direction, and stops during cue or pause mode.
39. PLAY/PAUSE INDICATOR - Either the play or pause indicator will glow depending which  mode 
you are in.
40. CUE INDICATOR - This indicator will glow when the unit is in CUE mode and will flash every time 
a new CUE POINT is set.
41. mP3  INDICATOR - This will indicate that a Mp3 disc is loaded in the drive.
42. BPm/X & Y INDICATOR - Indicates the BPM of a track or the effect parameters when an effect is 
active.
43. TImE  BAR INDICATOR - This bar gives a visual approximation of a track's or disc's remaining time. 
This bar will begin to flash when a CD is ending or when a track is ending. 
44. TImE DISPLAY - These indicators detail the Minutes, Seconds, and Frames. The meter will display 
either the elapsed or remaing time of a track. It will also display the total remaining time of a complete 
CD not a Mp3 disc.
45. CHARACTER  DISPLAY - This will display the name of the track and/or folder when an Mp3 disc 
with compatiable ID3 tags is loaded into the unit.
37 
						

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 GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND CONTROLS (Cont.)
46.  REmAIN  INDICATOR - When "REMAIN" is indicated in the lcd diSplay (28) the time  diSplay 
(44) in  the lcd will  define  the  current  track's  remaining  time.  When  "REMAIN"  is  not  indicated  in 
the lcd diSplay (28) the time  diSplay (44) in the lcd will define the track's elapsed time. When 
"TOTAL REMAIN" is indictated the time display will show total time remaining of the entire CD. Mp3 
discs will not have total remain time.
47. TRACK/FOLDER DISPLAY  -  This indicator describes which track or folder is currently cued or is 
playing.
48.FOLDER/TRACK INDICATOR  - This  indicator  shows  you  if  you  are  looking  at  the  track  number 
or the folder number.. 
49. CD  INDICATOR - This will indicate that an audio disc is loaded into the player.
50.  PITCH mETER - This meter will display the pitch percentage applied by the pitch  Slider (7).
51.       TEmPO LOCK -  This will indicate the Tempo Lock function is active.
52.  SINGLE  INDICATOR - This indicates that the CD drive is in single play mode, the track will play 
once and return to CUE mode. If the single indicator is not on the unit is in continuous mode. In con-
tinuous mode the drive will play all the remaining tracks on the disc. 
53. AUTO BPm - This will indicate that the AUTO BPM counter is active.
54. AUTO CUE - This will indicate if the Auto Cue is on or off. Press and hold the Sgl/ctn (12) for 1 
sec. to turn the Auto Cue function on and off. The unit's Auto Cue function will automatically set the 
cue point at the beginninh of each track.
55. LOOP - Indicates that a LOOP is ready to be played again. 
FO LD ER
TR AC K
M
TO TA LR EM AIN
S
F
PIT C H
A
UTO BP M
C D MP3
C UE
RELO O P
SIN G LE
A U TO  C UE 
						

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 BASIC OPERATIONS
Figure  8: turning  the  track 
knob  counter-clockwise  will 
jump  back  to  the  previous 
track.
Figure  9: turning  the  track 
knob clockwise will skip for-
ward to the next track.
2. SELECTING TRACKS
Select  a  desired  track  by  using the track  knoB  (26). Turn  the  knob  clockwise  to  move  forward  a  track  or 
counter-clockwise to move back a track. If you want to select a new track during playback (a track is already 
in play mode) the new track you selected will immediately begin playback as soon as the search operation is 
completed.
1.  LOADING/EJECTING  DISCS
The Flex 100MP3 can only play 3 inch and regular 5 inch CDs. When loading a CD into the player always hold 
the disc by it edge). Load the disc label side up and never touch the signal surface (the glossy side). To remove 
a disc from the player press the eject Button (16), see Figure 7.
CAUTION:
•   NEVER attempt to load any other objects besides 3" and 5" CDs.
•  NEVER attempt to load more than one disc at a time. Doing so may result in sever damage to your unit.
•  DO NOT force the transport tray open or close when the power is off, this may damage the drive system.
•  NEVER transport your unit with CD's inside.
Figure 7: press the eject button to load and remove a disc. Remeber: When loading a disc always hold the disc by it 
edges and load the disc label side up.
Figure 7 
						

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3. STARTING PLAYBACK - Figure 10
Load  an  audio  CD  as  describe  on  page  16 (loading/ejecting diScS).  
Pressing the play/pauSe Button (18) with an audio CD loaded will immediate-
ly  start  playback.  The play  (39) indicator  will  glow  as  soon  as  playback  begins. 
The point at which playback starts (cue point) will automatically be stored in the 
memory as the cue point. The unit will return to this cue point (the point at which 
playback started) when the cue Button (20) is pressed.
4. AUTO  CUE
This function will automatically set a cue point to the first audio point when a CD 
is loaded. The first set cue point will always be the beginning of track 1. If a new 
track is selected before the play Button (18) is pressed, a new CUE  POINT will 
be set to reflect the new starting point.
5. STOPPING PLAYBACK - Figures 10 & 11
Stopping  playback  will  not  stop  the  drive  mechanism,  but  merely  pause  or  cue 
the track, this functions allows the unit to begin play instantly. The drive mecha-
nism will only stop if a disc is ejected or the unit has gone in to sleep mode. There 
are two ways to stop (pause) playback:
1)  Press the play/pauSe  Button (18) during playback. This will pause play-
  back at the exact same point the play/pauSe Button (18) was pressed. 
2)  Press the cue Button (20) during playback. This will pause playback and     
  return the track to the last set cue point.  
6.  PAUSING - Figure 10
This function pauses playback at the exact same point the play/pauSe  Button 
(18) was  pressed.  Pressing  the play/pauSe  Button  (18) will  switch  between 
play and pause modes. When the unit is in pause mode the pauSe indicator 
(39) will  show  in  the lcd diSplay  (28).  The  green play/pauSe  Button  (18) 
LED will also begin to flash repeatedly.
7. FRAmE  SEARCH 
This feature allows you to scroll through a track frame by frame, allowing you to 
find  and  set  a  starting  cue,  sample,  or  loop  point.  To  use  the  scroll  function  you 
must  first  be  in  Pause  Mode  (see  section  6)  or  Cue  Mode  (see  section  9).  Once 
you  are  in  Pause  or  Cue  mode,  turn  the jog Wheel  (14) to  scroll  through  the 
track (Figure 12). Turning the wheel in a clockwise direction will advance the frame 
search and turning the wheel in a counter-clockwise direction rewinds the frame 
search. When you use the jog Wheel (14) the monitor (headphone level) function 
allows  you  to  hear  what  you  are  scrolling  through.  Once  you  reach  your  desired 
starting  point  you  can  set  a  cue  (starting)  point  by  pressing  the in  Button  (24) 
as in Figure 19. Pressing the cue  Button (20) or cue play Button (19) as in 
Figure 11 will now return you to the point you just set.
Note:  For  both  X  &  Y  parameter  ratio,  if  no  effect  is  active  and  either  parameter 
button is on the jog Wheel (14) will effect the pitch.
 BASIC OPERATIONS (CONT .)
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12 
						

							8. SCANNING (FAST FORWARD / FAST REVERSE)
This  function  gives  you  a  fast  search  through  a  disc  or  track.  Press the  >> 
Search  Button  (25) to  fast  forward  or  press  the  
						

							©American Audio®   -   www.AmericanAudio.us   -   Flex 100MP3 Instruction Manual Page 19
Storing A Cue Point:
Once you have set your CUE Point by one of the two means listed on page 18, you may store your cue point 
in one of the Bank ButtonS (13). Once you store this cue point in memory you may recall it at any time and 
you  may  even  recall  memory  if  the  disc  has  been  removed  or  power  had  been  disconnected,  see SyStem 
memory on page 22. You may store a maximum of four cue points per disc and maximum of 2000 cue points 
can be saved in the unit's memory. The memory Bucket (36) in the lcd diSplay (28) will approximate the 
available memory. 
To Store a cue point:
1)  Create a Cue Point by one of the two means listed on page 18. Press the memory Button (17), as in
  Figure 16. The red Memory Cue LED will glow indicating the store memory function has been activated.   
  You may now press any one of the four Bank ButtonS (13) to store your cue point into memory (Figure  
  17). After pressing one of the Bank ButtonS (13), the corresponding Bank Button LED will flash briefly.
   The LED of the Bank Button (13) will remain lit indicating a cue point is stored in memory. The red  
  Memory LED will turn off.
2)   Repeat the above steps to store up to two more Cue Points. Once your four cue points have been    
  stored you may access them at any time. During playback the cue points will instantly start playback from   
  that  point without any music interruption. Please note in order to access these cue point, the disc used to 
  create the cue points must be loaded.
10. CREATING AND PLAYING  A SEAmLESS LOOP  
A seamless loop is a sound loop that plays continuously without sound interruption. You can use this loop to 
create dramatic effect in your mixing. This loop has no time limit and you could actually loop the entire length 
of disc. You create a seamless loop between two continuous points of a disc. 
 BASIC OPERATIONS (CONT .)
Figure 17
2)  Press the in Button 
  (24). This will set the 
  starting point of the 
  SEAMLESS LOOP. The 
 in Button (24) LED 
  will light.
1)  Press play/pauSe  
  Button  (18) to    
  activate playback 
  mode        
Figure 19Figure 18
Figure 16 
						

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 BASIC OPERATIONS (CONT.)
3)  Press the out Button (23) to set the ending point for your SEAMLESS 
  LOOP (Figure 20). The in Button (24) and out Button (23) LEDs will 
  immediately begin to flash rapidly, indicating the SEAMLESS LOOP mode   
  has been activated.
LCD  LOOP  INDICATORS -  During  a  seamless  loop,  the loop  (55) and 
reloop  indicatorS  (35) will  turn  on  in  the lcd  diSplay  (28) indicating  a 
loop is active. 
ExITINg A LOOP  - To  exit  a  SEAMLESS  LOOP,  press  the out 
Button (23). The in  Button (24) and out  Button (23) LEDs will 
remain on, but will stop flashing. Music playback will resume normal 
play.  The in Button  (24) and out  Button  (23) LEDs  will  remain 
on to remind you that a loop is stored in memory.
REPLAY  LOOP  -  The reloop  (22)  function  allows  you  to  return  to  your 
stored  loop  at  any  time.  The in Button  (24) and out  Button  (23) LEDs 
will  indicate  a  loop  is  stored  in  memory,  and  may  be  played  at  any  time. 
To  replay  the  loop,  press  the reloop  Button  (22).  The in Button  (24) 
and out  Button  (23) LEDs  will  again  begin  to  flash  indicating  SEAMLESS 
LOOP mode has been activated and your stored loop will immediately begin 
to play.
Figure 22
Figure 21
Figure 20
11.  EDITING A LOOP:
Please note: Only the ending point of the loop may be edited. You may make your loop shorter or longer. Before 
you can edit your seamless loop you obviously must first create a seamless loop to edit. If you haven’t created 
a SEAMLESS LOOP, follow the instructions in step 10 to create a loop. If a SEAMLESS LOOP has already been 
created,  press  the reloop  Button  (22)  to  activate  your  SEAMLESS  LOOP  (Figure  22)  if  it  is  not  already 
activated. To edit your seamless loop’s ending point:
1)  Press the out Button (23) to return to normal play from the loops cue point. (Figure 21). This will 
  disengage the SEAMLESS LOOP mode and allow you to edit the loops ending point.
2)  Press the out Button (23) again when you reach your new ending point (Figure 21).
  -  FOR A SHORTER LOOP: Press the out Button (23) at sooner point in the track (Figure 21).
  -  FOR LONGER LOOP: Press the out Button (23) at later point in the track (Figure 21).