Anyone here get a Emotiva UMC-1?

[carbon summit]

I was never sold on the 663's YPAO and using it as a starting point wasn't as easy as the UMC-1 is. Emo-Q on the UMC-1 is great to work with and gives me more adjustments than I know what to do with. The on screen display on the UMC-1 is a million times better than the 663's, and I love having the volume display on the screen. The UMC-1 just feels higher end than the 663 does, which it should, it cost more. The MSRP on the 663 was $549, but I paid much less. But even the higher end Yamahas of that time lacked a modern OSD. I'm not sure how the new ones are (mines a 2008 model).

I should clarify that Emo-Q did lock up on me a few times but over all the results sound good, give you a good starting point and the ODS is so much better to work with that what I'm used to. Emo-Q isn't perfect, or is it a run it and be done system and Emo isn't selling that it is. I enjoy working with it more than I did YPAO and feel in my case I'm getting better and more consistant results.

The picture I found online of Yamaha's OSD on the 663. It sucks and looks cheap and outdated.

[Xki]

I was never sold on the 663's YPAO and using it as a starting point wasn't as easy as the UMC-1 is. Emo-Q on the UMC-1 is great to work with and gives me more adjustments than I know what to do with. The on screen display on the UMC-1 is a million times better than the 663's, and I love having the volume display on the screen. The UMC-1 just feels higher end than the 663 does, which it should, it cost more. The MSRP on the 663 was $549, but I paid much less. But even the higher end Yamahas of that time lacked a modern OSD. I'm not sure how the new ones are (mines a 2008 model).

I should clarify that Emo-Q did lock up on me a few times but over all the results sound good, give you a good starting point and the ODS is so much better to work with that what I'm used to. Emo-Q isn't perfect, or is it a run it and be done system and Emo isn't selling that it is. I enjoy working with it more than I did YPAO and feel in my case I'm getting better and more consistant results.

The picture I found online of Yamaha's OSD on the 663. It sucks and looks cheap and outdated.

Whew! For a while there I was anticipating the worst.

Very glad to hear that you're satisfied so far. It took me quite a while to get used to all the variations and remember where to go to do what my ears needed. The OSD is really sweet. The previous AVR I had didn't have OSD.

After 8 months I'm still tweaking and testing. That's what I love about this thing. Even changing the crossover points can make a big difference and that's just one config. that you can play with. You wouldn't believe how many people buy the UMC-1 and expect it to be plug-&-play. They are complaining like crazy even though they don't even understand the difference between digital formats.

Did Emo-Q lock up during the first part where it tells you to be quiet? The funning thing is that the best thing to do is to NOT be quiet. Some people even scratch the top of the mic and it continues perfectly. Another quirk that only forums can help you with.

Keep us posted!

[InVeNtOr]

just updated mine a couple of days ago (7.02.05). still like it. for me most of the issues came about because i had so many options. i wasn't use to that much control. i didn't use the eq either. i simply used a SPL meter and not much else. i do like the fact i can play with the settings on the fly while listening to audio so i can get a good feel if i made a good choice or not.

i hadn't run into any issues except the whole "stand by" issue. this last update was suppose to be the fix. i had never had the stand by issue, but for some reason the wife or daughter would get it. i always assumed they didn't point the remote forward for long enough.

i will say this, best upgrade i have bought so far. the sound quality is much better than my AVR. i loved my last AVR but the umc is simply better. when this poor thing is outdated and emotiva releases another one, i'll enjoy the 40% off. just to touch on the xmc, to me not worth it. for the most part the only upgrade is the xlr connectors. my amp is next to the processor so there is no need for xlr cables. xlr cables are generally only needed for 6' runs and longer.

[Xki]

just updated mine a couple of days ago (7.02.05). still like it. for me most of the issues came about because i had so many options. i wasn't use to that much control. i didn't use the eq either. i simply used a SPL meter and not much else. i do like the fact i can play with the settings on the fly while listening to audio so i can get a good feel if i made a good choice or not.

i hadn't run into any issues except the whole "stand by" issue. this last update was suppose to be the fix. i had never had the stand by issue, but for some reason the wife or daughter would get it. i always assumed they didn't point the remote forward for long enough.

i will say this, best upgrade i have bought so far. the sound quality is much better than my AVR. i loved my last AVR but the umc is simply better. when this poor thing is outdated and emotiva releases another one, i'll enjoy the 40% off. just to touch on the xmc, to me not worth it. for the most part the only upgrade is the xlr connectors. my amp is next to the processor so there is no need for xlr cables. xlr cables are generally only needed for 6' runs and longer.

+1 - I agree!

Justsolved another anoying problem and posted over at Emo. It was a really easy fix and I feel really dumb for not thinking of it sooner:

I had HDMI lock-on issues - 3-10 seconds - and it was driving me crazy! I have a LG BD520 player and other than true BluRay disks, the lock on was causing a big loss at the biginning of every track on CDs, each selection on Pandora, and every YouTube video.

Solution: Hooked up a Toslink from the LG optical out to the UMC. Configured a new input on the UMC to use the same HDMI link for video and the Toslink for audio. It works like a charm. Virtually no delay in lock and the bitrate is 192KHz. So, when I play a 2Ch soure on the BluRay player, I switch to the new input and all is well!

I'll also pass on the XMC. Sure it will be better but, now that I have the lock-on lag solved, I'm a happy camper with the UMC!

[wuzzzer]

I had HDMI lock-on issues - 3-10 seconds - and it was driving me crazy! I have a LG BD520 player and other than true BluRay disks, the lock on was causing a big loss at the biginning of every track on CDs, each selection on Pandora, and every YouTube video.

Solution: Hooked up a Toslink from the LG optical out to the UMC. Configured a new input on the UMC to use the same HDMI link for video and the Toslink for audio. It works like a charm. Virtually no delay in lock and the bitrate is 192KHz. So, when I play a 2Ch soure on the BluRay player, I switch to the new input and all is well!

I'll also pass on the XMC. Sure it will be better but, now that I have the lock-on lag solved, I'm a happy camper with the UMC!

That's a really good idea!

[carbon summit]

Just solved another annoying problem and posted over at Emo. It was a really easy fix and I feel really dumb for not thinking of it sooner:

I had HDMI lock-on issues - 3-10 seconds - and it was driving me crazy! I have a LG BD520 player and other than true BluRay disks, the lock on was causing a big loss at the biginning of every track on CDs, each selection on Pandora, and every YouTube video.

Solution: Hooked up a Toslink from the LG optical out to the UMC. Configured a new input on the UMC to use the same HDMI link for video and the Toslink for audio. It works like a charm. Virtually no delay in lock and the bitrate is 192KHz. So, when I play a 2Ch soure on the BluRay player, I switch to the new input and all is well!

I'll also pass on the XMC. Sure it will be better but, now that I have the lock-on lag solved, I'm a happy camper with the UMC!

Hi Xki, Did you mean a LG BD570? Pretty sure I saw you post that earlier. I must have dodged the bullet because I bought a 570 a while back, but DLNA proved to be something I'd never really use and don't need wifi so I brought it back and got the 550 since its cheaper. Just to double check tonight I played Pandora for about an hour and no lag time at all and put a CD in and again no delay. It pops the no signal pop up but starts to play without delay when using Pandora, no pop up with CD. I think you can turn that pop up off but I leave it on for now just to get a feel for whats going on with it. After I feel I've got it set up right I'll probably turn it off.

So in my case my LG works great. So is it your LG or your UMC-1? Who knows! Just like we've both seen over at the Emo forum. Some guys have no problems, some have a few problems, and some have huge problems. I'm sure LG BD players are no different. I haven't had any problems with mine so I have not been too active reading up on it but I had a Samsung BD-P1600 before it and had troubles so I'd jump on AVS and it was like the UMC-1, people had no problems, some or a lot. No rhyme or reason to which firmware would work for some and make things worse for others. Thats why I finally bought a different BD player.

As far as the bitrate being 192KHz you can set both HDMI and optical out to do 192KHz, its late so maybe I'm not thinking straight but isn't CD always going to be output at 44Khz regardless of the max output the player is set at since that is what it is? I'm not real solid on this so forgive if I'm wrong. I can't figure out how to get the UMC-1 to show me the bitrate it is receiving as I listen to a CD with my 550. One thing I like about listening to CD on the LG is it shows the cover art and the song list, and play times on the TV. Nice touch, kind of wish my my ERC-1 did it. I never have used the 550 to play a CD before so I never realized it did it.

But regardless of which one (UMC-1 or your 570) is goofing up its good you found a work around. For the things that are the UMC-1's fault I hope they continue to work out fixes, I don't want to have to find work arounds, I just want it to work! The slow handshake/audio lock when I'm watching cable and the resolution jumps around as I change channels is probably the only thing that bugs me but I've found my work around. I lock the resolution to 1080i (its highest resolution) and now everything is working pretty well. The downside is that I'm sure my TV would upscale the lower content better than the cable box so I'm sacrificing picture quality for fast lock times but oh well. I've compared and I think my TV does a little better job of upscaling than the UMC-1.

I know HDMI's big thing to the studios is the copyright protection it provides on the 1080p content but lets be real honest the people that are going to pirate movies are still doing it and millions of us that don't pay the price with handshake issues. I know I'd lose Dolby True HD and DTS HD but if I could get 1080p on component and use toslink for audio I'd do it. I truely doubt with my humble system and less than perfect room I can hear the difference anyway.

Another problem I was reminded of as I used my 550 was the Advanced Playback part of the setup is kind of quirky. I was listening to Pandora on 2 channel and decided to try PLIIx music. At first it wouldn't keep the PLIIx, kept going back to stereo. Finally after a few tries it took PLIIx but was on movie. I turned the UMC-1 off and turned it back on and it was on PLIIx music.

But all is not gloom and doom. Over all I'm happy with the UMC-1. I had a guy contact me about buying my Yamaha RX-V663 yesterday. I told him I'd sell it where as before him I've been putting people off until my 30 day trial period ends just in case so I think that is a strong sign I'm getting comfortable with the UMC-1. He ended up calling me back saying he decided to buy a new receiver at Best Buy instead. He went with less recevier but has more HDMI inputs and is new so he is happy.

[carbon summit]

I spoke to soon. I actually wrote that last post a few hours ago but never hit the post button in case I wanted to add something.

I went back to Pandora and now I am also getting the delay now between songs where the counter makes it to 6 seconds before I get audio. Now in fairness to the UMC-1 I used to listen to Pandora a lot more when I had my Samsung BD player but I have not really listened to it much since I've bought the 550 so I can't say if this problem would have been with my old A/V receiver also. And now... its playing fine on Pandora again.

I switched to CD and it is doing it there too!!! On some songs it delays and some it starts just fine.

Well I guess I've got one more work around. I already had Pandora as its own input so no big deal to edit it to look for the audio on toslink but it just disappoints me I have to do it. Kind of like I said before about the HDMI issues. The whole one cable for everything idea would be great if it worked.

Oh well I just wanted to update everyone that I also have the issue with a LG BD player that Xki has now.

[Xki]

Hi Carbon:

Yes, I have the BD570. Like you, I had no problems and then it just started to have lags. I switched the cable on the UMC to HDMI3 and things were fine for a while. Now the lag is back. There seems to be correlation between which uniot is powered on first and/or if there is a disk in the drive when using Pandora and/or the internet speed at the moment the Pandora track changes. I have no real way to quantify this. Toslink (or Coax) makes it sort of mute. Being involved in high speed communications, I have to wonder where all the great minds are in the HDMI world. If I can depend on giga-bit data rates going through 50 servers, switching dynamically, and having a latency of 52 milliseconds between India and the USA, why can't HDMI lock on in less than a second?

You're right on the bit rate and CDs. 44 and no more. I was referring to the link being capable of 192KHz. Some YouTube content streams at higher bitrates and I've heard that Pandora is contemplating a higher rate also so, the player being capable of 192 over optical is cool.

The album artwork for DCs is really nice. Some newer stuff isn't in the catalog yet but it will be. My Panny Plasma is 720p so I've yet to have the res issues some report. I set the DirecTv and BlyRay to highest res and let the UMC limit it to 720p. The Panny will handle 1080i but interlased alwys leave artifacts and football is much better at the lower 720p res. Honestly, 720p at my viewing distance is OK. 1080p will wait for better financial circumstances.

The Toslink workaround lifted the last buyer's remorse I had with the UMC-1. I'm happy with this unit and don't see a need to upgrade for awhile. The 3D experience isn't all it's cracked up to be. I already where corrective lenses and an additional set makes any viewing an absolute attitude killer. Having to wear 3D specs is like having to wear a headset to get 7.1 It's not going to happen! HDMI 1.3 is what it is and I don't see any of the issues getting better when everything starts being produced with 1.4 The issues will be bigger and more. So be it. It like having to show an ID to buy over the counter cough syrup. It's a royal pain but what else ya going to do?

A have a friend that went the BestBuy AVR route after I told him to "Please let me help you decide!" It's a year later and he stopped over last weekend for the Packer game. After hearing the difference in SQ with higher end gear, he told me he's looking to upgrade. 1 year! I guess all of us have a moment like that.

Until Emo releases the XMC and we get some reviews, I'll still recommend the UMC-1 to those interested. I'm satisfied and love having control over just about every aspect of the audio.

Regards!

[carbon summit]

Being involved in high speed communications, I have to wonder where all the great minds are in the HDMI world. If I can depend on giga-bit data rates going through 50 servers, switching dynamically, and having a latency of 52 milliseconds between India and the USA, why can't HDMI lock on in less than a second?

LOL! That really puts it in perspective doesn't it!!!

[InVeNtOr]

not sure if this is the same as above.....

i have my cable (AT&T Uverse) set up to be able to watch and listen from the tv and the system. i have a direct HDMI cable from the box to the tv. this is the way i watch 99% of the cable shows. i also have a optical cable from the cable box to the processor. this way once in a blue moon i can listen to the tv through the 7's. so far i haven't had any issues with that. sounds good (well after a crossover change) with no audio drop outs or skips.

this will sound silly to most but my biggest issue with the umc is the pop up screen. you can turn OSD off but the VOLUME OSD still stays! yep that's my biggest issue. to reduce my hatred for it i changed the screen resolution to 1080p (reduced the over size) and set it to 10 in the transparency. so now when i change the volume during a move, the OSD is less visible and is below the black bars, not a third up on the screen.

[Xki]

this will sound silly to most but my biggest issue with the umc is the pop up screen. you can turn OSD off but the VOLUME OSD still stays! yep that's my biggest issue.

LOL - To each his own! Man...... I'm still smiling.

[InVeNtOr]

yeah, it's something i wouldn't send it back for....lol. but if that's my only issue or complaint, then it must be doing something right.

i did actually call about it. Vincent said they could change that but i think enough people would have to complain about it first. he said it wouldn't be that hard to fix either.

[carbon summit]

Funny thing is that showing the volume on screen is one of the things I like about the UMC-1 over my old A/V receiver which didn't do it. Hopefully if they make a change its just the ability to turn it on and off rather than to have it or just get rid of it for everyone. Having the choice would be good. Who knows maybe the novelty of the volume pop up will wear off over time and I'll want to turn it off later so I hope the ability to do it comes in a firmware upgrade.

[Xki]

I've had the pop-up on and with the volume I keep tabs on just what this unit is doing. I'm pretty close to turning off the pop-up. I'll need to adjust the input levels for all the sources first. It's to the point now that all expected advanced playback settings are rock solid so the pop-up just tells me that everything is OK. Very interesting when DirecTv, during an HD show, will flip between DD and PLIIx and then to 2 ch for awhile before returning to the DD. You can tell with your ears and the pop-up just verifies that the source is flaky.

It would be really cool if there was an extra config to have the volume bar on or off. Ithink I'll post that in the Emo spreadsheet as a wish. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Then I wouldn't get the ubiquitous, "You just have to fiddle with it, don't you?" from the family. That along with an option to place the OSD, pop-up, and volume bar where you want it. (Left-Bottom, Right-Top, etc,, etc.) Oh! And size! Teeny-Tiny or Great Big for those of us with OFS (old fart syndrome).

[carbon summit]

Anyone using Dolby Volume? I have not tried it yet.

I have a 5.1 setup. Is it safe to assume under the Advanced Playback menu if I select PLIIx when there is no PLII option that it will sound the same? Doesn't PLIIx just mirror the same sound for the rears as it uses for the sides?

Overall Emo really could have put a little more into the manual of the UMC-1. If this was before the internet I think a lot of people would be screwed without the help of people on forums to share thier experence with others. Thanks guys!

[Xki]

Anyone using Dolby Volume? I have not tried it yet.

I have a 5.1 setup. Is it safe to assume under the Advanced Playback menu if I select PLIIx when there is no PLII option that it will sound the same? Doesn't PLIIx just mirror the same sound for the rears as it uses for the sides?

Overall Emo really could have put a little more into the manual of the UMC-1. If this was before the internet I think a lot of people would be screwed without the help of people on forums to share thier experence with others. Thanks guys!

Actually, there are some really advanced algorythms at play when using PLIIx. Even a stereo source is converted into surround sound. That is, the signal from the available channels are analyzed against each other to determine what to send to each available channel. For example, there could be dialouge on both left and right as well as a movie soundtrack. PLIIx might fed the voices mostly to the center, decrease them on the left/right, and move part of the musical sound track to the surronds. See: http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/playback/dolby-pro-logic-iix.html I don't have a clue as to how it's done but, it does work for what it is intended to do.

The manual. I only use it for the picture of the back panel! [] The forums and the Emo videos help tremendously! There is an upside to a lousey manual..... Forced into 'research' mode to figure things out, I learn a huge amount of stuff. I would have thought by now that some really industrious owner would write comprehensive a users guide. (Then I woke up.)

[InVeNtOr]

well i hated it. i had it set to "max" because after reading about it it sounded like "sliced bread." i would get weird audio drop outs or pauses and it would annoy me. the sound was also "funny." when i would play a ps3 game and have it set to "stereo" i would have the volume set to 0.5 and it would still be loud. then i would change it to "All Stereo" and i would need it at 12. sometimes the dialogue would seem "mushy" and and when i would switch the audio source to "stereo" it would sound better. some "dialogue" or "non action" movies i would watch in stereo because other wise i wouldn't understand half the dialogue. i even called Vincent at Emo and he said he didn't like it or use it. i am glad it just wasn't me. since turning it "off" everything in all movies sounds so much better. everything became more clear and sounded like it was meant to.

that's how i feel, just didn't like it, so now it's off!

[Xki]

I'm assuming you mean PLIIx, right? What you described sounds a lot like reported dolby volume issues. I will never use dolby volume. No need and the 1 time I tried it, it sounded....... well......... just like you described! If I assumed wrong, pardons please.

I have had excellent results with PLIIx. Honestly, I used to think plain stereo was the way to go but I do prefer the PLIIx for almost everything thats not DD or DTS/DTS-HD. I can understand your description and disappointment. And I wouldn't use it either if it sounds that bad.

[InVeNtOr]

nope, "All Stereo." you get that option if the audio codex is "PCM Multichannel." i get that when either i play a HD-DVD or a PS3 video game. i agree PLIIx is pretty good. i'll use that if it's available.

[Xki]

OH! That's a different thing completely. Tried it. Not impressed. Wasn't as bad as dolby volume but I haven't even considered using it since it was made available and I tried it. It may say 'All Stereo" but I don't think that's an accurate tag. Have you set the advanced playback options so that you don't have to deal with it?

PLIIx just get's better as I tweak it. Out of the box, it was bad for music. Now it's my default. (I don't ever use stereo now. It seems thin.) Maybe if I get the old turntable up and running I'll revert? I know, I know. Platters are the best and 44Khz still socks! But hey, I don't have an SACD, most of my LPs went in garage sales, and CDs are still way better than MP3, right!

Thanks for the clarification! There isn't a day that goes by that I don't learn something or re-evaluate what I thought was an absolute.