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Anyone here get a Emotiva UMC-1?


carbon summit

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I think I'll be waiting a while since Emo has quite a backlog of pre-orders.

Been lurling around the Emo forums.... Quite a few users are requesting "party" mode. I use Multi-Stereo "party" mode VERY often. A lot of people drop by for a good sonic blast and having all speakers pumping out the L/R signal is great for get togethers. So far Emo (Big Dan) hasn't posted any yea/nea for this mode. I can only hope it will be there when I get the call!

For those of you who heven't yet and are interested, there is a good video demo on the UMC-1 over at emotiva.com. This unit will be the capability king!

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^^ You are very right about needing the 'party' mode. Even the older LMC has an all channel stereo option. The one thing that I do not completely understand about Emotiva, is how they have been developing this new processor for over 2 years and have still left out some of the finer details. Some firmware updates are to be expected, but I just wonder who the beta testers were and what the heck they were doing with the unit? Not critisizing Emo at all since such a smaller company put out a potentially market changing product. A huge undertaking as well with all of the license headaches and especially the whole hdmi monster! Except for the bitstreaming, I think hdmi is a pita...

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My take is that they had everything naileddown and then 1, one simple change corrupted the the entire firmware version. This has to be due to lack of change control that is always a risk in a smaller company. They have fixed that and added a couple of enhancements. Thumbs up!

I think that their top guys drive the finer details, or lack there of. However, they do listen. My gut tells me that when I do get the unit, the bugs will be gone and there will be a few finer details included. Of course, there is always the firmware updates.

The HDMI thing HAS to be a nightmare. I'm glad I don't have be the one having to downgrade functionality just to meet copyright laws. I'm currently running component into my 720P Panny plasma. I have the plug in HDMI board in a box waiting for the rest of the supporting hadware (UMC). I've seen many a complaint toward HDMI. It is the way we are going.

Here's another wish that I'm going to ask for when my account is verified by the administrator..... 11 band EQ for speaker pairs instead of each speaker alone. If they can tie 2,4,6 speakers together when setting the EQ, It would make setup SO easy.

There is one other thing that nobody seems to be addressing. What about more than 1 HDMI out? I know a lot of people who have a small monitor or a second room HDTV ready for connection. 1 HDMI out is sort of short sighted. Oh well. there are HDMI splitters, right?

All that said, I can't find another pre/pro out there that will do what this one can. Add "party" mode and life will be good.

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As far as returning my XPA-5, I've had MANY budget amps in my systems - ATI, Rotel, ADCOM, and Parasound. I wasn't impressed with the XPA. I think it sounded "flat" and I felt the construction was just so-so.

JW, I'm using an adcom amp as well (100watts/channel) and was considering the 250 watt Emotiva. Can you give me your impressions of the differences you noticed between these amps. Other than the power difference, trying to get a picture of whether it will sound better/same? Anyone else with experience between the two would be helpful. I'm running the Adcom 7400 right now.

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Fish if memory serves me right you used to have a Rotel amp.

What is your opinion of Rotel vs Emotiva?

I had a Rotel amp prior to my Emotiva. I was looking at getting a used RMB-1095 and then I looked at the price of a XPA-5 new and thought I'd give it a try.

The Rotels are great amps,I had a 1075 and 1095,there's just nothing bad to say about either.The 1075(about 40 lbs) would really do all I needed,I just had to try the 1095,what a beast.

Bob has an xpa5(about 70+lbs),I thought it sounded great too,the difference between it and the Rotel,if they were the same price I may,I say may pick the Rotel,at twice or thrice the price there's no reason.You can take the difference in price and make substantial upgrades to your system to still out do the Rotel.I really believe you would have to have these amps side by side to pick one,and at that some would pick Rotel and some Emotiva.

I also had an Adcom 5500 and 555,also good amps,I'd just as soon have an Emotiva as the Adcoms,I prefered Rotel over the more grainy Adcom,I like my lpa1(about 60 lbs) just as good.

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Thanks Fish,

When I bought the XPA-5 instead of the Rotel 1095 I had (and still sometimes have) some buyers remorse.

It seemed like the Rotel had better sound but after reading a few articles about double blind tests I figured it was probably all in my head!

Like I said before I was looking at a used 1095 and the new XPA-5 was so much cheaper with a 30 return policy I figured what did I have to lose? I guess I'm still second guessing my decision, but overall I'm happy with my XPA-5. I just wanted to hear another opinion.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Oh no, I just looked and my Denon 4306 does not have inputs so I can use the onboard amps with the UMC. I am thinking that I could use the 7 channel analog inputs but I assume it's not a straight through path and I would get into the Denon's electronics. Anyone need a unscratched 4306 with boxes and accessories, I need a amp.


Can I use this thing? http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/2243.asp#

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At the moment I have Yamaha avr using as pre and Rotel 1075, well I wonder how would the emo umc1 pair with my rotel power amp.

I can't imagine why that wouldn't be a good combo,my LPA sounds about the same as the 1075 I had.

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I also just wanted to update.Emotiva has released an update for the UMC.I updated mine very easily,about 15 minutes.It solved the few issues I had ,I don't know if all are resolved for every need,yet.I'm still really liking the sound of the UMC and consider it very Klipsch friendly,detailed bot smooth.I hope once I've been through everything again,am sure issues remain resolved,I can give more operational and audio info.

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Oh no, I just looked and my Denon 4306 does not have inputs so I can use the onboard amps with the UMC. I am thinking that I could use the 7 channel analog inputs but I assume it's not a straight through path and I would get into the Denon's electronics. Anyone need a unscratched 4306 with boxes and accessories, I need a amp.



Can I use this thing? http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/2243.asp#

I just looked at the back of that Denon. You should be able to run the HDMI out from the UMC-1 to 1 of the 3 HDMI ins on the Denon. Then run the HDMI out on the Denon to the TV and use the amps. The HDMI will carry all the audio signals you need. You would set the Denon to the proper input and leave it there in perpetuity.

Also, from what I can ascertain from the Emo forums, I should get my UNC-1 April or May.Then start saving for a UPA-7. Plenty of power for the big, ugly, cubes of sonic bliss.

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Oh no, I just looked and my Denon 4306 does not have inputs so I can use the onboard amps with the UMC. I am thinking that I could use the 7 channel analog inputs but I assume it's not a straight through path and I would get into the Denon's electronics. Anyone need a unscratched 4306 with boxes and accessories, I need a amp.

Can I use this thing? http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/2243.asp#

I just looked at the back of that Denon. You should be able to run the HDMI out from the UMC-1 to 1 of the 3 HDMI ins on the Denon. Then run the HDMI out on the Denon to the TV and use the amps. The HDMI will carry all the audio signals you need. You would set the Denon to the proper input and leave it there in perpetuity.

Also, from what I can ascertain from the Emo forums, I should get my UNC-1 April or May.Then start saving for a UPA-7. Plenty of power for the big, ugly, cubes of sonic bliss.

I still can't get it that I won't be using any of the Denon's pre-amp, video or audio processing running it thru the HDMI or 7.1 analog. I have pre-outs but no amp ins. [:(]
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OK I get the newer, better, most up to date processing in the UMC from my sources then I HDMI it out to the 4306 in, let's say HDMI-1 (or analog 7.1 in for that matter). I tune the Denon to HDMI-1(or multi-channel input); at that point isn't the Denon 'processing' the input then using the onboard amps to the speakers. At the risk of repeating myself, I thought I would simply be able to input all my sources into the UMC and then output the 'latest' processing into the Denon's amps for delivery.


I know, I know, I should not have assumed the Denon had preamp inputs but I overlooked that. I will either market the Denon or put the UMC away until I get a multi-channel amp. If I hit a couple of scratch off tickets the Denon will go to the bedroom with a small set of Klipsch for surround duty but it may have to go and I really like the 4306.

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It depends. If you send the signal via Linear PCM from the UMC-1 and set the Denon to Direct or Pure Direct or whatever Denon calls it then it will simply output the signal as its received with no enhancements. If you Bitstream the signal from the UMC-1 to the Denon then the Denon will be doing some processing.

That is assuming that the UMC-1 will allow to choose between Linear PCM and Bistream through its HDMI output...

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