My first Pre/Pro...Initial Impressions of the Emotiva UMC-1

[Youthman]

Thanks Pete. I definitely believe it was a worthwhile purchase and so far, with all the features, it is truly going to be an upgrade over the Yamaha. Picture quality appears to be even better. 2ch is totally an improvement. I've always had a low hum (ground loop or something) in my system and the UMC-1 hasn't removed it but it is a LOT lower so that is good. I'm able to use XLR for my sub.

I feel I'm pretty tech savy but I can definitely say there is a lot I do not understand about the UMC-1 and much I have to learn. I'll be posting a thread in the Emo forum about it soon but basically, what I'm having trouble understanding is that with an AVR, you select your source (PS3, CD etc) and you simply change the Mode (Stereo, All Channel Stereo, Movie Standard etc) and it's all good. That's basically the only settings I use. Movie Standard was the PCM since the PS3 does not bitstream. If the DVD was encoded with DTS-Master, that's what I was getting. If it was DolbyTrue HD, it would be playing that.

However, the UMC-1 seems a bit more complicated than that since I do not have the option of selecting All Stereo. I'm sure it's probably me and I need to change some things.

But to keep this thread on track and not become a troubleshooting thread about the UMC-1, suffice it to say, if I can get HT to sound nearly as good as 2ch, then the UMC-1 was totally the right decision for me.

In all my research, my hesitation was that the UMC-1 was going to be plagued with bugs. Here are the bugs I have found:

1) Calibration Mic fails during the first test (Ambient Test). Workaround is you have to snap your fingers or make some noise (but not too much) in order to wake up the mic. Once it's alive, you are all good.

2) Small Pop when turning on the unit - I believe this has to do with the UMC-1 locking onto the source via HDMI.

3) Calibration Setup, testtones were around 90db! LOL. It was funny. I was like dang that's loud for white noise and sub test tones. Nothing like what my Yamaha did. Not sure if turning down the volume before running the calibration would fix that.

4) Delay in Source Switching. It takes 8-9 seconds for the UMC-1 to switch from Integra DVD Player to PS3 but it only takes 3 seconds to switch from PS3 to Integra DVD Player.

5) Initial Sound Delay when listening to music on PS3. When I select music from the PS3 hard drive, the first second of the first song is cut off so you usually miss hearing the first note or two of the song. Hitting back on the remote fixes it.

I knew going into it that the UMC-1 was not perfect. My Yamaha had ZERO issues, never once had any issues with anything on it. It just worked. The UMC-1 has some quirks but for me, none of those are deal breakers, merely nuisances, most which have workarounds.

But to me, it goes back to Pros/Cons. So far....the UMC-1 has MUCH more on the Pros side than the Con side and makes it definitely a keeper!

[willland]

I think that thing that amazes me the most is I am watching eagles hell freezes over and have it set at about 70db and it is absolutely crystal clear and I can hear every detail. I no longer have to crank it to enjoy it. this is a gamechanger for me. sounds fabulous with klipsch and the parasound!

When I came over that time, you demoed Eagles HFO and it sounded incredible with your Yamaha. If the Emo makes it sound better than that, I think you made the right decision going with it. Keep the review updates coming.

Bill

[Youthman]

Glad to hear the rave review. I've always felt that my Onkyo and Yamaha, while great for HT, were weak for music, espescially 2-channel.

That was totally my assessment as well from my previous Onkyo TX-SR703 and Yamaha RX-V1800. Both were absolutely fantastic for HT but I found myself about 80% HT, 20% music so it didn't matter that much.

Now with the UMC-1, I have a HUGE feeling that my music percentage will drastically increase, maybe even to 50% HT, 50% Music. I guess now that I really enjoy the sound for music, I will find myself dropping into the HT to listen to a few songs. Great way to relax.

I'm very much enjoying my vintage Marantz SS Tuner right now. Depth, richness, and clarity are great things that can only be had with the right pre-amp/amp and speakers.

I've heard that the Marantz are fantastic for 2ch. I know Willland has had great experience with them.

I must admit that I'm a little suprised that the Emo is a good 2-channel. I might have to check out there 2-channel pre.

Really? Just about every user review I've seen about the UMC-1 have absolutely loved it for 2ch. I wasn't surprised at all.

[cornfedksboy]

I must admit that I'm a little suprised that the Emo is a good 2-channel. I might have to check out there 2-channel pre.

Really? Just about every user review I've seen about the UMC-1 have absolutely loved it for 2ch. I wasn't surprised at all.

Well, I haven't ever seriously considered the UMC-1 so I hadn't seriously read many reviews. Those I did read mentioned the HT quirkiness and I must have missed the 2-channel info. I just figured it for more of an HT processor. Now I know better!

[Youthman]

Yeah, I got the opposite impession. The UMC-1 was awesome for 2ch but I wasn't finding much about how it was for HT. Asking in the Emo forums, they say it is really good for HT as well. I'm still learning about it so I don't think I'm anywhere near having it "dialed in". But it is a work in progress. The more I learn about it, the more I'll be able to tweak it to my liking.

[willland]

Michael,

I have an idea. Just buy an Emotiva front faceplate for an XPA amp and retrofit it to your Parasound.[^o)] As good as the Emo amps are, your HCA2205a will be hard to top.

Bill

[elitedemo]

Hey Elite, looking at your settings, it seems to go totally contrary to the advice given to me. Dad suggests you are probably introducing distortion as you move into the positive. Isn't 10 the max? I wouldn't think it would be a good idea to have it at max. What if you tried this, move your 10's to 0, 7 would be -3, 4 would be -6 etc. It would be the same curve, just having the highest setting at zero. Just a suggestion.

if your moving everything down -10 then the result would then be me listening to the umc at +10 higher than normal to compensate, if anything thinking about it now I could probably lower my highs a little, im definitely not an expert in this field, there was definite distortion when i had the extremes of +10 / -10 going

did you start playing around with the eq yet?

[wstanger]

Youthman,

Glad you are enjoying the UMC.

When you dial it in to your liking it can be quite impressive.

[Youthman]

I love it! LOL Reality is for the most part, no one ever will see the amp since it is behind the false wall. When I have to lay the Parasound to rest, maybe then I'll get the XPA-5.

[Beechnut]

Any movie impressions yet Youth?

[Youthman]

Last night, I invited a few friends over to watch Unknown with Liam Neeson. This was the first movie I have watched with the UMC-1 and was using the same settings I had setup for Music. The LR sounded fantastic and were extremely detailed. The Center needs a little tweaking but dialog was still very clear. Overall it was good but I'm thinking it can be much better with time and changing some settings. It didn't sound balanced but I have not had a chance to check with my SPL meter to see if the calibration mic was off. Will have to post more when I can have some time to work on a preset settings that sound great for HT.

When playing a BR using MultiPCM from the PS3, the UMC-1 offers 4 sound options: Stereo, All Stereo, Direct and Dolby PLIIx. Stereo was out so it was either Direct, All Stereo or Dolby PLIIx. I believe Direct disables the sub and the EQ settings so I was down to either All Stereo or Dolby PLIIx. I would think that All Stereo doesn't allow for true 5.1 separation (but I have since read this might not be the case). So Dolby PLIIx was the setting I ended up using for the movie.

I guess in my brain, I really didn't want to use anything that has Prologic in the name since we have come a LONG way in surround processing since the original Dolby Prologic.

I'll need to spend some time comparing with demos that I am familiar with to see what the differences are and which is preferred.

[Heritage_Head]

That seems pretty plain for a HT processor. Does it having any

other modes like engineering or flat that goes with the multi-channel?

[Youthman]

Taken from the UMC-1 Manual:

Below is a list of the different incoming stream types and with each type is a list of the allowed playback formats.

For instance, if an analog audio source is recognized by the UMC-1 you have five choices; Stereo, Direct, DSP, PLIIx and NEO:6. If you set this to Direct, every time you are on this input and the UMC-1 recognizes an analog source the UMC-1 will automatically be set to direct. Each audio mode can have different presets.
Direct mode bypasses all DSP, Tone and Bass management circuits. It is stereo only and offers the shortest signal path through the UMC-1. Only the front left and right speakers are engaged. When using this mode it is recommended that your front right and left speakers be set to large.

DSP (Stadium, Live, Church, Hall, Theater, Rock, Pop, Classic)

DOLBY PLIIx (Music, Movie)

DTS Neo: 6 (Cinema 3CH, Cinema 6CH, Music 5CH, Music 6CH)

ANALOG (Stereo, Direct, DSP, PLIIx, NEO:6)

PCM (Stereo, Direct, DSP, PLIIx, NEO:6)

MultiPCM (Stereo, Direct, DSP, PLIIx)

DIGITAL 2/0 (Stereo, Direct, PLIIx, NEO:6, Digital)

DOLBY D (Stereo, Direct, Digital, Digital EX)

DOLBY DDEX (Stereo, Direct, Dolby D, Dolby DDEX)

DTS 2/0 (Stereo, Direct, PLIIx, NEO:6, DTS)

DTS (Stereo, Direct, DSP, PLIIx, DTS, DTS ES)

DTS ES (Stereo, Direct, DTS, DTS ES)

DOLBY HD (Stereo, Direct, Dolby HD)

DTS HD (Stereo, Direct, PLIIx, DTS HD)

[Vital]

When playing a BR using MultiPCM from the PS3, the UMC-1 offers 4 sound options

Why are these your only options with Blu-ray? Can't you use the HDMI connection from the PS3 to the UMC and watch the Blu-ray in DTS-HD or DolbyHD? I guess I'm wondering why you would use MultiPCM with Blu-ray unless I'm missing something.

[Youthman]

The original "Fat" PS3 does not support bitstream so it has to be sent to the AVR or Pre/Pro via MultiPCM over HDMI. The new Slim PS3 supports bitstream and allows the Receiver or Pre/Pro to do the audio processing instead of the PS3.

Out of everything I've read, there is no sonic difference between the two. I would prefer to see DTS-HD and DolbyHD on the screen but that isn't possible unless I change PS3 versions.

[Youthman]

Here are some thoughts that support that idea Link

Here is some good discussion on Bitstream vs. Linear PCM.

[Vital]

Ahh I see, wasnt aware of any of that. That link explains a few questions I've had myself lol.

[dtel]

Now with the UMC-1, I have a HUGE feeling that my music percentage will drastically increase, maybe even to 50% HT, 50% Music. I guess now that I really enjoy the sound for music, I will find myself dropping into the HT to listen to a few songs. Great way to relax.

That is GREAT to hear, been keeping up with this for a while and was hoping this would happen. []

[Youthman]

been keeping up with this for a while and was hoping this would happen.

And why exactly is that? [] Just curious.

[dtel]

Just because with 2 Ch there is alot of different sources to get music from like FM or HD radio, and internet radio that is only 2 CH instead of just the same DVD's of BluRay's or satellite or cable.

Plus some music is just better or just different in 2 CH, don't know why but to me a good 2 CH recording is just special.

Now some of this could just be in my head ? [:|]

Glad to hear you are happy with with the Emotiva, I would to get one, and the Pre they sell for my 2 CH, but to many other projects going on.

I think you mad a good choice, you did good, I'm kind of like you I don't have a problem with little things not working perfectly if I'm happy with the overall sound especially when not paying what some companies ask.