UMC-1 First impressions

[boomzilla]

I'll break this down into two separate reviews. The first consideration will be of the UMC-1 as a home theater preamp, the second as a stereo preamp.

Permutations that my system has gone through since the UMC-1 arrived include the following:

Static elements:

• Home Theater source = Oppo BDP-93 with internet connection via ethernet & used for DVDs, Blu-Rays, and occasional CDs.
  
• Preamp = UMC-1 with latest bios upgrade
  
• Power amp (front R & L) = Emotiva XPA-2
  

Variable elements:

• Main speakers = Polk tower models with built-in powered subwoofers, Thiel 3.6 speakers, 3-way horn-loaded speakers in the style of Klipsch Heresies
  
• Center channel speakers = Definitive Technology LCR, Polk center channel
  
• Center channel amp = Crown PS-400
  
• Surround speakers = Polk di/bi-polars
  
• Surround amplifiers = KEF wireless amps
  
• Subwoofer = Polk 10"
  
• Wires (for those who care) = Kimber copycats for front R/L, Monster Cable original for front R/L, Nordost flat wire for front R/L, Radio Shack 12 ga. zip cord for center & surrounds. Interconnects included Monster, some kind of weirdo-wire from the 90's, and some kind of Audioquest stuff.
  

HOME THEATER PREAMP REVIEW:

Some things about the UMC-1 impress me greatly. Among those are:

• The ability to detect speakers, phase them, and equalize them to the room via Emo-Q.
  
• The clarity and lack of distortion on well-recorded sound tracks.
  
• The cool and informative front panel display.
  

Some things about the UMC-1 displease me greatly. Among those are:

• The five minutes of "handshaking" between the Oppo and the UMC-1 before both the video and audio could sort themselves out for Blu-Ray discs. Thanks to coaching by some here on the lounge, this has largely been ameliorated via use of both HDMI outputs (bypassing the UMC-1 entirely for video).
  
• Occasional miscues as to the type of audio encoding on some DVDs leading to distortion in the center channel.
  
• The lack of a "high compression" mode to squash dynamic range for movie viewing when I don't want to wake the family
  

After trying various configurations (5.1 - 4.1 - 3.1 - 2.1 - and 2.0), I've decided that in my living room, the 2.0 configuration works best. The surrounds, despite having a wireless interface, must reside flush with the back wall (where the listening couch is). They added insufficient drama to the type of movies that I most often watch to justify their complication. I'm a "simpler is better" type, generally.

The center channel, although adding a better intelligibility factor to movie dialogue, again may not justify its additional complication.

The subwoofer proved unnecessary with the Polk towers (that had their own internal powered subwoofers) and with the Theils (which go down to the 30s without needing a sub). The Klipsch copies, I chose not to leave in the system, and although they really needed the underpinning of the subwoofer, it became academic once they were sold.

I am not yet started in listening to the UMC-1 as a stereo preamp, but will post additional comments in this thread once I do so.

So far, I'm satisfied for the price paid vs. the performance I receive for the UMC-1. I still wonder, however, if I should have just bought an AV receiver with 7.1 preamp outputs and used the internal amps for the center and surrounds. The quality of the UMC-1 as a stereo preamp will determine that answer.

[garbulky]

Maybe...the xda-2 is really what you are looking for?

[geertm]

"The lack of a "high compression" mode to squash dynamic range for movie viewing when I don't want to wake the family"

That is what Dolby Volume is for.

[Entity]

There is also a "midnight mode", though I've never used it.

Is the 5 minutes of handshaking an exaggeration? I've never a handshake take more than a few seconds from any of my sources.

[Deleted]

>> That is what Dolby Volume is for <<

My recent experience with Dolby Volume was not at all satisfactory. I have been wtaching the Olympics and using the "Last Channel" feature of the Comcast remote to switch between 2 broadcasts. One of those broadcast's volume is significantly higher than the others. Even engaging Dolby Volume at its maximum setting did little to even them out.

Is anyone aware of a tweakable setting that will enhance the effectiveness of DV? The UMC-1 Manual is way less than helpful on this...

-RW-

PS: My Opppo 93/UMC-1 handshake lasts a good 30 seconds or so, pretty bad compared to modern receivers. And, yes, I have the latest firmware...

[bootman]

I can honestly say I have not seen more than 10sec of handshaking since the last firmware.
The worst case is at startup but once the UMC syncs with my display, the other sources are pretty quick in coming online when I switch between them.

I have my UMC set at passthrough and all of my sources locked at 1080p (1080i for cable).

I have always done this BTW since HDMI came out.

[Deleted]

> I have my UMC sources locked at 1080p (1080i for cable).

How do you do that?
Sincerely
/blair

[BillBauman]

Aug 5, 2012 8:32:01 GMT -5 @rlw said:

>> That is what Dolby Volume is for <<

My recent experience with Dolby Volume was not at all satisfactory. I have been wtaching the Olympics and using the "Last Channel" feature of the Comcast remote to switch between 2 broadcasts. One of those broadcast's volume is significantly higher than the others. Even engaging Dolby Volume at its maximum setting did little to even them out.

Is anyone aware of a tweakable setting that will enhance the effectiveness of DV? The UMC-1 Manual is way less than helpful on this...

-RW-

PS: My Opppo 93/UMC-1 handshake lasts a good 30 seconds or so, pretty bad compared to modern receivers. And, yes, I have the latest firmware...

DV isn't really designed to address source/channel volume discrepancies. What you're describing is normalization - play everything at the same volume. DV is designed to boost certain incoming frequencies to generally even out the overall volume of whatever comes through, such that lower volumed frequencies and higher volumed fequencies are all evened out a bit. It's not going to even out the volume across two channels, just, in theory, make a single channel have more even distribution of volume, like, instead of really low voices and loud explosions, in theory, explosions are a little less loud and voices would be brought up so you can hear them.

[stiehl11]

Aug 5, 2012 11:39:18 GMT -5 @rasputin said:

> I have my UMC sources locked at 1080p (1080i for cable).

How do you do that?
Sincerely
/blair

The UMC-1 is set to pass through... all the other (video) sources are set to 1080p (1080i for cable). The UMC-1 being set to pass through means it does no up converting of the signal. How it comes from the source is how it passes it to the display. How you set your video sources to 1080i/p is up to the manufacturer of that box. It's usually in the menu for each box under "setup".

[BillBauman]

Aug 5, 2012 11:39:18 GMT -5 @rasputin said:

> I have my UMC sources locked at 1080p (1080i for cable).

How do you do that?
Sincerely
/blair

It's dependent on the source device, not the UMC-1. Most DVD players, Blu-Ray players, etc., have a video output setting of some kind that is often set to Auto, but you can change it to 1080p, for example, so that there is no need to "negotiate" the signal.

[boomzilla]

Aug 5, 2012 5:37:17 GMT -5 Entity said:

There is also a "midnight mode", though I've never used it...Is the 5 minutes of handshaking an exaggeration? I've never a handshake take more than a few seconds from any of my sources.

I've yet to see a midnight mode in the menus. Where might it be?

As to the 5-minute handshaking, a slight exaggeration. Actual time = 2 to 3 minutes. I eliminated that problem by using the Oppo's HDMI-1 output to bypass the UMC-1 and the Oppo's HDMI-2 output to feed the UMC-1 audio only. Now everything works within 15 to 20 seconds of the player initializing the disc.

[BillBauman]

Aug 5, 2012 12:48:25 GMT -5 boomzilla said:

I've yet to see a midnight mode in the menus. Where might it be?

It's in the Parameter menu:

PARAMETER
The PARAMETER menu allows you to set the individual levels for each speaker as well as bass, treble, Dolby Volume, Midnight Mode, Center Width, and Dimension. Levels can be set from -10 to +10db in 1db increments. The levels in this menu are temporary settings. Permanent level adjustments can be done in the speaker setup menu. These level adjustments are the same as the ones shown on the UMC-1 remote. They are used to make “On the fly” adjustments for the movie or show you are watching and will revert back to the pre-set levels when the input is changed or the unit is turned off.

[Entity]

As to the 5-minute handshaking, a slight exaggeration. Actual time = 2 to 3 minutes.

Though you've found a solution, I would still look into the issue as that seems to be severely broken. There really shouldn't be that kind of delay time on the HDMI handshake. I've run PS3, Blu-Ray player, Xbox360, PC, AppleTV and none of them take more than 5-10 seconds.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the explanation, Bill! Because of the plethora of inputs available on the UMC-1, I'm now gonna setup a Midnite Mode for TV watching and another for DVD/Bluray playback so I can run the system in the wee hours without disturbing others...

Okay, just tried it and I guess I misunderstood the capabilities of the UMC-1. The Midinite Mode is volatile, you cannot assign it to an Input and have it automatically engaged when that Input is selected. Apparently, you choose your Input and then go to the Parameter Menu option and engage Midnite Mode. But it does not "remember" that you did this.

Oh well, better than nothing, I suppose. But I really wish you could assign this on an Input by Input basis and have it "stick".

Maybe the XMC-1 will allow this??

-RW-

[BillBauman]

Aug 5, 2012 15:09:44 GMT -5 @rlw said:

Thanks for the explanation, Bill!

Of course, you're quite welcome. Sorry it wasn't the most eloquent writing I've ever done.

Aug 5, 2012 15:09:44 GMT -5 @rlw said:

Oh well, better than nothing, I suppose. But I really wish you could assign this on an Input by Input basis and have it "stick".

Maybe the XMC-1 will allow this??

-RW-

I'd like to have that, as well. What I've noticed is persistent is the DV Low/Med/High across changes (at least, I recall it being), but I'm not sure if Midnight is persistent. Persistent, meaning, it stays on its current setting, not persistent per input. A per input persistence would be ideal.

[vneal]

I really don't care for the click click click to raise the volume. I wish it had a smooth control that was faster

[klinemj]

Not sure what you mean...with mine, I hold the key down and it goes up/down at a decent rate.

Mark