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Post by bluebogart on Apr 23, 2010 13:54:32 GMT -5
I've been condsidering adding a USP-1 to my system to enhance my music listening. I don't see any tone controls, am I missing them, or is all tone control done with the high and low pass filters on the back?
Also considering a Rotel RC-1580. The Rotel is much more expensive, BUT I've heard nothing bad about the USP-1 and it is quite a bit less. The RC-1580 has the traditional treble and bass controls.
So those of you with experience with the USP-1 tell me how it sounds and how do you do treble and bass adjustments. Thank you.
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Post by UT-Driven on Apr 23, 2010 14:03:20 GMT -5
There are no tone controls on the USP-1. With most of the higher quality Stereo products, you don't usually get tone controls. You would need to use some sort of outboard equipment if you need to change the bass and treble.
The USP-1 sounds excellent as it is without them though.
Doug
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Post by ramundo on Apr 23, 2010 14:18:57 GMT -5
I've been condsidering adding a USP-1 to my system to enhance my music listening. I don't see any tone controls, am I missing them, or is all tone control done with the high and low pass filters on the back? Also considering a Rotel RC-1580. The Rotel is much more expensive, BUT I've heard nothing bad about the USP-1 and it is quite a bit less. The RC-1580 has the traditional treble and bass controls. So those of you with experience with the USP-1 tell me how it sounds and how do you do treble and bass adjustments. Thank you. The USP-1 as with some other pre amps will provide a pure as can be audio path between your sources and the power amp. Tone controls are eliminated so the extra noise and distortion they would introduce (although very small) is also eliminated. I personally have never used the tone controls on any of my equipment over the years. My tone controls are usually left flat or bypassed. My USP-1 sounds good to me. Very quite. My only small con is that you need to power the USP-1 ON when in Home Theater ByPass mode for the signal to get through. Not a biggie problem, I just dont understand why Emo did not use the "normally closed" contacts on the relays for HT bypass. I may be thinking too logically though and missing something. Ray |
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Post by roadrunner on Apr 23, 2010 15:25:03 GMT -5
I also own the USP-1. It has no tone controls and I would not use them even if it did have them. I have owned many stereo pre-amps over the years. Some of them had tone controls and some did not, but I found that I never liked the sound that tone control contributed to the output. The tone controls are just too crude a tool to be of any real value. The reason one would use tone controls is to fix a problem with a certain range of frequencies. The problem is that the controls cannot be focused precisely enough to change only those frequencies that you need to change.
You don't use a pick axe to make a hole that a simple little hole-punch would be better suited for. If you really need to make those sort of adjustments you use an equalizer to adjust only those frequencies that are a problem. However, if you really feel you have to get a pre-amp with tone controls, Emotiva will shortly be releasing a new pre-amp (XSP-1) that will have tone control among its features.
To get a better feel for the features the XSP-1 will have, check out the discontinued RSP-2. They will have very similar feature sets. The XSP-1 is being designed to be a fully balanced input/output pre-amp. More details can be found in a thread dedicated to the XSP-1.
If the feature set of the USP-1 provides for all of your needs, it is a steal at its price. It is one extraordinary pure sounding analog pre-amp that will allow you to experience total analog bliss. Many people have found that combining the USP-1 with a high quality CD Player, like the ERC-1, will deliver the best sounding CD performance you have ever heard. I literally rediscovered my CD collection. High quality media through the USP-1 will make you fall in love with music. Read some of the reviews to find out just how much the USP-1 has enhanced owner's listening pleasure. ;D
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Post by oppman99 on Apr 23, 2010 15:29:53 GMT -5
Don't fret about the missing tone controls. The comments already posted are all good. I was worried about the lack of tone controls myself. I can tell you I don't miss them at all. The USP is one of the best additions I've made to my music setup. Absolutely no buyer's remorse here.
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Post by bluebogart on Apr 24, 2010 1:13:22 GMT -5
Don't fret about the missing tone controls. The comments already posted are all good. I was worried about the lack of tone controls myself. I can tell you I don't miss them at all. The USP is one of the best additions I've made to my music setup. Absolutely no buyer's remorse here. Thanks to everyone with their input. Sounds like the USP-1 is an incredible pre-amp -- I guess that's why that can't keep it in stock. |
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Post by monkumonku on Apr 24, 2010 10:34:44 GMT -5
Well as another USP-1 owner, I can attest to its excellence! It is one nice piece of equipment. I'm really happy I purchased it. I don't miss the tone controls one bit.
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Post by tonymc on Apr 24, 2010 16:25:02 GMT -5
The USP-1 as with some other pre amps will provide a pure as can be audio path between your sources and the power amp. Tone controls are eliminated so the extra noise and distortion they would introduce (although very small) is also eliminated. I personally have never used the tone controls on any of my equipment over the years. My tone controls are usually left flat or bypassed. Ray +1. I always run my pre-pro in pure direct and let the DACs in my CD player control the audio. I do have my eye on the USP-1 though.  |
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Post by stuofsci02 on Apr 24, 2010 17:27:04 GMT -5
Yeah... USP-1 is supposed to really sound great... I would get one for sure if they didn't make two big mistakes.. HT bypass does not work with the full range outputs, and the unit needs to be on for HT bypass... Other then that I think they nailed it..
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Post by spurious on Apr 24, 2010 19:19:39 GMT -5
... plus it doesn't completely mute when headphones are attached
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Post by monkumonku on Apr 24, 2010 23:54:04 GMT -5
... plus it doesn't completely mute when headphones are attached That's a known error and only the first ones shipped had that problem (which could be shipped back for correction). The later shipments were not supposed to have that problem. |
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Post by spurious on Apr 25, 2010 4:19:05 GMT -5
... plus it doesn't completely mute when headphones are attached That's a known error and only the first ones shipped had that problem (which could be shipped back for correction). The later shipments were not supposed to have that problem. Yep, that's what I thought so I asked the question and here is the reply Hello Chris,
Originally the HP and LP did not mute at all when the headphones were plugged in. The modification only brought the level down to a very low level, it did not completely mute the output. All of the new units have this modification as well as any old units that were sold as B Stock. You are still able to hear the music from the main speakers if you turn it up to 9 o’clock as you stated, but this is normal operation. The only way to completely mute your speakers is to turn the amplifier off. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions.
Best Regards,
Nick HetzlerI don't find it a big deal just thought it had been totally fixed. As Nick says "turn the amp off" Edit: just noticed in your sig you also have a USP. Does yours completely mute? |
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Post by manlystanley on Apr 25, 2010 9:14:18 GMT -5
Emotiva will shortly be releasing a new pre-amp (XSP-1) that will have tone control among its features. Does anyone know how much the XSP-1 will cost?? Thanks, Stan |
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