Post by ssolar on May 24, 2010 22:08:22 GMT -5
Hello all,
This is my first post on any forum in quite some time. I just thought I'd share my thoughts on this new processor. This is my first peice of gear in like 5 years so I was excited on friday when it came. I had it unpacked and the UMC set up in less than an hour. It is replacing a Atlanic Technology p-2000 which I think was similar to some outlaw gear years ago. I am using a Sherwood Newcastle amp for the time being, but, have also previously owned amps from rotel and B&K.
The menu is laid out well enough that I didn't look at the manual. I set up all inputs and set speakers to small and set crossovers accordingly. The first thing I noticed was how much clearer the centre channel dialog was even without emoQ or such. I am used to listening to satelite in all channel stereo but since the UMC doesn't have this feature (yet) I've been switching between DD 5.1 when available and Neo 6 which isn't all that bad. I've watched Up, kung Fu Panda and G I Joe and all sounded much better than my old processor. Centre dialog was spot on and pans from front to back were just more well spaced. I only was able to watch one bluray movie so far which was Star Trek. I did at first have problems getting Lpcm to stream but it was my fault as i didn't properly select it from the manual list on my PS3. I was just going to watch a few clips but ended up watching the whole movie.
I tried EmoQ setup Briefly, One, because I am not a fan EQs in general but also it dosen't seem all that effective. my centre was set to 20hz and my mains to 150hz yet they are all the same. speaker distances were ok except my sub was set to 30ft which was roughly twice the actual distance. So I just did a manual setup including speaker level just to be safe. My understanding is this is going to corrected anyway in the next couple weeks. My guess is that emotiva is changing the sound burts and such used as I've used yamaha and onkyo setups in the past and they use quite different sound burst and bleeps.
Now the remote. Well not much to be said here. Its a good thing Emo is making a new one is all. It has such a narrow operating range its so hit and miss. It should come in the shape of a boomerang so it comes back to me when I throw it (not yet anyway). ;D The build quality of the UMC is otherwise excellent.
The video processing is pretty good. I can't tell the difference from a direct connection to the TV or running through the UMC. I've been connected to the TV directly for 4 years so its nice not have to switch inputs.I had to turn down the sharpness in the UMC sub menu and I was good to go.
As for bugs, I've only had 2 minor issues. I switched channels on my sat and experience a brief static noise through my speakers and once the UMC failed to lock in on my TV's resolution. It didn't really bother me much. The latter I just turned the UMC off then on again. Both have only happened once.
The sound quality is such a step up from my old processor. I am waiting to see if all channel stereo is in the next firmware upgrade that would just just make my day. 2 channel stereo is very good and I actually liked Neo 6 cinema to Dolbly prologic 2. The video processing is good enough that I can't tell its there. Even with the quirkyness I am keeping it for sure.
This is my first post on any forum in quite some time. I just thought I'd share my thoughts on this new processor. This is my first peice of gear in like 5 years so I was excited on friday when it came. I had it unpacked and the UMC set up in less than an hour. It is replacing a Atlanic Technology p-2000 which I think was similar to some outlaw gear years ago. I am using a Sherwood Newcastle amp for the time being, but, have also previously owned amps from rotel and B&K.
The menu is laid out well enough that I didn't look at the manual. I set up all inputs and set speakers to small and set crossovers accordingly. The first thing I noticed was how much clearer the centre channel dialog was even without emoQ or such. I am used to listening to satelite in all channel stereo but since the UMC doesn't have this feature (yet) I've been switching between DD 5.1 when available and Neo 6 which isn't all that bad. I've watched Up, kung Fu Panda and G I Joe and all sounded much better than my old processor. Centre dialog was spot on and pans from front to back were just more well spaced. I only was able to watch one bluray movie so far which was Star Trek. I did at first have problems getting Lpcm to stream but it was my fault as i didn't properly select it from the manual list on my PS3. I was just going to watch a few clips but ended up watching the whole movie.
I tried EmoQ setup Briefly, One, because I am not a fan EQs in general but also it dosen't seem all that effective. my centre was set to 20hz and my mains to 150hz yet they are all the same. speaker distances were ok except my sub was set to 30ft which was roughly twice the actual distance. So I just did a manual setup including speaker level just to be safe. My understanding is this is going to corrected anyway in the next couple weeks. My guess is that emotiva is changing the sound burts and such used as I've used yamaha and onkyo setups in the past and they use quite different sound burst and bleeps.
Now the remote. Well not much to be said here. Its a good thing Emo is making a new one is all. It has such a narrow operating range its so hit and miss. It should come in the shape of a boomerang so it comes back to me when I throw it (not yet anyway). ;D The build quality of the UMC is otherwise excellent.
The video processing is pretty good. I can't tell the difference from a direct connection to the TV or running through the UMC. I've been connected to the TV directly for 4 years so its nice not have to switch inputs.I had to turn down the sharpness in the UMC sub menu and I was good to go.
As for bugs, I've only had 2 minor issues. I switched channels on my sat and experience a brief static noise through my speakers and once the UMC failed to lock in on my TV's resolution. It didn't really bother me much. The latter I just turned the UMC off then on again. Both have only happened once.
The sound quality is such a step up from my old processor. I am waiting to see if all channel stereo is in the next firmware upgrade that would just just make my day. 2 channel stereo is very good and I actually liked Neo 6 cinema to Dolbly prologic 2. The video processing is good enough that I can't tell its there. Even with the quirkyness I am keeping it for sure.
