Post by geebo on Aug 15, 2010 10:58:24 GMT -5
I just received my UMC-1 Thursday Aug. 10. It came packaged with the aluminum remote as well as the small plastic one. The manual was missing but a call to Emotiva and I had one in my hands the next day. The manual, while helpful, is nowhere complete IMO. However, I had no trouble in setting everything up.
The firmware loaded was 6.00.02.14 so I immediately updated it to the latest beta version before connecting it. The firmware loader would not recognize the UMC-1 device on my laptop running Vista 64 bit but ran flawlessly on a desktop with Vista 32 bit. I did try the latest USB drivers on the laptop with no luck.
After reading all the negatives on the net, I admit I was hesitant about getting one, but I figured I had 30 days to return it and I would be at Emofest within that time frame so I took the plunge.
After setting up and using it for a day, I can say now, it ain't goin' back! I experienced none of the operational problems I've read so much about. I just figured that complaints often get written about but good experiences often don't.
No dropouts, no synch problems, no bad video. Running EmoQ twice yielded nearly identical results. And the results sound very good. Dolby volume seems to do what is advertised but I'm not sure I like it yet. I did follow the set up in the sticky by ghstudio posted in the processor forum.
After setup, I logged into logitech and added the UMC-1 and setup my activities in the Harmony 700 and everything worked beautifully. The Aluminum remote from Emo is a real piece of work but I prefer one remote for everyday use.
In comparison to my Onkyo TX-NR807, I find the video to be, for all practical purposes, the same. The audio is another story. How much can be attributed to Audessey vs EmoQ I can't say. I just know that there is a big improvement in the sound with the UMC-1. I immediately noticed another order of smoothness on top of and similar to the improvement I got when I hooked up an XPA-5 to the same Onkyo. Make no mistake, I do like the Onkyo, but its no match for the UMC-1/XPA-5 combo. And the level of user configuration totally blows away the Onkyo. The UMC-1 runs much much cooler the the Onk did even though no amps were being used.
The only things I can think of that I would like to see on the UMC-1 is a phono preamp and a way to use the internal EQ setting when playing Multichannel 5.1 sources. Also a net connection so I could use Pandora would be nice, but I have that capability in my Blu-Ray player so it isn't a big issue for me.
I know I've only had it for a few days now. These are only my first impressions and I just wanted to relay my experience so far. But I think I'll be selling a TX-NR807 in a few weeks...
List of equipment used while reviewing:
Fronts: Polk RTi A7's
Center: Polk CSi A6
Surrounds: Polk TSi500's
Subwoofer: Polk DSW Pro 500.
Amplifier: Emotiva XPA-5
Processor/AVR: UMC-1
Television: Sony KDL-55EX500
Blu-Ray: Sony BDP-S470
DVD/SACD: Sony DVP-NS90v
Cable box/DVR: Comcast/Motorola DCX3400
George
The firmware loaded was 6.00.02.14 so I immediately updated it to the latest beta version before connecting it. The firmware loader would not recognize the UMC-1 device on my laptop running Vista 64 bit but ran flawlessly on a desktop with Vista 32 bit. I did try the latest USB drivers on the laptop with no luck.
After reading all the negatives on the net, I admit I was hesitant about getting one, but I figured I had 30 days to return it and I would be at Emofest within that time frame so I took the plunge.
After setting up and using it for a day, I can say now, it ain't goin' back! I experienced none of the operational problems I've read so much about. I just figured that complaints often get written about but good experiences often don't.
No dropouts, no synch problems, no bad video. Running EmoQ twice yielded nearly identical results. And the results sound very good. Dolby volume seems to do what is advertised but I'm not sure I like it yet. I did follow the set up in the sticky by ghstudio posted in the processor forum.
After setup, I logged into logitech and added the UMC-1 and setup my activities in the Harmony 700 and everything worked beautifully. The Aluminum remote from Emo is a real piece of work but I prefer one remote for everyday use.
In comparison to my Onkyo TX-NR807, I find the video to be, for all practical purposes, the same. The audio is another story. How much can be attributed to Audessey vs EmoQ I can't say. I just know that there is a big improvement in the sound with the UMC-1. I immediately noticed another order of smoothness on top of and similar to the improvement I got when I hooked up an XPA-5 to the same Onkyo. Make no mistake, I do like the Onkyo, but its no match for the UMC-1/XPA-5 combo. And the level of user configuration totally blows away the Onkyo. The UMC-1 runs much much cooler the the Onk did even though no amps were being used.
The only things I can think of that I would like to see on the UMC-1 is a phono preamp and a way to use the internal EQ setting when playing Multichannel 5.1 sources. Also a net connection so I could use Pandora would be nice, but I have that capability in my Blu-Ray player so it isn't a big issue for me.
I know I've only had it for a few days now. These are only my first impressions and I just wanted to relay my experience so far. But I think I'll be selling a TX-NR807 in a few weeks...
List of equipment used while reviewing:
Fronts: Polk RTi A7's
Center: Polk CSi A6
Surrounds: Polk TSi500's
Subwoofer: Polk DSW Pro 500.
Amplifier: Emotiva XPA-5
Processor/AVR: UMC-1
Television: Sony KDL-55EX500
Blu-Ray: Sony BDP-S470
DVD/SACD: Sony DVP-NS90v
Cable box/DVR: Comcast/Motorola DCX3400
George
