Post by BassThatHz on Sept 22, 2010 23:25:07 GMT -5
Equipment List:
Source-> Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 PCI-E 1x
Processors-> Emotiva UMC-1 vs Rotel RSP-1068
Video-> Benq W500 projector 1280x720p@60hz/32bit to 120 inch screen. <- soon to be replaced with 1080P unit
Amps and Speakers-> B&W N803, Rotel RB-1091's, 10x Mal-X 21" subwoofers on Crown I-Tech 8000's @ 240V AC etc (I don't call myself "BassThatHz" for nothing ya know LOLZ)
Power conditioning-> PS Audio PPP & APC, Room treaments... etc
Modes of Operation:
UMC-1 -> HDMI 1.3 transport for Direct PCM 2-ch/24bit/192khz and 5.1 DTS/DD-HD Master (7.1 PIIx)
Rotel RSP-1068 -> RCA and SPDIF Coax transports for 2ch Analog Bypass and 5.1 DD/DTS (non-HD)
Context:
I upgraded from receiver-land to separate-components with monoblocks years ago and haven't looked back; so I'm coming from a background that is already accustomed to (and spoilt by) that "raised-bar" level of refinement going into this purchase.
My goal is to have sound so utterly transparent and accurate that it tricks my ears into thinking the performers are real and in the room with me if I close my eyes.
Favorite Motto: If its worth doing, its worth over-doing
I already have 48 cubic feet (128 square feet applied to a 4-12" depth) of sound deadener applied to my room, it is acoustically ruler-flat. That's a lot absorption BTW and in case you need to visualize just how much that is: it's just under three adult coffins in volume... ya know the kind that takes 8 marines to lift ;D
You could stereotype me into your typical "Hi-Fi snob", one that has 0% interest in this EQ/DSP hall-effect this-and-that modes trickery; that does nothing but reduce the SQ type-thing etc... However, I will tolerate an FM tuner, so long as it doesn’t impact on the SQ.
Music:
The UMC-1 surpassed the audio quality of the Rotel 1068 in HDMI mode 24bit/192khz 2ch, by roughly ~5-10%. (The 1068 does not have HDMI inputs)
The soundstage is wider and the vocals come across with more emotion (pun-intended LOL); dare I say, similar to the Classe Delta series processors and related friends?
However, I'm just gonna dive straight into it and say that the direct analog mode of the UMC-1 is not as refined as the bypass-mode of the Rotel 1068, by this I mean that the UMC-1 has an ever so slightly tipped up treble that I find totally displeasing over the B&W 800 series. The non-direct "stereo" modes of each unit are basically on-par with each other; and I dislike those modes even more so.
With that being said, either of these units would surpass any receiver I have ever heard at Best-Buy etc IMO.
Movies:
I'm glad that I can now decode the HD audio directly in the processor, as before with the 1068 I was limited to 2ch for rare Blu-ray's that didn't support the older non-HD 5.1 DD/DTS downsamples.
Previously I was going from the Xonar directly into the project via HDMI and that worked great for blu-rays.
Now that it is going into the UMC-1 and then to the projector it seems to have problems locking onto the signal, even with just the Windows XP desktop, let alone HDCP/Blu-ray. If you keep fiddling with it for like 30-60mins, it eventually works and then no problems after that... so long as you don't change video sources
Conclusion:
The UMC-1 has raised the quality-bar another notch in my system when using HDMI/Direct-mode as the sound transport vs the Rotel RSP-1068 in Bypass-mode.
The Rotel run x4 hotter temp than the UMC-1 (barely warm to the touch).
The UMC-1 seems have a slight click sound when the volume goes to 55.0 and a couple other values above that (at least in HDMI Direct 2ch/192khz PCM mode, possibly others too).
The UMC-1 has no problems locking onto any 2ch PCM or DD-Live or DTS-Interactive over HDMI from the Xonar I have tried.
Maybe it is just my projector, but the UMC-1 seems a bit too finicky with locking on to video over HDMI.
(I'm running W7.01.00.13)
Haven't tried analog video or SPDIF yet and don't have any plans too in the near-term.
FYI:
In case you didn't know already:
DD-TrueHD and DTS-HD are a lossless multichannel (5.1+) transports; beyond even 16bit/44.1khz CD Quality -> a true Master-Quality 24bit/48khz+.
Where as the older DD/DTS is a lossly technology, similar to mp3 quality, but applied to all 5.1 channels.
Source-> Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 PCI-E 1x
Processors-> Emotiva UMC-1 vs Rotel RSP-1068
Video-> Benq W500 projector 1280x720p@60hz/32bit to 120 inch screen. <- soon to be replaced with 1080P unit
Amps and Speakers-> B&W N803, Rotel RB-1091's, 10x Mal-X 21" subwoofers on Crown I-Tech 8000's @ 240V AC etc (I don't call myself "BassThatHz" for nothing ya know LOLZ)
Power conditioning-> PS Audio PPP & APC, Room treaments... etc
Modes of Operation:
UMC-1 -> HDMI 1.3 transport for Direct PCM 2-ch/24bit/192khz and 5.1 DTS/DD-HD Master (7.1 PIIx)
Rotel RSP-1068 -> RCA and SPDIF Coax transports for 2ch Analog Bypass and 5.1 DD/DTS (non-HD)
Context:
I upgraded from receiver-land to separate-components with monoblocks years ago and haven't looked back; so I'm coming from a background that is already accustomed to (and spoilt by) that "raised-bar" level of refinement going into this purchase.
My goal is to have sound so utterly transparent and accurate that it tricks my ears into thinking the performers are real and in the room with me if I close my eyes.
Favorite Motto: If its worth doing, its worth over-doing
I already have 48 cubic feet (128 square feet applied to a 4-12" depth) of sound deadener applied to my room, it is acoustically ruler-flat. That's a lot absorption BTW and in case you need to visualize just how much that is: it's just under three adult coffins in volume... ya know the kind that takes 8 marines to lift ;D
You could stereotype me into your typical "Hi-Fi snob", one that has 0% interest in this EQ/DSP hall-effect this-and-that modes trickery; that does nothing but reduce the SQ type-thing etc... However, I will tolerate an FM tuner, so long as it doesn’t impact on the SQ.
Music:
The UMC-1 surpassed the audio quality of the Rotel 1068 in HDMI mode 24bit/192khz 2ch, by roughly ~5-10%. (The 1068 does not have HDMI inputs)
The soundstage is wider and the vocals come across with more emotion (pun-intended LOL); dare I say, similar to the Classe Delta series processors and related friends?
However, I'm just gonna dive straight into it and say that the direct analog mode of the UMC-1 is not as refined as the bypass-mode of the Rotel 1068, by this I mean that the UMC-1 has an ever so slightly tipped up treble that I find totally displeasing over the B&W 800 series. The non-direct "stereo" modes of each unit are basically on-par with each other; and I dislike those modes even more so.
With that being said, either of these units would surpass any receiver I have ever heard at Best-Buy etc IMO.
Movies:
I'm glad that I can now decode the HD audio directly in the processor, as before with the 1068 I was limited to 2ch for rare Blu-ray's that didn't support the older non-HD 5.1 DD/DTS downsamples.
Previously I was going from the Xonar directly into the project via HDMI and that worked great for blu-rays.
Now that it is going into the UMC-1 and then to the projector it seems to have problems locking onto the signal, even with just the Windows XP desktop, let alone HDCP/Blu-ray. If you keep fiddling with it for like 30-60mins, it eventually works and then no problems after that... so long as you don't change video sources
Conclusion:
The UMC-1 has raised the quality-bar another notch in my system when using HDMI/Direct-mode as the sound transport vs the Rotel RSP-1068 in Bypass-mode.
The Rotel run x4 hotter temp than the UMC-1 (barely warm to the touch).
The UMC-1 seems have a slight click sound when the volume goes to 55.0 and a couple other values above that (at least in HDMI Direct 2ch/192khz PCM mode, possibly others too).
The UMC-1 has no problems locking onto any 2ch PCM or DD-Live or DTS-Interactive over HDMI from the Xonar I have tried.
Maybe it is just my projector, but the UMC-1 seems a bit too finicky with locking on to video over HDMI.
(I'm running W7.01.00.13)
Haven't tried analog video or SPDIF yet and don't have any plans too in the near-term.
FYI:
In case you didn't know already:
DD-TrueHD and DTS-HD are a lossless multichannel (5.1+) transports; beyond even 16bit/44.1khz CD Quality -> a true Master-Quality 24bit/48khz+.
Where as the older DD/DTS is a lossly technology, similar to mp3 quality, but applied to all 5.1 channels.
