UMC-1 - Third time around

[Deleted]

I recently purchased a UMC-1 for the third time because I wanted to see what sort of refinements have been made and to compare it directly to my Marantz AV7005.

I bought my first UMC when they first came out. I was critical of the unit back then because to me it was not ready for public release, (and I'm being kind here). I bought a second unit many months later after several firmware upgrades, hoping they had fixed the audio dropouts, video dropouts, loud popping, ineffective EMO-Q, etc... No dice, still too many issues.

After returning the second unit and going through other processors, I settled on the Marantz and it is a top notch unit. No glitches, everything works like a swiss watch.

Well, since Emo was touting the final firmware solved almost all issues, I went ahead and bought the UMC again less than a month ago. I really want the UMC to succeed because many like myself are looking forward to the XMC-1.

I'll start with what the UMC has been improved on. No more power failure on or off or not responding. BIG plus! Next, Emo-Q is more accurate but I feel it is not worth using. Audyssey is a much better room eq program, but Emo-Q at least works. My previous units of the UMC had constant audio dropouts in the center channel. I probably have had about six or seven drops in a month, so not bad, but some more refinement is needed. Audio switching and playback is smooth.

Video- Here is where some caution is needed. We all know the UMC is not a true pass-through processor. What I found out was it also creates a problem in my setup because of my Oppo 93 and Epson HC8500UB projector. This third UMC was working fine up until I tried playing a BD movie or streaming Netflix. The screen would flash non stop and never lock onto a signal. All other resolutions worked, but 1080p was a no go.

I call Emo and speak to Eric. After about a half hour of trouble shooting, we agree to try another UMC. Before we do that, customer service tells me they will call back in a few minutes. My phone rings and it's Dan Laufman. After speaking to Dan and Eric about my issues, it appears that the UMC outputs a 10 bit video signal instead of the usual 8 bit of other units which puts pressure on the HDMI cable being used and if it is not a high speed cable, problems will results. Dan tells me he is almost positive it is my hdmi cable not being able to process the 10 bit signal the UMC is outputting. At this point I am a bit skeptical, but was willing to have Dan send me one of his cables to try. The cable I was using was labeled as a high speed with ethernet cable at 25 foot length. It worked with the Marantz but not the UMC. Could Dan's logic about the 10 bit be true?

So I sit in my home theater and get an urge to try another cable that I had. I not too long ago replaced my older cable which was a 35 foot cable but was branded an hdmi 1.3 cable. I replaced it with a 25 foot one which was hdmi 1.4. I took out the 1.4 cable and reinstalled my older 1.3 35 foot cable and wouldn't you know it, it plays blu ray and streams fine.. DAN WAS RIGHT. It was the cable. Kudos to Dan for troubleshooting and finding the issue.

As far as audio is concerned, I still prefer stereo playback through the Marantz because it just sounds so deliciously smooth and neutral. But, the UMC is no slouch. For ht use, Audyssey makes the Marantz a bit more engaging, but again the UMC is very good in this regard as well.

Overall, I am impressed with what Emotiva has done to the latest incarnation of the UMC. It's head and shoulders better than the first time around. As stable as I see it to be, I would not hesitate to recommend it, just beware of the cabling and lengths as I learned an important lesson.

Well done EMO.

[Nemesis.ie]

There you go - I have a mono-price 1.3 cable (25 or 35ft, don't recall exactly) and it works with my HC5000.

What was the 1.4 one that didn't work? Or shouldn't we ask?

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2011 12:30:56 GMT -5 Nemesis.ie said:

There you go - I have a mono-price 1.3 cable (25 or 35ft, don't recall exactly) and it works with my HC5000.

What was the 1.4 one that didn't work? Or shouldn't we ask?

It was one I got on Ebay. It looks solidly built, 24 awg, etc.. but ultimately it did not do the job.

[Mischief]

Be careful, some here don't take kindly to the notion of bad HDMI cables causing problems when it is well known that every problem in the AV world comes down to a bug in the UMC-1

Glad to hear Dan resolved your problem

[stuofsci02]

Glad to hear... I was looking to the AV7005 and was ready to purchase. Just this week I decided to give the UMC-1 a try first. I live in Canada, so it is a bit more of a commitment. Hopefully it will all go well..

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2011 14:09:43 GMT -5 Mischief said:

Be careful, some here don't take kindly to the notion of bad HDMI cables causing problems when it is well known that every problem in the AV world comes down to a bug in the UMC-1

Glad to hear Dan resolved your problem

To tell you the truth I was skeptical in what Dan was saying , but it was worth a shot. He proved me wrong. I always firmly believed that an HDMI cable either worked or it didn't. In this case, it was both.

[Bulletdodger]

I use a 10 meter QED HDMI from the UMC-1 to my Blackwing-TWO and it works a charm..... With ALL resolutions.

[Nemesis.ie]

Mar 27, 2011 15:32:10 GMT -5 neekos said:

Mar 27, 2011 14:09:43 GMT -5 Mischief said:

Be careful, some here don't take kindly to the notion of bad HDMI cables causing problems when it is well known that every problem in the AV world comes down to a bug in the UMC-1

Glad to hear Dan resolved your problem

To tell you the truth I was skeptical in what Dan was saying , but it was worth a shot. He proved me wrong. I always firmly believed that an HDMI cable either worked or it didn't. In this case, it was both.

I think it depends on the length and power of the transmitter.

[Deleted]

[NorthStar]

So, was I right in my last assessment to put the UMC-1 ahead of the Marantz AV7005 for Best Overall Value?

The Marantz AV7005 is an excellent pre/pro, but it also costs twice (right now) than the UMC-1.

And remember this; Bob is still big on Audyssey (Movies only though).

And like I said before; it is not from personal experience, but only from an average of vast readings on both these pre/pros from the latest news!
I am extremely flexible. And all have their pros and cons. At the end it's an individual balance; but for me it is an overall average balance.
And not for me, but what the people have chosen! ...And for all their reasons and compromises...

* Big Dan knows some good stuff, and I'm glad that he can help out people like he just did with you neekos.

[Nemesis.ie]

Mar 29, 2011 20:04:23 GMT -5 neekos said:

;D

[Porscheguy]

Good for you for giving the UMC-1 another chance!! :-)

[sharkman]

I had the same problem with a 35 foot cable to my projector and at first it made me quite worried about my gear. But I experimented by trying a 720p signal instead of 1080p and that cleared it up. Went with Blue Jean and things were fine, UNTIL! Started getting drop outs again, WTH? Remembered my previous cable problems and hoped it wasn't the BJ, which was now buried in the wall and behind some crown molding. I also have 3 other HDMI cables in the signal chain, so I swapped them out first and a monoprice 1.5 ft cable was bad.

[Deleted]

Mar 29, 2011 23:18:29 GMT -5 NorthStar said:

So, was I right in my last assessment to put the UMC-1 ahead of the Marantz AV7005 for Best Overall Value?

The Marantz AV7005 is an excellent pre/pro, but it also costs twice (right now) than the UMC-1.

And remember this; Bob is still big on Audyssey (Movies only though).

And like I said before; it is not from personal experience, but only from an average of vast readings on both these pre/pros from the latest news!
I am extremely flexible. And all have their pros and cons. At the end it's an individual balance; but for me it is an overall average balance.
And not for me, but what the people have chosen! ...And for all their reasons and compromises...

* Big Dan knows some good stuff, and I'm glad that he can help out people like he just did with you neekos.

while I might not agree with your methods of product analysis, I respect that you go to great lengths to come up with a conclusion. If that makes it worthwhile and interesting for you, that's all that matters..

[Youthman]

I'm using a 40ft HDMI cable from Monoprice from the UMC-1 to my projector with absolutely no problems, even with 1080p.

[xki]

neekos - What is the firmware version on your UMC-1?

I ask this because I am using all Emotiva HDMI cables and still get center channel drop outs on the BD player. I am 1 version behind in the firmware and waiting for the latest to be released before doing another upgrade.

I have to believe that my drop outs are version related and not the HDMI cables.

EDIT: Running 7.04.00.00

[bootman]

A quick way to check for a possible HDMI cable issue is to drop down the resolution to 1080i or 720p instead of 1080p.
(and let your 1080p display convert that to 1080p)
If that works but 1080p doesn't, it's the cable.

[bootman]

Mar 30, 2011 10:11:00 GMT -5 sharkman said:

I had the same problem with a 35 foot cable to my projector and at first it made me quite worried about my gear. But I experimented by trying a 720p signal instead of 1080p and that cleared it up. Went with Blue Jean and things were fine, UNTIL! Started getting drop outs again, WTH? Remembered my previous cable problems and hoped it wasn't the BJ, which was now buried in the wall and behind some crown molding. I also have 3 other HDMI cables in the signal chain, so I swapped them out first and a monoprice 1.5 ft cable was bad.

Wait a $2 HDMI cable went bad? lol!

jk, I have used mono price cables also, but I'm NEVER surprised when one is bad.
It happens.

Blue Jeans sells killer cables. No need to spend more.

[Deleted]

While installing my new Onkyo 5508 I found one HDMI cable was bad, not the one that had been from the UMC-1 to the TV or to the computer but the one from my Sony 570 BD player. HDMI cables seem to break easily.
Also, I think defensiveness about the UMC-1 is a losing proposition. There are problems with the UMC-1, how serious they are to users is a subjective matter but their existence is not.

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2011 12:03:22 GMT -5 neekos said:

I recently purchased a UMC-1 for the third time because I wanted to see what sort of refinements have been made and to compare it directly to my Marantz AV7005.

I bought my first UMC when they first came out. I was critical of the unit back then because to me it was not ready for public release, (and I'm being kind here). I bought a second unit many months later after several firmware upgrades, hoping they had fixed the audio dropouts, video dropouts, loud popping, ineffective EMO-Q, etc... No dice, still too many issues.

After returning the second unit and going through other processors, I settled on the Marantz and it is a top notch unit. No glitches, everything works like a swiss watch.

Well, since Emo was touting the final firmware solved almost all issues, I went ahead and bought the UMC again less than a month ago. I really want the UMC to succeed because many like myself are looking forward to the XMC-1.

I'll start with what the UMC has been improved on. No more power failure on or off or not responding. BIG plus! Next, Emo-Q is more accurate but I feel it is not worth using. Audyssey is a much better room eq program, but Emo-Q at least works. My previous units of the UMC had constant audio dropouts in the center channel. I probably have had about six or seven drops in a month, so not bad, but some more refinement is needed. Audio switching and playback is smooth.

Video- Here is where some caution is needed. We all know the UMC is not a true pass-through processor. What I found out was it also creates a problem in my setup because of my Oppo 93 and Epson HC8500UB projector. This third UMC was working fine up until I tried playing a BD movie or streaming Netflix. The screen would flash non stop and never lock onto a signal. All other resolutions worked, but 1080p was a no go.

I call Emo and speak to Eric. After about a half hour of trouble shooting, we agree to try another UMC. Before we do that, customer service tells me they will call back in a few minutes. My phone rings and it's Dan Laufman. After speaking to Dan and Eric about my issues, it appears that the UMC outputs a 10 bit video signal instead of the usual 8 bit of other units which puts pressure on the HDMI cable being used and if it is not a high speed cable, problems will results. Dan tells me he is almost positive it is my hdmi cable not being able to process the 10 bit signal the UMC is outputting. At this point I am a bit skeptical, but was willing to have Dan send me one of his cables to try. The cable I was using was labeled as a high speed with ethernet cable at 25 foot length. It worked with the Marantz but not the UMC. Could Dan's logic about the 10 bit be true?

So I sit in my home theater and get an urge to try another cable that I had. I not too long ago replaced my older cable which was a 35 foot cable but was branded an hdmi 1.3 cable. I replaced it with a 25 foot one which was hdmi 1.4. I took out the 1.4 cable and reinstalled my older 1.3 35 foot cable and wouldn't you know it, it plays blu ray and streams fine.. DAN WAS RIGHT. It was the cable. Kudos to Dan for troubleshooting and finding the issue.

As far as audio is concerned, I still prefer stereo playback through the Marantz because it just sounds so deliciously smooth and neutral. But, the UMC is no slouch. For ht use, Audyssey makes the Marantz a bit more engaging, but again the UMC is very good in this regard as well.

Overall, I am impressed with what Emotiva has done to the latest incarnation of the UMC. It's head and shoulders better than the first time around. As stable as I see it to be, I would not hesitate to recommend it, just beware of the cabling and lengths as I learned an important lesson.

Well done EMO.

thanks for sharing your thoughts on the new UMC units. I have been curious myself as to the progress made from the initial release.