XSP-1 - Did the boat sink?

[hpc]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the XSP-1 was
scheduled to arrive in late March or early April; and hence, should
be on the boat.

Did the boat sink? (yes, I'm making attempts at being a wise-*bleep*).

Might someone at Emo provide an update?

Cheers!

[vincedog3]

Hello Everyone, no the boat didn't sink. We are very hard at work fine tuning the XSP-1 for everyone to enjoy. We are very much excited to get you the XSP-1 very soon, but we want the XSP-1 to be great, not just very good.
Thank you for everyone's patience.

[Porscheguy]

I would venture to say.... no... I will say that there will be no repeat of the UMC-1 "early release"

Uh ah, nope, no way.....

It will be "right" before its shipped...

[Topend]

Vince,

Can you give us something on the progress of the XMC-1?

Cheers,
Dave.

[GMan]

It is very difficult to get it "right" without using "outside" testers because the engineers are too familiar with the product. Look at the UMC-1 and the XDA-1. Both had issues discovered by people outside Emotiva.

[jbeede]

For the xsp-1, are we talking days? weeks? months? quarters? If the photos can be trusted, it looks like the xsp-1 will have a "DIM" function. That's a feature I would pay for!

[dsnyder0cnn]

I got board of waiting for the XSP-1 and purchased a USP-1 this morning since it's on sale. I can always upgrade later if the need for balanced outputs and all that the XSP-1 has to offer materializes.

In the meantime, it's not like I'll be suffering intolerably. :-)

[klinemj]

David...you will suffer...you will suffer from excellent sound quality and a strong desire to listen to it. My best wishes...!!!

Mark

[flyhigh]

David...Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Be brave my friend.

[dsnyder0cnn]

Oh no!!!!

I incorrectly assumed that the USP-1 would pass the Left/Right signals from the "HT Bypass" input directly to the outputs. In my case, I'm using the "Full Range" outputs on the USP-1. Arggggggg!!!!! It does not work this way!

The "HT Bypass" only routes the signal through the USP-1's integrated bass management. No signal appears on the "Full Range" outputs when "HT Bypass" is selected.

Why on Earth would they do this???!!!

My whole purpose in purchasing the USP-1 was to carve a dedicated two-channel playback system out of my home theater environment. When I'm listening to music (which is most of the time), I just wanted to have my source, the USP-1, and the front L/R stereo power amp on. The multi-channel amp, subwoofer, and UMC-1 stay powered off.

I don't need a sub for two-channel playback. I bought full-range front loudspeakers (the Legacy FOCUS SEs) because I don't want to use a sub when listening to music. I am so disappointed!!

I can't believe that I missed this detail when skimming the USP-1 PDF manual and reviewing the specifications list which clearly describes the "HT Bypass" as "2.1 Channel Home Theater Bypass". I guess I just assumed that if it worked for 2.1 channels, surely it would work with 2.0. After a second read of the manual, the description of this behavior seems to be at best contradictory. On page 11, it says "This signal is sent into the HT Inputs (L,R, Sub), and is only present on the High Pass and Subwoofer Outputs"; however, on page 14, it says "There is no ‘wrong way’ or ‘right way’ to use these settings – it’s all about what sounds good to you, and what works best with your speakers. Full Range Only:
Recommended for users with full range speakers that are capable of producing full bass tones.
Use the Full Range outputs (6) for full range speakers." This discussion on page 14 makes no mention of the fact that if you choose either the "Full Range only" or ""Full Range plus Low Pass" connection options, you give up "HT Bypass" functionality.

Darn it. Darn it. Darn it!!!

Unless I've missed something, I'll be calling Emotiva for an RMA number tomorrow.

-- David

[autocrat]

No, that's how it works, and the HPF is minimum 50Hz. Only reason i didn't buy it.

[dsnyder0cnn]

The worst part is that I really love the sound. Even with no burn in and only an hour or two of warm-up time, it sounds glorious. Quite a step up from the UMC-1 even in "Direct" mode.

I won't post a full "initial USP-1 impressions" review here since this thread is supposed to have something to do with the XSP-1 and my sad tale has derailed that enough already. So I'll just say "Darn it!" one more time and then get her packed up for the trip back to Tennessee.

[roadrunner]

Apr 6, 2011 23:24:13 GMT -5 dsnyder0cnn said:

The worst part is that I really love the sound. Even with no burn in and only an hour or two of warm-up time, it sounds glorious. Quite a step up from the UMC-1 even in "Direct" mode.

I won't post a full "initial USP-1 impressions" review here since this thread is supposed to have something to do with the XSP-1 and my sad tale has derailed that enough already. So I'll just say "Darn it!" one more time and then get her packed up for the trip back to Tennessee.

David,

Sorry that you missed seeing the various posts that discussed the limitation of the USP-1 when using the Full Range Outputs. It has been discussed many, many times. Several of the owners who discovered this. much as you did, later found that it was not as big a handicap as they originally expected. The 2.1 Outputs are filtered with a 12dB slope and when you set the xover to 50Hz it still provides a usable output to Full Range speakers down into the 30s. Very little music has significant content below that point. These users reported that they thought it would be a good idea to try the 2.1 outputs in both 2.0 and 2.1 configurations... to their surprise. they noticed very little difference using their Full Range speakers in either configuration.

Some of them reported using their Full Range speakers with the 2.1 outputs without attaching the sub woofer thru the USP-1; others reported connecting their sub woofer. Both groups ended up keeping their USP-1 after listening to it this way. Of course, a few users did return the USP-1, but surprisingly very few returned the USP-1... so it might be worth your time to try it and determine how big a handicap it actually proves to be. As you have already discovered, the USP-1 sounds so sweet it would be a shame not to give it a shot.

Just out of curiosity, is your music listening area totally a separate room from your Home Theater? If it is shared space, using the HT's sub might complement the sound quality of your Legacy Focus. Good luck whatever your final decision is.

[RPA-1 man]

Sorry for posting this here but I only did it to show David what the High Pass Output of the USP-1 looks like as compared to the Full Range Output.

The top line is at the Full Range Output followed by 4 measurements at the High Pass Output at four different settings of the High Pass control knob. I probably should have taken a measurement at the 3:00 position but was pressed for time. This graph should give a pretty good idea of what is going on though.

[johnrice]

This HT Bypass info is very disappointing. I want to find out of I am understanding it correctly regarding those who DO use 2.1 for music. The regular inputs should operate as you would expect, but what about the HT Bypass? Does it run the 2.1 output through the high/low pass filter, or does it just go through essentially unmodified?

[roadrunner]

Apr 8, 2011 20:19:51 GMT -5 johnrice said:

This HT Bypass info is very disappointing. I want to find out of I am understanding it correctly regarding those who DO use 2.1 for music. The regular inputs should operate as you would expect, but what about the HT Bypass? Does it run the 2.1 output through the high/low pass filter, or does it just go through essentially unmodified?

You can relax. Once the HT ByPass Switch has been pushed the signals from the HT Processor go straight through the USP-1 as if it were not even there. The Processor is in total control at that point.

[jamscape]

I'm hoping that the boat did not sink but rather it was diverted to a port somewhere near Atlanta so as to make easy deliveries to the booth at the Axpona show :-)

[wc]

I'm really liking the look of this XSP preamp. Just one question. Is it going to have a headphone jack. The pictures of the prototype that Emo has posted don't show the jack.

Just hope I can still get the introductory pricing in August. Who am I kidding it may not even be shipping by then.

[RadTech]

Bring it on!

[roadrunner]

Apr 10, 2011 11:08:27 GMT -5 wc said:

I'm really liking the look of this XSP preamp. Just one question. Is it going to have a headphone jack. The pictures of the prototype that Emo has posted don't show the jack.

Just hope I can still get the introductory pricing in August. Who am I kidding it may not even be shipping by then.

As you are aware, the photo of the XSP-1 were of a prototype unit shown at the last Emofest. After getting strong feedback from attendees, Emotiva posted in a thread on this forum that they would be adding a Headphone stage to its features. Until Emotiva actually releases an official Features List of the Production Model we cannot be sure of what features will be included, but since Emotiva posted they were adding this feature you can feel pretty comfortable about it.

Hopefully, Lonnie will release that information soon. He has posted that the XSP-1 design is locked in and that they are doing some "fine tuning" to ensure it is a truly GREAT product, rather than simply a very good one.