Post by thoff on Oct 1, 2013 13:58:21 GMT -5
I received my UMC-200 almost a month ago and just wanted to provide my thoughts/impressions after using it over the past few weeks. Quick Disclaimer: I am not the type of person that is changing out equipment a couple times of year and do not have experience with a wide range of products. I have an engineering background (BS in EE) and enjoy home theater.
Bottom line up front: The UMC-200 is clearly better than what I was using before. Surround effects and dialog from the center channel are much more distinct than they were before and the bass from my subwoofer is more even and not as "boomy". (I throw that term out there because I've read reviews on my sub, paradigm PS-1000, describe it as that and I believe I know what they were talking about. Setup and calibration (EMO Q2) were simple and straightforward, with a couple little nuances.
Why I upgraded: I had an old Yamaha RX v-1400 that I bought 6-7 years ago. One of my main reasons for upgrading were that my AVR did no have HDMI and I wanted to be able to listen to the higher quality sound and simplify/clean up my cable connections. Around last November, I began to look into options for upgrading, initially looking at newer AVRs. I am one that will research and investigate things so I know exactly what I want before I buy it, and then if I don't have the money I will wait and save up for it. This research caused me to come across separates, and while looking online I began reading about Emotiva. Fast forward 9-10 months and I bought a UMC-200.
Set-up: Since I don't have a separate amp I had to use the 5.1 inputs on my receiver, using its multi-channel input for amplifier purposes only. Not going into too many details, but getting everything hooked up was pretty simple and the sound and picture came through right away. I don't have experience with manual EQing systems, which is one of the reasons I went with the UMC-200. Running emo-Q was straightforward, but one issue I had early on was that it was "seeing" my front and center speakers during the test tones, even though I could clearly hear them. How I resolved this was by turning up the volume on my AVR...this makes me a little nervous because if it ever gets switched over to its Tuner my speakers (and my ears) may be ringing for quite some time because it is really high. With my Harmony One remote I am not too concerned about this, but still it is not ideal. After turning it up everything ran fine and measurements to the speakers were consistent and seemingly accurate. I re-ran EmoQ a couple days later and started getting different results that were "off". What I found is that I had a box sitting on the coffee table in front of my listening and although it wasn't directly blocking the "line-of-sight" between my drivers and the microphone, once I removed it all the measurements started making sense again. Just goes to show that obstructions within the room, even if they seem harmless, can impact the sound. Since then I've just been enjoying the unit, watching movies and lots of football.
Sound: Like I said up front, the most noticeable improvements are much better surround effects, clearer and easier to understand dialog, and bass that seems much more balanced and tamed. Again, I do not have vast experience with different types of equipment for comparison, just stating my observations compared to using my AVR only.
Observations and things to keep in mind:
1. My AVR volume has to be "very high" in order for it to work correctly with EMOQ. Not a big deal, just something to keep in mind if you are going the route of using an AVR as amplifier only
2. EmoQ, or sound in general, really is impacted by obstructions within the room and making it as "clean" as possible before running room correction is best
3. When I power the UMC-200 on by itself it will go back to the last known volume the last time it was shut off. When I turn it on with a macro on my Harmony One it always turns on with volume all the way down. Anyone else notice this or have a workaround for this issue? I almost always use the Harmony One to turn it on and it does get a bit annoying to have to turn up the volume from 0 every time.
4. I have Chromecast connected to HDMI4 and if I use my phone to control Chromecast, the UMC-200 will automatically switch inputs to HDMI4. I can work around this, but it seems a bit odd to me. Does anyone know why this happens? Does the UMC-200 detect something from devices on other inputs from the one currently being watched and automatically switch over?
Overall: Very pleased with the purchase and would highly recommend it to anyone else in a similar situation as me. Looking forward to getting the XPA-5 (hopefully later this year) so I can have some real power and get rid of the AVR currently acting as amplifier in my system.
Thank you to everyone that answered questions and gave me advice along the way. I really appreciate it.
Bottom line up front: The UMC-200 is clearly better than what I was using before. Surround effects and dialog from the center channel are much more distinct than they were before and the bass from my subwoofer is more even and not as "boomy". (I throw that term out there because I've read reviews on my sub, paradigm PS-1000, describe it as that and I believe I know what they were talking about. Setup and calibration (EMO Q2) were simple and straightforward, with a couple little nuances.
Why I upgraded: I had an old Yamaha RX v-1400 that I bought 6-7 years ago. One of my main reasons for upgrading were that my AVR did no have HDMI and I wanted to be able to listen to the higher quality sound and simplify/clean up my cable connections. Around last November, I began to look into options for upgrading, initially looking at newer AVRs. I am one that will research and investigate things so I know exactly what I want before I buy it, and then if I don't have the money I will wait and save up for it. This research caused me to come across separates, and while looking online I began reading about Emotiva. Fast forward 9-10 months and I bought a UMC-200.
Set-up: Since I don't have a separate amp I had to use the 5.1 inputs on my receiver, using its multi-channel input for amplifier purposes only. Not going into too many details, but getting everything hooked up was pretty simple and the sound and picture came through right away. I don't have experience with manual EQing systems, which is one of the reasons I went with the UMC-200. Running emo-Q was straightforward, but one issue I had early on was that it was "seeing" my front and center speakers during the test tones, even though I could clearly hear them. How I resolved this was by turning up the volume on my AVR...this makes me a little nervous because if it ever gets switched over to its Tuner my speakers (and my ears) may be ringing for quite some time because it is really high. With my Harmony One remote I am not too concerned about this, but still it is not ideal. After turning it up everything ran fine and measurements to the speakers were consistent and seemingly accurate. I re-ran EmoQ a couple days later and started getting different results that were "off". What I found is that I had a box sitting on the coffee table in front of my listening and although it wasn't directly blocking the "line-of-sight" between my drivers and the microphone, once I removed it all the measurements started making sense again. Just goes to show that obstructions within the room, even if they seem harmless, can impact the sound. Since then I've just been enjoying the unit, watching movies and lots of football.
Sound: Like I said up front, the most noticeable improvements are much better surround effects, clearer and easier to understand dialog, and bass that seems much more balanced and tamed. Again, I do not have vast experience with different types of equipment for comparison, just stating my observations compared to using my AVR only.
Observations and things to keep in mind:
1. My AVR volume has to be "very high" in order for it to work correctly with EMOQ. Not a big deal, just something to keep in mind if you are going the route of using an AVR as amplifier only
2. EmoQ, or sound in general, really is impacted by obstructions within the room and making it as "clean" as possible before running room correction is best
3. When I power the UMC-200 on by itself it will go back to the last known volume the last time it was shut off. When I turn it on with a macro on my Harmony One it always turns on with volume all the way down. Anyone else notice this or have a workaround for this issue? I almost always use the Harmony One to turn it on and it does get a bit annoying to have to turn up the volume from 0 every time.
4. I have Chromecast connected to HDMI4 and if I use my phone to control Chromecast, the UMC-200 will automatically switch inputs to HDMI4. I can work around this, but it seems a bit odd to me. Does anyone know why this happens? Does the UMC-200 detect something from devices on other inputs from the one currently being watched and automatically switch over?
Overall: Very pleased with the purchase and would highly recommend it to anyone else in a similar situation as me. Looking forward to getting the XPA-5 (hopefully later this year) so I can have some real power and get rid of the AVR currently acting as amplifier in my system.
Thank you to everyone that answered questions and gave me advice along the way. I really appreciate it.