SOME NOTES - FIRMWARE UPDATE v1.1As you're probably aware of by now, we've just released the first official firmware update for the XMC-1 - version 1.1 .
You can find the update, and the instructions, on the bottom of the XMC-1 Product Page.
(Obviously, XMC-1's shipped after today will already have the new firmware.)
If you have an XMC-1, then
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT UPDATE AND YOU REALLY WANT TO INSTALL IT It implements one major new feature (Dual Mono subs); it also fixes a handful of small bugs and improves functionality in several places.
For those of you who haven't read about updating the XMC-1 yet, firmware updates on the XMC-1 are
REALLY SIMPLE (unlike on some older products
).
You just download the update file, put it on a USB stick (it has to be formatted FAT32), plug the stick into your XMC-1, and select "Update Firmware" from the menu.
(You can even have your buddy put the file on a stick FOR you; you
DON'T need to have a computer connected, and there's no updater software or drivers for it
.)
When you do the update, you
DON'T have to reset the XMC-1, and your configuration should remain intact (although it never hurts to do a backup).
I do want to note that one of the things we've improved is that we've updated the way the Triggers work to be much more logical than it originally was.
As a result, the actual trigger configuration on your XMC-1 (the boxes that are checked) will remain the same when you do the update,
BUT THE WAY THEY WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED.
Whether anything changes will depend on how you had them configured to begin with, but, if you had anything "interesting" set up, you should take a look at it after the update.
Configuring Triggers (AFTER THE v1.1 FIRMWARE UPDATE)The XMC-1 has four fully independent triggers, each one of which may be configured to activate an associated piece of trigger-enabled equipment when specific conditions are met.
For example, you could use the triggers to activate the amplifiers that power your main front speakers whenever you play music, and the amplifier that powers your surrounds,
and your powered subwoofer, only when you’re listening to a surround sound source.
The triggers on the XMC-1 are configured by checking various boxes in the Setup Triggers Menu.
First, each trigger must be configured to be active when the Main Zone, Zone 2, or both zones are On.
The trigger will only be active when one or more of the zones it is associated with are active.
Next, each trigger must be configured be associated with one or more Inputs.
The trigger will only be active when one or more of the Inputs it is associated with are active.
For triggers associated with Zone 2, the trigger will be active whenever Zone 2 is On AND one of the Inputs associated with that trigger is selected.
For triggers associated with the Main Zone, there is an additional condition that must be met.
For the Main Zone, each trigger must also be associated with one or more Speaker groups. The trigger will be active whenever the Main Zone is On,
AND one or more of the Inputs associated with that trigger is active, AND one or more of the Speaker groups associated with that trigger is active.
Note: The triggers respond based on how the XMC-1 is configured; the XMC-1 does not detect the presence or absence of an active audio signal on specific channels. Note: The option to configure associated Speaker groups only pertains to the Main Zone. Therefore, if you only have
Zone 2 checked for a particular trigger, the Speakers column will not be displayed. However, if you have both Zone 2 and the Main Zone checked for that trigger,
the Speakers column will be displayed; but please remember that the settings in that column ONLY pertain to the Main Zone and don’t affect the status of Zone 2 triggering.
Note: All of the XMC-1’s trigger logic is based on how the XMC-1 is currently configured.
Whether your XMC-1 will send audio to the Surrounds will depend on which Input you have selected, the Mode you have configured that Input to use,
the configuration of the Preset you have associated with that Input - including whether Surrounds are set to None in that Preset, and the source signal itself.
If all these conditions are met, such that the XMC-1 is delivering audio content to the Surrounds, then any triggers associated with Surrounds will be active
if their other requirements have also been met.By default, the four triggers on the XMC-1 are configured as follows:
Trigger 1: Main Zone (only), ALL Inputs, ALL Speakers
Trigger 2: Zone 2 (only), ALL Inputs
Trigger 3: Main Zone AND Zone 2, ALL Inputs, ALL Speakers
Trigger 4: Main Zone AND Zone 2, ALL Inputs, ALL Speakers
Note: In many situations, there are multiple ways of configuring the triggers on the XMC-1 to produce a certain result. Also, once a sufficient combination of
conditions is met to cause a given trigger to be active, additional redundant conditions will be ignored. For example, if you configure a trigger to be active
when a certain input and Surrounds are active, it will be active when that input and a surround sound mode are selected. Configuring that same trigger to
also be active when that same input and Fronts are active would be redundant - because the Fronts are always active when the Surrounds are active -
but the extra condition won’t affect the end result.
Headphone
Since triggers are most often used to switch amplifiers On and Off, the triggers on the XMC-1 are normally configured to be disabled when a pair of
headphones is plugged into the front panel headphone jack. If you uncheck the Headphone Override box for a particular trigger, this override will be disabled.
Note: The Headphone Override option is useful if you are using one of the XMC-1’s triggers to activate your monitor, and you sometimes watch TV wearing
headphones; if you uncheck the Headphone Override for that trigger, that trigger will remain active (assuming the other configured conditions are met),
even when headphones are plugged in.Note: The XMC-1 detects when headphones are connected by sensing a plug physically inserted into the front panel Headphone jack.
If you leave a headphone extension - with no headphones attached - plugged into the jack, the XMC-1 will act as if headphones are connected.
Also note that, if you use a separate headphone amplifier connected to one of the XMC-1’s outputs, the XMC-1 will be unaware that you’re using headphones.As an example, let’s assume you have a stereo amplifier which you use to power your Front Left and Front Right speakers, and a five-channel amplifier
that you use to power your Surrounds, Backs, and Center speakers. You want both amplifiers to be On when you listen to surround sound movies,
but only the Fronts and your stereo amp to be on when you listen to stereo CDs. For this example, we’ll assume that you only use the Main Zone.
One way to achieve this result would be to connect your two channel amplifier to Trigger 1, and your five-channel amp to Trigger 3.
You would configure Trigger 1 to be activated ONLY by the Main Zone, but leave all the Input boxes checked, and leave all the Speaker boxes checked.
This would configure your two-channel amp to be On whenever the Main Zone was on.
You would then configure Trigger 3 to be activated ONLY by the Main Zone, leave all the Input boxes checked, but uncheck all Speaker
association boxes EXCEPT the box for Surrounds. This would configure your five-channel amp to be On whenever the Main Zone is On and any
Input is selected, but ONLY if you have a mode that uses surround sound selected. Your Surrounds will be Off if you’re using Reference Stereo or
Direct Mode, but On if you use Dolby TrueHD of PLIIx.