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Post by Percussionista on Aug 21, 2014 16:06:17 GMT -5
I saw multiple mentions in the AVS forum for XMC-1 owners (only) that even the spouses of the audiofiles were noticing that the dialog was much clearer than before. I personally find this to be an issue myself (currently running UMC-200), sometimes due to the "sloppy" way actors enunciate at times, or the style of a TV show's diction, or myself being of retirement age, whatever ;-) Do you have any comments on the intelligibility of center channel dialog of the XMC-1 vs UMC-200? I'm not on the sign-up list for the XMC-1, but down the road I could foresee it if it really made a difference. First off, how does Andrew get away with such a simple system? A short while ago he had the B&W speakers then the Pendragons became his reference pair etc... ... The UMC-200 sounds amazing, and while not as good as the XMC-1, its more than 70% of the way there. I hate attributing arbitrary percentages to arbitrary comparisons, but I'd say the UMC-200 is 85% of the XMC-1 in terms of overall sound quality -if not a few ticks better.... |
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Post by foggy1956 on Aug 21, 2014 16:10:36 GMT -5
I saw multiple mentions in the AVS forum for XMC-1 owners (only) that even the spouses of the audiofiles were noticing that the dialog was much clearer than before. I personally find this to be an issue myself (currently running UMC-200), sometimes due to the "sloppy" way actors enunciate at times, or the style of a TV show's diction, or myself being of retirement age, whatever ;-) Do you have any comments on the intelligibility of center channel dialog of the XMC-1 vs UMC-200? I'm not on the sign-up list for the XMC-1, but down the road I could foresee it if it really made a difference. ... The UMC-200 sounds amazing, and while not as good as the XMC-1, its more than 70% of the way there. I hate attributing arbitrary percentages to arbitrary comparisons, but I'd say the UMC-200 is 85% of the XMC-1 in terms of overall sound quality -if not a few ticks better.... I disagree, no more than 50℅ of the XMC, IMHO |
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Post by Andrew Robinson on Aug 21, 2014 16:14:56 GMT -5
I saw multiple mentions in the AVS forum for XMC-1 owners (only) that even the spouses of the audiofiles were noticing that the dialog was much clearer than before. I personally find this to be an issue myself (currently running UMC-200), sometimes due to the "sloppy" way actors enunciate at times, or the style of a TV show's diction, or myself being of retirement age, whatever ;-) Do you have any comments on the intelligibility of center channel dialog of the XMC-1 vs UMC-200? I'm not on the sign-up list for the XMC-1, but down the road I could foresee it if it really made a difference. I cannot say for certain if the XMC-1 does a better job of presenting the center channel specifically compared to say the UMC-200 or any other processor. If it were to "do" the center channel better, than it would do the fronts, surrounds and backs better too. There are a number of factors that could be coming into play apart from whether or not the XMC-1 is actually better or not -assuming better in this instance was quantifiable, which it isn't. The XMC-1 could simply be louder compared to another preamp, which we know the human ear/brain will always skew as "better". Honestly, the dialog being clearer starts with how well it was recorded and, as you pointed out, how well the actor themselves delivered the line -two things that have nothing to do with a preamp. I wouldn't say the XMC-1 does a better job with dialog than say my UMC-200, suffice to say I believe the XMC-1 to be "richer" more textural overall, that as a result makes for a slightly more natural or organic sound, which is a good thing when trying to reproduce vocals. |
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Post by jmilton on Aug 21, 2014 17:02:07 GMT -5
I saw multiple mentions in the AVS forum for XMC-1 owners (only) that even the spouses of the audiofiles were noticing that the dialog was much clearer than before. I personally find this to be an issue myself (currently running UMC-200), sometimes due to the "sloppy" way actors enunciate at times, or the style of a TV show's diction, or myself being of retirement age, whatever ;-) Do you have any comments on the intelligibility of center channel dialog of the XMC-1 vs UMC-200? I'm not on the sign-up list for the XMC-1, but down the road I could foresee it if it really made a difference. I disagree, no more than 50℅ of the XMC, IMHO I got 78.3% on my RadioShack betterometer. |
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Post by Gary Cook on Aug 21, 2014 18:10:35 GMT -5
I saw multiple mentions in the AVS forum for XMC-1 owners (only) that even the spouses of the audiofiles were noticing that the dialog was much clearer than before. I personally find this to be an issue myself (currently running UMC-200), sometimes due to the "sloppy" way actors enunciate at times, or the style of a TV show's diction, or myself being of retirement age, whatever ;-) Do you have any comments on the intelligibility of center channel dialog of the XMC-1 vs UMC-200? I'm not on the sign-up list for the XMC-1, but down the road I could foresee it if it really made a difference. I cannot say for certain if the XMC-1 does a better job of presenting the center channel specifically compared to say the UMC-200 or any other processor. If it were to "do" the center channel better, than it would do the fronts, surrounds and backs better too. There are a number of factors that could be coming into play apart from whether or not the XMC-1 is actually better or not -assuming better in this instance was quantifiable, which it isn't. The XMC-1 could simply be louder compared to another preamp, which we know the human ear/brain will always skew as "better". Honestly, the dialog being clearer starts with how well it was recorded and, as you pointed out, how well the actor themselves delivered the line -two things that have nothing to do with a preamp. I wouldn't say the XMC-1 does a better job with dialog than say my UMC-200, suffice to say I believe the XMC-1 to be "richer" more textural overall, that as a result makes for a slightly more natural or organic sound, which is a good thing when trying to reproduce vocals. Personally I have found the quality of the centre speaker has more effect than what is feeding it. Cheers Gary |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2014 18:40:44 GMT -5
Personally I have found the quality of the centre speaker has more effect than what is feeding it. Cheers Gary I agree and I would add that the quality of the source is very important also. Some movies soundtracks have poorly recorded dialog. Another factor that very few folks consider is that having all 3 LCR speakers matching makes for more defined center channel clarity. Some might question this statement at first but it is surprising how much of the center dialog comes thru the L&R speakers. Unhook the center speaker during portions of well record dialog or center solo vocals and you will hear significant amounts of the center signal coming thru the other two front speakers. Having mis-matched LCR's makes for less center signal clarity. |
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Post by monkumonku on Aug 22, 2014 12:20:47 GMT -5
I thought I was doing pretty good with my $149 each speakers but I just saw this JBL system that's $149 for a whole 5.1 setup! Including a 3D blu ray player! www.neweggflash.com/product/86-110-005? |
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harri009
Emo VIPs 
ReferenceAnalog.com
Posts: 1,425
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Post by harri009 on Aug 22, 2014 12:26:50 GMT -5
Here were the results from a couple months age. Since the scale is pretty different it may help you to break down why so many of your votes are over 8k  0 to 1000 1 vote 1,000 to 3,000 10 votes 3,000 to 5,000 13 votes 5,000 to 10,000 35 votes 10,000 to 20,000 30 votes 20,000 and up 9 votes |
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Post by mepositive on Aug 22, 2014 14:03:23 GMT -5
Here were the results from a couple months age. Since the scale is pretty different it may help you to break down why so many of your votes are over 8k 0 to 1000 1 vote 1,000 to 3,000 10 votes 3,000 to 5,000 13 votes 5,000 to 10,000 35 votes 10,000 to 20,000 30 votes 20,000 and up 9 votes Very helpful as I try to draw inferences from both combined. Thanks. This poll has been an eye opener for me especially as I try and relate it to another poll on the average age on a member here. Fascinating. |
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First off, how does Andrew get away with such a simple system? A short while ago he had the B&W speakers then the Pendragons became his reference pair etc... 
