RMC-1/RMC-1L/XMC-2 Owners Thread (Post Firmware v1.10)

[lellimecnar]

Oct 6, 2022 13:22:13 GMT -5 audiovideojunky said:

I find this reaction to be puzzling at best and down right unrealistic and thankless at worst.

Yeah, I'm surprised. I've been checking almost daily for any official word about the future of the RMC-1, and this is the first podcast that's gotten me excited in quite a while.

I was worried when a "new generation" was mentioned, but it's not a new product that I have to buy, and try selling the old one, it's an upgrade of the product I already have, which is what I was expecting all along.

I'm guessing that FW 3.0 was delayed because of the limitations of the existing hardware. It's even likely that some of the issues couldn't be fixed via firmware update, so they moved their focus to a hardware upgrade that will not only fulfill some past promises (I hope) but also fix some of the lingering issues. If some of the higher-priority issues persist with the 3.0 FW, I think that'll be confirmation of my speculation.

I was hoping for an explicit mention of 16+ output channels, but I've got my fingers crossed that it was implied...

[5channels]

Oct 6, 2022 13:22:13 GMT -5 audiovideojunky said:

Oct 6, 2022 11:16:13 GMT -5 @brucelee said:

Betrayed, Betrayed, Betrayed and LIED to!!! When they couldn't get their crap together EMO bailed and moved most if not all resources into new development. Firmware fixes for RMC... no. Start over ...YES. Good luck EMO.

I find this reaction to be puzzling at best and down right unrealistic and thankless at worst.  The path EMO is following with a new generation of processors is hardly surprising given the dramatic increases in processing power undoubtedly required to handle 8K.  Think about it - that's 4x the resolution of 4K, and undoubtedly supports more audio/video features that further increase bandwidth and downstream processing requirements.  Would you prefer EMO attempt to limp along using processing power that's 5 years old?  That's not a realistic expectation - Imagine the performance complaints (if it were even technically feasible)!  I find the fact that EMO plans to provide an upgrade path for the previous generation of processors to be in complete harmony with their promise of an upgradable processor platform; regardless of what hardware and software must be upgraded to get there.

I get the reaction entirely. To some there is obviously a big difference between what Emo says and what Emo does.  
They don't want to hear "Emo plans" any longer, folk want to know know what "Emo has delivered".  I want what I paid for, not to have to pay more for what should have already been delivered

[Deleted]

We were led to believe that an HDMI 2.1 compatible self-installable upgrade for the RMC-1 was coming - along with DTS-X Pro and an update to Dolby's surround processing (which the existing board was supposedly capable of powering). That HDMI board alone should have extended the useful life of this produce for many more years.

[panasonicst60]

If most problems were fixed on the now previous gen processors, many of us wouldn't have any problems with Emotiva releasing a new line of processors. Especially when our current gens are upgradable, which is great in theory.

Imagine spending 1k or so to upgrade and it's still buggy(I'll put my money on it)and waiting on, "the next firmware arriving soon"(I'll also put my money). It's a never ending cycle, like in Edge of Tomorrow.

[sebna]

So, I have tried factory reset today and even though it went smoothly, my XMC-2 will randomly (and approximately) 6/10 times not boot. To be precise it boots but hangs on either "Rethink Hi-End" or if you press menu button on the remote during that stage it will open the menu and freeze there. When it goes wrong like that the boot up takes over 5min in compare to 1:20 when it is successful and normal.

I am talking booting from low-power state. I tried doing another 3 factory resets but it leads to the same outcomes so far.

Did anybody had a problem like this before? Is it a known problem? Let me know guys.

I hope that this message will not get swamp with G4P discussion frenzy

PS. I also discovered that when XMC-2 is "sleeping" when video signal pass through option is enabled it takes 40W and when it is fully on it takes 40W as well... so sleep function seems to do nothing for power consumption.

[ttocs]

Oct 6, 2022 16:53:11 GMT -5 sebna said:

So, I have tried factory reset today and even though it went smoothly, my XMC-2 will randomly (and approximately) 6/10 times not boot. To be precise it boots but hangs on either "Rethink Hi-End" or if you press menu button on the remote during that stage it will open the menu and freeze there. When it goes wrong like that the boot up takes over 5min in compare to 1:20 when it is successful and normal.

PS. I also discovered that when XMC-2 is "sleeping" when video signal pass through option is enabled it takes 40W and when it is fully on it takes 40W as well... so sleep function seems to do nothing for power consumption. 

Your boot success rate is extremely low, it should be extremely high. Something is very wrong.
How stable is the electric power in your area?
Maybe try using an extension cord and plug just the processor into an outlet known to be on a lightly loaded circuit.

Mine boots in about the same amount of time as yours, 1:24 from LPS to video with sound.

Regarding the Watts On vs Off, I measured mine with a very accurate meter inline with the power cord. I measured 38 Watts while in Video Remains On, and 39 Watts Powered On. I also measured 1 Watt in Lowest Power Standby. So what you are experiencing is normal. Most of the circuitry is on when using VRO, it's only the front panel display that is not active, which is why the heat from the processor is unchanged whether it's On or in VRO.

[sebna]

Oct 6, 2022 17:33:44 GMT -5 ttocs said:

Oct 6, 2022 16:53:11 GMT -5 sebna said:

So, I have tried factory reset today and even though it went smoothly, my XMC-2 will randomly (and approximately) 6/10 times not boot. To be precise it boots but hangs on either "Rethink Hi-End" or if you press menu button on the remote during that stage it will open the menu and freeze there. When it goes wrong like that the boot up takes over 5min in compare to 1:20 when it is successful and normal.

PS. I also discovered that when XMC-2 is "sleeping" when video signal pass through option is enabled it takes 40W and when it is fully on it takes 40W as well... so sleep function seems to do nothing for power consumption. 

Your boot success rate is extremely low, it should be extremely high. Something is very wrong.
How stable is the electric power in your area?
Maybe try using an extension cord and plug just the processor into an outlet known to be on a lightly loaded circuit.

Mine boots in about the same amount of time as yours, 1:24 from LPS to video with sound.

Regarding the Watts On vs Off, I measured mine with a very accurate meter inline with the power cord. I measured 38 Watts while in Video Remains On, and 39 Watts Powered On. I also measured 1 Watt in Lowest Power Standby. So what you are experiencing is normal. Most of the circuitry is on when using VRO, it's only the front panel display that is not active, which is why the heat from the processor is unchanged whether it's On or in VRO.

It is not the quality of power. Where we live power is of outstanding quality all day every day. XMC-2 is plugged in on its own ATM as I am just testing and preparing to configure it.

But do you recognize those failures of boot as typical for how the boot failure looks? (I am not talking about frequency of them). 

What is the typical boot success or failure rate? What is considered normal?

[ttocs]

Oct 6, 2022 17:40:23 GMT -5 sebna said:

Oct 6, 2022 17:33:44 GMT -5 ttocs said:

Your boot success rate is extremely low, it should be extremely high. Something is very wrong.
How stable is the electric power in your area?
Maybe try using an extension cord and plug just the processor into an outlet known to be on a lightly loaded circuit.

Mine boots in about the same amount of time as yours, 1:24 from LPS to video with sound.

Regarding the Watts On vs Off, I measured mine with a very accurate meter inline with the power cord. I measured 38 Watts while in Video Remains On, and 39 Watts Powered On. I also measured 1 Watt in Lowest Power Standby. So what you are experiencing is normal. Most of the circuitry is on when using VRO, it's only the front panel display that is not active, which is why the heat from the processor is unchanged whether it's On or in VRO.

It is not the quality of power. Where we live power is of outstanding quality all day every day. XMC-2 is plugged in on its own ATM as I am just testing and preparing to configure it.

But do you recognize those failures of boot as typical for how the boot failure looks? (I am not talking about frequency of them). 

What is the typical boot success or failure rate? What is considered normal? 

My point about using the extension cord is just to try a different circuit. There's got to be a reason you are getting such poor startup success.

Mine last failed to boot almost a year ago, and was due to getting that ERR:INIT HDSB82, which needed to be sent in for a re-flash. So, I guess that means once a year it might not boot properly.

You have Firmware 2.5, correct?
I just listened to the podcast and they said the firmware update is coming soon. yeah, I know. But it's supposed to have quite a few fixes in it. Maybe it might help? Might not. I think your issue is something else. You might pop the top, with the processor unplugged of course, and make sure all the ribbon cables are snug. These have been known to move during shipping.

[sebna]

Oct 6, 2022 17:58:48 GMT -5 ttocs said:

Oct 6, 2022 17:40:23 GMT -5 sebna said:

It is not the quality of power. Where we live power is of outstanding quality all day every day. XMC-2 is plugged in on its own ATM as I am just testing and preparing to configure it.

But do you recognize those failures of boot as typical for how the boot failure looks? (I am not talking about frequency of them). 

What is the typical boot success or failure rate? What is considered normal? 

My point about using the extension cord is just to try a different circuit. There's got to be a reason you are getting such poor startup success.

Mine last failed to boot almost a year ago, and was due to getting that ERR:INIT HDSB82, which needed to be sent in for a re-flash. So, I guess that means once a year it might not boot properly.

You have Firmware 2.5, correct?
I just listened to the podcast and they said the firmware update is coming soon. yeah, I know. But it's supposed to have quite a few fixes in it. Maybe it might help? Might not. I think your issue is something else. You might pop the top, with the processor unplugged of course, and make sure all the ribbon cables are snug. These have been known to move during shipping.

The error that forced you to send for re-flash - was it displayed on the XMC screen?

I believe it is on 2.5. I will confirm tomorrow as I am just about to head to the bed.

Once per year would be acceptable

Is it recommended to unplug everything from XMC-2 when doing factory reset?

I will see how it behaves tomorrow.

Not the best start , but hey, tomorrow is another day

[ttocs]

Oct 6, 2022 18:04:20 GMT -5 sebna said:

Oct 6, 2022 17:58:48 GMT -5 ttocs said:

My point about using the extension cord is just to try a different circuit. There's got to be a reason you are getting such poor startup success.

Mine last failed to boot almost a year ago, and was due to getting that ERR:INIT HDSB82, which needed to be sent in for a re-flash. So, I guess that means once a year it might not boot properly.

You have Firmware 2.5, correct?
I just listened to the podcast and they said the firmware update is coming soon. yeah, I know. But it's supposed to have quite a few fixes in it. Maybe it might help? Might not. I think your issue is something else. You might pop the top, with the processor unplugged of course, and make sure all the ribbon cables are snug. These have been known to move during shipping.

The error that forced you to send for re-flash - was it displayed on the XMC screen?

I believe it is on 2.5. I will confirm tomorrow as I am just about to head to the bed.

Once per year would be acceptable

Is it recommended to unplug everything from XMC-2 when doing factory reset?

I will see how it behaves tomorrow.

The error was displayed on the front panel display of the processor.

You don't need to unplug everything for a Factory Reset.

I've done plenty of resets just because it's easy to change the settings I want afterward vs finding what I might have changed deep in the menus. I change things so I can setup my processor like someone else's to try to duplicate their problem, after I'm finished helping I revert back to my settings so it's really a lot easier to perform a Factory Reset and start fresh, like a summer's eve.

[jim80z]

Oct 6, 2022 14:07:16 GMT -5 5channels said:

Oct 6, 2022 13:22:13 GMT -5 audiovideojunky said:

Oct 6, 2022 11:16:13 GMT -5 @brucelee said:

Betrayed, Betrayed, Betrayed and LIED to!!! When they couldn't get their crap together EMO bailed and moved most if not all resources into new development. Firmware fixes for RMC... no. Start over ...YES. Good luck EMO.

I find this reaction to be puzzling at best and down right unrealistic and thankless at worst.  The path EMO is following with a new generation of processors is hardly surprising given the dramatic increases in processing power undoubtedly required to handle 8K.  Think about it - that's 4x the resolution of 4K, and undoubtedly supports more audio/video features that further increase bandwidth and downstream processing requirements.  Would you prefer EMO attempt to limp along using processing power that's 5 years old?  That's not a realistic expectation - Imagine the performance complaints (if it were even technically feasible)!  I find the fact that EMO plans to provide an upgrade path for the previous generation of processors to be in complete harmony with their promise of an upgradable processor platform; regardless of what hardware and software must be upgraded to get there.

I get the reaction entirely. To some there is obviously a big difference between what Emo says and what Emo does.  
They don't want to hear "Emo plans" any longer, folk want to know know what "Emo has delivered".  I want what I paid for, not to have to pay more for what should have already been delivered

I can understand the sentiment around feeling of betrayal but after several years with 3rd gen if they were not thinking about the next evolution I would be very disappointed. Having said that we did pay for a device with certain promises associated with it. Personally I am still expecting to see (ie no more talk/plans but deliver this minimum):
- A FW that corrects the bass management issues, pops and clicks, rounds out the audio format decoding and upmixing, and can integrate output expansion cards
- XLR Output expansion board 

Im sure others may have some minimums to call it peace like fix video handshaking etc and to this end maybe getting a 2.1 board etc. Leave it them to voice it as I see none of those issues with the environment I have. If I get the above two points I would be happy with the current product.

Now for some tough love. I don't think the 4k to 8k should/would be driving this announcement.....the replacement of the video board was always telegraphed (as were the other expansion cards , enhancements etc) so Emo should have accounted for it in the design/roadmap. From posts on this forum many moons ago we understood clearly that original design decisions re the core of the processor wrt throughput et al have affected what they can and cant do eg DIRAC processing frequency, memory availability, needing to recode etc etc etc (done to death). I think Emo simply got it wrong and bit off too much than what they can chew. Reading the new announcement I  hope Emo understands what they are getting into as the new direction (linux based etc) brings different pain and levels of effort to maintain etc.

I will welcome the new with open arms.......frankly the only decision left is do I accept Emo will deliver gen 4 differently and better than gen 3 (cause other than the above Im happy with the audio quality and stability of the RMC and all the other Emo gear I have) OR take this opportunity to sell the RMC-1 and spend more to switch over to something that is a known quantity. Let's see what Dan and the guys have to say as we go forward (lots of Q right now).

As far as the gen 4 stuff I will use the other thread, but for now I will only re-iterate what someone else said - hope that ppl in countries other than USA are looked after in this process/rollout.

[bblv]

Wow, just wow… we don’t even have channel expansion modules for the RMC-1 yet and they’re hyping a new processor gen?? What happened to this gen being modular and future proof?? No updated Atmos, DTS:X or DLBC?? I’m still dealing with multiple nagging bugs that will likely never be resolved at this rate. What a joke. Wrong on so many levels.

[EmoBrent]

Oct 4, 2022 19:30:30 GMT -5 NicS said:

Oct 4, 2022 19:29:08 GMT -5 NicS said:

HDMI Handshake issues. Gotta turn everything off, unplug the processor then restart in a specific order, hoping for the best.

Sometimes it takes three glasses of Bordeaux to get things working. Then I'm like "screw the movie, I need smooth jazz....."

Nic, I feel I would be remiss to not summarize your full situation to viewers of the forum if you continue to publicly air us out as if we have not advised and tried to do all we can for your situation. To summarize:

- We have acquired and tested the very Reavon X100 player that was giving you issues.
- I personally spent hours testing it with multiple processors, TVs, and projectors, and it worked every time and in fact still works now, with 4K and 1080p displays.
- We offered and still offer to service your processor under the warranty, which you have chosen to not pursue.
- You use a 1080p Epson projector that was originally released in Nov 2012, nearly a decade ago. I have combed this manual and made every suggestion I could come up with.

We have advised that your issue with your BRP and processor presents as an HDMI conflict of some kind between the combination of devices, likely HDCP based on what we have seen. Just as you have the choice to use a different HT processor, you also have the choice to use a different projector if you wish. But being frank, compatibility issues with legacy displays that are nearly 10 years old is not on the top of the list of things that we are working on. I hope the new FW works for you, and the offer still stands to service your processor at the hardware level. But at some point you may have to accept the reality of your HDMI situation and make a change of some kind. Combining an esoteric BRP with a relatively esoteric processor and a legacy projector is not exactly a recipe for HDMI bliss. Surely you must like something about the processor.

If I have overstepped, I will take the heat, but I think it is important to present the entire situation if we are going to continue here. I understand the HDMI issues and constantly advocate for customers internally to improve this. I will never deny that there are issues with the processors and that the serious delays are causing anxiety. But I think full context is important.

This is something I have learned since working here: the development cycle on these processors and their components is a multiyear cycle. What I mean is that to develop something like the new HDMI 2.1 board or any of the boards in the processors, the components, especially microprocessors and other silicone, must be selected and acquired in quantity years in advance of the actual production of the final components. With the chip and semiconductor shortages, and as a small company that lacks the buying power of a massive international conglomerate, the state of things over the past few years have affected the development of the processors. Chip changes, board redesigns, versioning around multiple boards, etc. So while these hardware upgrades may seem ill-timed with the current firmware delay, the development of the future processor hardware and upgrades must happen concurrently with other development. The timing of all of this has been seriously affected by world events that I don't need to detail. So while we look at our specific processor installations in microcosm and recognize the individual frustrations, there is a bigger picture or reason for why at least some of this has happened the way it has. Decisions could have been made differently along the way, sure, but we are working to make this better. 

[ttocs]

Oct 7, 2022 8:43:25 GMT -5 EmoBrent said:

We have advised that your issue with your BRP and processor presents as an HDMI conflict of some kind between the combination of devices, likely HDCP based on what we have seen.

HDCP gremlins are difficult to trace to a setting that will alleviate an issue, as I've discovered. It took me weeks to find that it's the display that caused the issue. I found a setting that seems absolutely unrelated to the condition causing HDCP Lockup, but in fact, it was causing the issue. In a very odd group of settings on the Sony 950G is a setting called RS232C Control, and it's in Remotes And Accessories group - go figure, and all I had to do was choose "Via Serial Port" instead of the default "Via HDMI Port" and HDCP Lockup stopped happening.

I post this, again, to point out that every component can cause issues with any other connected component in the system, and it's usually an HDMI issue, and it's usually not the processor. Cabling is the first thing to look at, including fiber optic cables which I use and allowed the aforementioned HDCP Lockup issue to be exposed. So was it the cable? No. It was the Sony tv setting. The fiber cable didn't cause the problem, but exposed it.

My issues have been caused, and settings to correct have been found, by/in my various components connected to the processor. My Sony tv has been a major contributor to odd things, as well as a Sony player I no longer use, Panasonic UB820, TiVo EDGE, ATV4K, Epson 5040UB (no longer in the system), and most recently the Roku Ultra. Solutions to incompatibility abound, but may take time to discover.

My first ATV4K was able to turn on Sleep Mode on the Epson 5040 causing it to shut down after a period of time, which took two weeks to find this out by connecting only one device at a time and as soon as the ATV4K was connected is when the PJ would shut down after a period of time, which led to discovering a setting I TURNED OFF in the PJ that the ATV4K TURNED BACK ON! CEC at its best! I was able to configure both devices to leave each other alone. Same with the Roku, CEC caused an issue but I knew what was going on so I installed another Lindy CEC-Less adapter on it, problem solved.

I use my system without difficulty every day. The only flaw I encounter some days is with ticks and some pops when some components are used, mostly the ATV4K and sometimes the Mac mini.

As Homer famously said, "Beer is the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems".
Same with HDMI, except it's more cause than solution.

[KeithL]

One suggestion I will add is that sometimes, in situations like this, you can improve matters by isolating the device causing the issue.

Devices like the HDFury are designed specifically for this purpose - and can often solve this sort of problem.
It might even improve matters to put a low-cost active HDMI splitter between the processor and the projector.
(Even if you only use one output an active splitter will add some degree of "signal and protocol isolation" between the projector and the rest of the HDMI system.)

Oct 7, 2022 8:43:25 GMT -5 EmoBrent said:

Oct 4, 2022 19:30:30 GMT -5 NicS said:

Sometimes it takes three glasses of Bordeaux to get things working. Then I'm like "screw the movie, I need smooth jazz....."

Nic, I feel I would be remiss to not summarize your full situation to viewers of the forum if you continue to publicly air us out as if we have not advised and tried to do all we can for your situation. To summarize:

- We have acquired and tested the very Reavon X100 player that was giving you issues.
- I personally spent hours testing it with multiple processors, TVs, and projectors, and it worked every time and in fact still works now, with 4K and 1080p displays.
- We offered and still offer to service your processor under the warranty, which you have chosen to not pursue.
- You use a 1080p Epson projector that was originally released in Nov 2012, nearly a decade ago. I have combed this manual and made every suggestion I could come up with.

We have advised that your issue with your BRP and processor presents as an HDMI conflict of some kind between the combination of devices, likely HDCP based on what we have seen. Just as you have the choice to use a different HT processor, you also have the choice to use a different projector if you wish. But being frank, compatibility issues with legacy displays that are nearly 10 years old is not on the top of the list of things that we are working on. I hope the new FW works for you, and the offer still stands to service your processor at the hardware level. But at some point you may have to accept the reality of your HDMI situation and make a change of some kind. Combining an esoteric BRP with a relatively esoteric processor and a legacy projector is not exactly a recipe for HDMI bliss. Surely you must like something about the processor.

If I have overstepped, I will take the heat, but I think it is important to present the entire situation if we are going to continue here. I understand the HDMI issues and constantly advocate for customers internally to improve this. I will never deny that there are issues with the processors and that the serious delays are causing anxiety. But I think full context is important.

This is something I have learned since working here: the development cycle on these processors and their components is a multiyear cycle. What I mean is that to develop something like the new HDMI 2.1 board or any of the boards in the processors, the components, especially microprocessors and other silicone, must be selected and acquired in quantity years in advance of the actual production of the final components. With the chip and semiconductor shortages, and as a small company that lacks the buying power of a massive international conglomerate, the state of things over the past few years have affected the development of the processors. Chip changes, board redesigns, versioning around multiple boards, etc. So while these hardware upgrades may seem ill-timed with the current firmware delay, the development of the future processor hardware and upgrades must happen concurrently with other development. The timing of all of this has been seriously affected by world events that I don't need to detail. So while we look at our specific processor installations in microcosm and recognize the individual frustrations, there is a bigger picture or reason for why at least some of this has happened the way it has. Decisions could have been made differently along the way, sure, but we are working to make this better. 

[richb]

Oct 7, 2022 8:43:25 GMT -5 EmoBrent said:

Oct 4, 2022 19:30:30 GMT -5 NicS said:

Sometimes it takes three glasses of Bordeaux to get things working. Then I'm like "screw the movie, I need smooth jazz....."

Nic, I feel I would be remiss to not summarize your full situation to viewers of the forum if you continue to publicly air us out as if we have not advised and tried to do all we can for your situation. To summarize:

- We have acquired and tested the very Reavon X100 player that was giving you issues.
- I personally spent hours testing it with multiple processors, TVs, and projectors, and it worked every time and in fact still works now, with 4K and 1080p displays.
- We offered and still offer to service your processor under the warranty, which you have chosen to not pursue.
- You use a 1080p Epson projector that was originally released in Nov 2012, nearly a decade ago. I have combed this manual and made every suggestion I could come up with.

We have advised that your issue with your BRP and processor presents as an HDMI conflict of some kind between the combination of devices, likely HDCP based on what we have seen. Just as you have the choice to use a different HT processor, you also have the choice to use a different projector if you wish. But being frank, compatibility issues with legacy displays that are nearly 10 years old is not on the top of the list of things that we are working on. I hope the new FW works for you, and the offer still stands to service your processor at the hardware level. But at some point you may have to accept the reality of your HDMI situation and make a change of some kind. Combining an esoteric BRP with a relatively esoteric processor and a legacy projector is not exactly a recipe for HDMI bliss. Surely you must like something about the processor.

If I have overstepped, I will take the heat, but I think it is important to present the entire situation if we are going to continue here. I understand the HDMI issues and constantly advocate for customers internally to improve this. I will never deny that there are issues with the processors and that the serious delays are causing anxiety. But I think full context is important.

This is something I have learned since working here: the development cycle on these processors and their components is a multiyear cycle. What I mean is that to develop something like the new HDMI 2.1 board or any of the boards in the processors, the components, especially microprocessors and other silicone, must be selected and acquired in quantity years in advance of the actual production of the final components. With the chip and semiconductor shortages, and as a small company that lacks the buying power of a massive international conglomerate, the state of things over the past few years have affected the development of the processors. Chip changes, board redesigns, versioning around multiple boards, etc. So while these hardware upgrades may seem ill-timed with the current firmware delay, the development of the future processor hardware and upgrades must happen concurrently with other development. The timing of all of this has been seriously affected by world events that I don't need to detail. So while we look at our specific processor installations in microcosm and recognize the individual frustrations, there is a bigger picture or reason for why at least some of this has happened the way it has. Decisions could have been made differently along the way, sure, but we are working to make this better. 

I know this may not be well received, but the HDFury products, though not inexpensive, exist to solve HDMI issues.
I use an HDFury Vertex primarily for its ability to mask logos when watching news that will burn in an OLED.
Yeah, OLED is not supposed to burn in, but all emissive displays with uneven wear will burn in.

It's funny, I took a look at some pictures of my HT system from 10 years back, and found, that the only component that is unchanged is my Pronto Remote

EDIT: I see that @keithl beat me to it on the HDFury recommendation.

- Rich

[KeithL]

Emotiva products sold here in the USA are sold directly by Emotiva.
And, in that case, the original owner is required to transfer the warranty to the new owner by contacting us.

With International sales the warranty is handled by the distributor who sells the unit.
In that case it is their policy that determines how a transfer of ownership should be handled.

Oct 1, 2022 5:43:39 GMT -5 sebna said:

Sept 30, 2022 15:48:05 GMT -5 KeithL said:

In general the Factory Reset is not known to cause any problems...
In fact performing a Factory Reset often eliminates the occasional bit of odd behavior that sometimes occurs.
We often suggest that people who experience "quirky problems" save their setup, do a Factory Reset, then restore their setup.
If you have purchased a used unit which has "a lot of configuration still in it" you WOULD be well advised to perform a Factory Reset and start your setup from scratch.

Also, assuming that the previous owner was under warranty, be sure to have him or her transfer their warranty to you.
(The previous owner, whose name is on the warranty, must contact us and ask us to transfer it to the new owner.)

Hi Keith,

Great info. About the warranty transfer. It is still under warranty. I have the original purchase invoice from the 1st owner. It was bought form Nintronics in UK. I called them to check and they said all I need is the invoice and that there is no need to transfer as I will be contacting them for the warranty. Should I ask original owner to shoot you an email to complete the process with Emotiva directly?

Also it seems that I was not able to get OSD when using HDMI 1 out - it works well on HDMI 2 out. Is this normal or should I try again with HDMI 1?

[KeithL]

1.
Failing to boot half of the time is not at all normal.
It CAN be caused by some sort of interaction with another device - but you can rule this out by disconnecting all HDMI devices.
(If it boots reliably with nothing connected then it's probably some sort of interaction; if not then it may be a hardware problem and may need service.)

2.
When the XMC-2 is in "Video Remains On" Standby - otherwise known as "high-power standby" - the unit basically remains on.
The front panel and a few other things are powered down, and audio is routed to the TV, but the unit is basically still running and so uses the normal amount of power.
(This is why the unit shuts down and wakes up quickly - because it is not fully shutting down and rebooting.)
(This is also why, if a glitch occurs, switching into high-power standby may not fix it..... because it is NOT a full reboot of the processor.)

3.
A firmware update for our current processors is indeed still on the way.
What you've heard is pretty much correct:
We were planning to release FW v3.0 then changed our minds because we discovered a few remaining bugs and decided to fix a few more things.
This took longer than we anticipated... (OK... a LOT longer than we anticipated).
We have NOT "stopped working on the current generation because we're working on the next generation".
The current generation of processors will all be upgradable to the new 8k HDMI 2.1 capabilities - but we absolutely will continue to support those that are not.
(Not everyone has a need for 8k.)

4.
Also note that, while we tend to "keep an eye on the forums", the Forums are NOT our official support channel.
Therefore we may not always notice things that get posted here and may not always respond to them.
For an assured and reasonably prompt response to actual support issues you need to contact the Support Department.
(So, if that "failure to reboot" issue persists, it would be a good idea to actually contact our support department.)

Oct 6, 2022 16:53:11 GMT -5 sebna said:

So, I have tried factory reset today and even though it went smoothly, my XMC-2 will randomly (and approximately) 6/10 times not boot. To be precise it boots but hangs on either "Rethink Hi-End" or if you press menu button on the remote during that stage it will open the menu and freeze there. When it goes wrong like that the boot up takes over 5min in compare to 1:20 when it is successful and normal.

I am talking booting from low-power state. I tried doing another 3 factory resets but it leads to the same outcomes so far.

Did anybody had a problem like this before? Is it a known problem? Let me know guys.

I hope that this message will not get swamp with G4P discussion frenzy

PS. I also discovered that when XMC-2 is "sleeping" when video signal pass through option is enabled it takes 40W and when it is fully on it takes 40W as well... so sleep function seems to do nothing for power consumption.

[NicS]

Oct 7, 2022 8:43:25 GMT -5 EmoBrent said:

Oct 4, 2022 19:30:30 GMT -5 NicS said:

Sometimes it takes three glasses of Bordeaux to get things working. Then I'm like "screw the movie, I need smooth jazz....."

Nic, I feel I would be remiss to not summarize your full situation to viewers of the forum if you continue to publicly air us out as if we have not advised and tried to do all we can for your situation. To summarize:

- We have acquired and tested the very Reavon X100 player that was giving you issues.
- I personally spent hours testing it with multiple processors, TVs, and projectors, and it worked every time and in fact still works now, with 4K and 1080p displays.
- We offered and still offer to service your processor under the warranty, which you have chosen to not pursue.
- You use a 1080p Epson projector that was originally released in Nov 2012, nearly a decade ago. I have combed this manual and made every suggestion I could come up with.

We have advised that your issue with your BRP and processor presents as an HDMI conflict of some kind between the combination of devices, likely HDCP based on what we have seen. Just as you have the choice to use a different HT processor, you also have the choice to use a different projector if you wish. But being frank, compatibility issues with legacy displays that are nearly 10 years old is not on the top of the list of things that we are working on. I hope the new FW works for you, and the offer still stands to service your processor at the hardware level. But at some point you may have to accept the reality of your HDMI situation and make a change of some kind. Combining an esoteric BRP with a relatively esoteric processor and a legacy projector is not exactly a recipe for HDMI bliss. Surely you must like something about the processor.

If I have overstepped, I will take the heat, but I think it is important to present the entire situation if we are going to continue here. I understand the HDMI issues and constantly advocate for customers internally to improve this. I will never deny that there are issues with the processors and that the serious delays are causing anxiety. But I think full context is important.

This is something I have learned since working here: the development cycle on these processors and their components is a multiyear cycle. What I mean is that to develop something like the new HDMI 2.1 board or any of the boards in the processors, the components, especially microprocessors and other silicone, must be selected and acquired in quantity years in advance of the actual production of the final components. With the chip and semiconductor shortages, and as a small company that lacks the buying power of a massive international conglomerate, the state of things over the past few years have affected the development of the processors. Chip changes, board redesigns, versioning around multiple boards, etc. So while these hardware upgrades may seem ill-timed with the current firmware delay, the development of the future processor hardware and upgrades must happen concurrently with other development. The timing of all of this has been seriously affected by world events that I don't need to detail. So while we look at our specific processor installations in microcosm and recognize the individual frustrations, there is a bigger picture or reason for why at least some of this has happened the way it has. Decisions could have been made differently along the way, sure, but we are working to make this better. 

With all due respect to you Brent, you have been very attentive with regards my issues with my RMC-1L, though your summation of the situation needs a little clarification.

Yes, admittedly my projector is a bit on the old side, but for critical assessment of material in my professional life I use a variety of monitors that I plug up to my RMC-1L. These range from TV Logic 4K location monitors to the Sony BVM-HX310, the motion picture industry gold standard 4K HDR color grading monitor.  None of threse work well with my RMC-1L. The performance is always glitchy.

I was sent a sound file to listen to yesterday. It was encoded Dolby Atmos into an MP4 file according to the Dolby specification for evaluation. I was also sent a PCM 5.1 encoded version. I was not successful listening to these files. Implementation of surround via USB has never worked properly. Your website still says that the RMC-1L has a USB digital input that supports PCM and DSD files up to 24/192k, though I've never had a DSD file play in this input and it does not seem to support multichannel, as suggested by the DSD format. I could not get any of my BluRay player to successfully playback the file either. I had to go to a friends place to hear it properly.

As for Blu Ray Players, I have these units:
Reavon X100, X110, X200
Sony UBP-X800
Oppo UDP-203

None of these seem to play well with the RMC1-L, with it connected to the projector or any of the monitors I have access to.

Like so many people on this forum, I am a fan of what you guys do. When I'm playing Roon digital files via my Streambox, running my turntable through the balanced input set to Reference Stereo, watching movies with my AppleTV, everything works pretty well. Though it is not without the issues that most of us have continually reported here, all of which have been promised fixes with a v3.0 firmware update promised some 7 months ago. These issues include HDMI handshake issues, delays or loud pops when switching between formats, lack of functionality specified in the current spec sheet though promised in firmware updates etc etc.

I know I've been a little sarcastic in this forum. Maybe with a hint of bitterness. But I'm trying the best I can to be relatively good natured while my patience is really being tested. Because frankly, when I borrowed a friend's Marantz AVR to test why I was getting so many issues with the RMC1-L with my range of source components and displays, the experience was like chalk and cheese. It just worked. No issues.

And now I face the prospect that my $4,000 processor, now being sold for $2,500 will shortly be replaced by another unit that will no doubt have the same claims to specification that my RMC1-L never met, in a lingering, protracted wait for a firmware that is clear now was a low priority over the release of a new product.

Tell, me; under the circumstances how do you expect to retain me as a customer? Because I would dearly love to remain one out of some perverse loyalty. Of the dozen or so products I've purchase from you they have all worked very well, other than the XMC-1 and the RMC1-L which have both been so buggy my wife refuses to touch them.

So, will we ever see a v3.0 firmware? Will there ever be an upgraded HDMI board that addresses the issues so clearly detailed in this particular forum? Or will we have to drop another couple of grand to risk being exposed to yet another few years of waiting for fixes on a new product?

As for the offer of a warrantee repair, we agreed some time ago that the first port of call in this respect would be to test the v3.0 firmware. Then if this did not work, send the unit in for the "repair" which I'm guessing is to replace the HDMI board with a later version. Though this seems pointless if the much rumored HDMI 2.1 board is to be offered as an upgrade. I feel I'm stuck in a perpetual purgatory of paralysis with regard to this issue. Always being told that v3.0 is just a few weeks away has prevented me from sending the unit in - I'll wait a few weeks to see if the fix is just software. It just never seems to arrive.

[NicS]

Oct 6, 2022 13:22:13 GMT -5 audiovideojunky said:

Oct 6, 2022 11:16:13 GMT -5 @brucelee said:

Betrayed, Betrayed, Betrayed and LIED to!!! When they couldn't get their crap together EMO bailed and moved most if not all resources into new development. Firmware fixes for RMC... no. Start over ...YES. Good luck EMO.

I find this reaction to be puzzling at best and down right unrealistic and thankless at worst.  The path EMO is following with a new generation of processors is hardly surprising given the dramatic increases in processing power undoubtedly required to handle 8K.  Think about it - that's 4x the resolution of 4K, and undoubtedly supports more audio/video features that further increase bandwidth and downstream processing requirements.  Would you prefer EMO attempt to limp along using processing power that's 5 years old?  That's not a realistic expectation - Imagine the performance complaints (if it were even technically feasible)!  I find the fact that EMO plans to provide an upgrade path for the previous generation of processors to be in complete harmony with their promise of an upgradable processor platform; regardless of what hardware and software must be upgraded to get there.

Interesting.

I think brucelee is being quite honest and succinct, though clearly quite emotional. And who can blame him? He's 100% right. His decision to bail out of the Emotiva fold is well justified. Personally, I'm  not there yet. I'm hoping that Brent and his team will pull the big white rabbit out of the hat and we'll all collectively get that warm glow back.

A few other things:
8K. Really? Other than for gamers this is pointless. I do a little demonstration at the American Film Institute where I lecture in cinematography and technologies that addresses the concept of "resolution" in modern filmmaking. Most dramatic material (TV shows & movies) are shot at 24 frames per second on cameras that are barely 4K resolution. The most used camera currently in drama is the ARRI Alexa Mini, which has a peak resolution in a static frame of 3.4K in ARRIRAW, though most shows I know use this camera, like Marvelous Mrs Maisel for example, originate at 2.8K. Thera re higher resolution cameras, but most are not shot at full resolution due to the crazy amount of data they produce. The Oscar winning Bladerunner 2049 was shot by Rodger Deakins at 2.8K. The image blur of material shot at 24fps, plus the preference of "soft" lenses shot with wide apertures with diffusion filters and on-set atmosphere smoke produce an image that render at sub 1K for 95% of the time. Which is on purpose. Low resolution images tend to look more artistic. For sports however, at 4K 60hz a 4K display is preferable, but only for the graphics, because again, other artifacts reduce the "real world" resolution considerably. So to me 8K is a red herring.

At home I use an HD projector. Most of the time I'm watching movies. My projector is professionally calibrated and looks pretty decent. I've demoed 4K laser projectors at home, which looked slightly better, but not worth the $5,000 difference. If I want to evaluate something critically I use a professional grading monitor. But who can keep a $50K 31" monitor inn the house?

There is virtually no 8K content available. I don't know a single cinematographer currently shooting in 8K.

In reality, 4K is about all you would need for domestic use, outside gaming or heavily graphics orientated display. For drama even 4K is overkill. HDR is another story...