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Post by rzelinka on Jan 19, 2021 20:36:30 GMT -5
I would like some advice and perspective from current XMC-2 owners please. I am in the market for a processor which is Dolby Atmos compatible. I am using an Outlaw Audio 976 processor today and it’s connected via balanced XLR to my amps and 2 subs.
I only watch movies which are streamed by an Apple TV and don’t listen to music in a room which is 13x15x8 and therefore have been looking at an Emotiva XMC-2 for processing. I’m a little anxious about all the reports of bugs and slowness. I admit for every one who posts issues with this, there’s an equal number of posts to say it’s a great processor. Curious to learn what others were experiencing.
Thank you in advance for any replies
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Post by adaboy on Jan 19, 2021 21:14:16 GMT -5
I would like some advice and perspective from current XMC-2 owners please. I am in the market for a processor which is Dolby Atmos compatible. I am using an Outlaw Audio 976 processor today and it’s connected via balanced XLR to my amps and 2 subs. I only watch movies which are streamed by an Apple TV and don’t listen to music in a room which is 13x15x8 and therefore have been looking at an Emotiva XMC-2 for processing. I’m a little anxious about all the reports of bugs and slowness. I admit for every one who posts issues with this, there’s an equal number of posts to say it’s a great processor. Curious to learn what others were experiencing. Thank you in advance for any replies So does this mean that the processor is close to a 50% failure rate? I wouldn't say it was that bad. It doesn't compare to say a Marantz pre in regards to functionality and reliability. So it will definitely depend on whether you want to tinker with your processor or if you just want it to work 99.9999999% of the time.
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Post by rzelinka on Jan 19, 2021 21:34:04 GMT -5
I would want it to work. My day job has its fair share of stress as it is, my home theater will be designed to reduce stress not create more
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 19, 2021 21:51:57 GMT -5
My XMC-2 is almost completely stable with the latest firmware update. No slowness. No audio dropouts. The only thing I have occasionally with the Apple TV4K is some noise. Turning the processor off and on solves it. Again, this is rare and others have reported it. I have no regrets trading in the XMC-1.
lsc made a comment that he won't allow other family members to use the XMC-2 due to issues....I felt like that with the original few firmware updates that dropped audio. My wife was not thrilled. However, that issue for me is gone and has been for quite awhile now. I am getting no complaints.
I don't use ARC and never have. ARC and CEC can be problematic regardless of brand.
I have an Oppo 203 bluray player and that works seamlessly with the XMC-2.
As to Dirac, it works well but there is a learning curve and connecting the additional black box can cause stress. Once figured out, it's fine and once you have dialed the sound in, you really don't need to run it again unless you change something. Using a laptop and microphone is new to many people, so if you are used to just plugging the mic into your receiver or processor, that may be an issue. I like the extra sophistication, others may not.
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Jan 20, 2021 1:16:50 GMT -5
I would like some advice and perspective from current XMC-2 owners please. I am in the market for a processor which is Dolby Atmos compatible. I am using an Outlaw Audio 976 processor today and it’s connected via balanced XLR to my amps and 2 subs. I only watch movies which are streamed by an Apple TV and don’t listen to music in a room which is 13x15x8 and therefore have been looking at an Emotiva XMC-2 for processing. I’m a little anxious about all the reports of bugs and slowness. I admit for every one who posts issues with this, there’s an equal number of posts to say it’s a great processor. Curious to learn what others were experiencing. Thank you in advance for any replies What are you other choices? My XMC2 has served me very well. However, depending on your usage, I’m not sure if I can recommend it. For example, only I use the XMC2 in my family. My son tried to watch a movie and couldn’t get the sound working. So I’m very hesitant to have anyone else use my gear. If ARC is important to you then you may want to look elsewhere as well. This didn’t happen to me but you may start off annoyed the way DIrac is packaged and provided. By now when the XMC2 is shipped to your door, everything should be ready to go and you should have the Dirac kit included in the XMC2 (there is enough space in the box). If you are expecting DLBC to be added sometime in the near future, no one knows when that would be. 1 month or 1 year. If you have a Panasonic Blu-ray player it looks like there is an issue when it’s paused (I don’t have this issue bc I don’t have a Panny). There may be a few other issues but these are all the main ones I can think of at this time. I’ve said this before in case some people think I’m being overly critical, when I recommend something the standards are extremely high and I really put myself in the other person’s shoes. I hope the XMC2 eventually matures to a point where I can easily recommend it, but it’s not there yet. Just as an example, I can easily recommend the ATI 4000 series amps and Revel speakers (performa3 and up). I can also easily recommend SVS subs even though not everyone thinks it’s up there in value. I would never recommend a Sony 4K Blu-ray player - they suck. Hope this helps.
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Rafy
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Post by Rafy on Jan 20, 2021 7:44:17 GMT -5
I just got a RMC 1L, had the same concerns as you do, but after getting everything setup, the processor is working fine, yes is a bit slower than my Marantz but is fine I knew that already so much settings and customization have not set Dirac yet, I'm very happy. My two cents...
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Post by megash0n on Jan 20, 2021 10:02:25 GMT -5
You mentioned stress and you're asking for other's opinion. My personal opinion is that, unless you want more stress and negativity in your life, you probably want to look elsewhere for multi-channel processors. Holistically, and over a significant amount of time, each generation has a very rough beginning with a somewhat stable ending. We are still seeing numerous reports of new owners of old xmc-1s that have issues. There is certainly a trade-off between price and sanity. You have to be the judge of how much you are willing to tolerate.
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 20, 2021 10:58:18 GMT -5
You mentioned stress and you're asking for other's opinion. My personal opinion is that, unless you want more stress and negativity in your life, you probably want to look elsewhere for multi-channel processors. Holistically, and over a significant amount of time, each generation has a very rough beginning with a somewhat stable ending. We are still seeing numerous reports of new owners of old xmc-1s that have issues. There is certainly a trade-off between price and sanity. You have to be the judge of how much you are willing to tolerate. If he wants less stress, he may want to forego a multi-channel processor period. Complications such as room correction, multiple surround sound formats, Atmos, additional speakers, amps, wires....sources....it's just too much! Seriously, for me the XMC-1 was a pleasure to own. The sound and build quality was much better than my previous Denon and Pioneer Elite receiver(s). Yes, there were some hiccups which were solved through firmware update just like my current XMC-2. If it wasn't for the trade-in deal, I would still be using my XMC-1. My suggestion to anyone contemplating the purchase of an Emotiva ( or any brand processor), is to review their return policy and if really interested, order it, set it up, run it through it's paces, and then decide for yourself.
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Post by adaboy on Jan 20, 2021 11:58:00 GMT -5
I would want it to work. My day job has its fair share of stress as it is, my home theater will be designed to reduce stress not create more I'll add this last bit. Stress free? Don't choose this processor. Being honest most here including myself root for and want to support Emotiva even if that means turning a blind eye to some seriously stressful "hiccups" (problems). It's a love hate relationship and if you don't want to be bothered with it please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. Just imagine you come home from a stressful day at work ready to decompress by enjoying your theater. You turn it on wait.... It gets going you smile then a pause is needed (apple TV). Return no audio? Get up and perform a hard reset.... Not my idea of reliable or relaxing. Again I've had emotiva products since 2012, but never ever will purchase one of there processors. Too many problems (hiccups).
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 20, 2021 12:41:56 GMT -5
I would want it to work. My day job has its fair share of stress as it is, my home theater will be designed to reduce stress not create more I'll add this last bit. Stress free? Don't choose this processor. Being honest most here including myself root for and want to support Emotiva even if that means turning a blind eye to some seriously stressful "hiccups" (problems). It's a love hate relationship and if you don't want to be bothered with it please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. Just imagine you come home from a stressful day at work ready to decompress by enjoying your theater. You turn it on wait.... It gets going you smile then a pause is needed (apple TV). Return no audio? Get up and perform a hard reset.... Not my idea of reliable or relaxing. Again I've had emotiva products since 2012, but never ever will purchase one of there processors. Too many problems (hiccups). I thought he was looking for "current owner" experiences?
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Post by rbk123 on Jan 20, 2021 15:05:35 GMT -5
I admit for every one who posts issues with this, there’s an equal number of posts to say it’s a great processor. Curious to learn what others were experiencing. Thank you in advance for any replies The responses to your request are simply going to match the sampling rate you already mentioned. Those in each camp will simply restate what you've already read.
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Post by rzelinka on Jan 20, 2021 15:36:44 GMT -5
Thank you all for taking time to respond. I've owned 2 home theater systems in 20 years. Both being 7.1 systems. My Rotel RSP-1098 finally died due to a power hit our home took (despite whole home and independent surge suppression protection). The Rotel setup worked flawlessly every time up until it's failure. I just could not see paying $400+ shipping to repair it so I found a used Outlaw Audio 976 in the interim. On the plus side it has balanced connections and it also works flawlessly. It's not a Dolby Atmos setup and sonically it is okay. I looked at Rotel again, but they're behind the curve it feels. Monoprice was of interest but the poor customer support experiences I hear about was not appealing. I am intrigued to learn more about the latest Anthem processors.
Someone suggested all processors have some type of issues given formats, room dynamics, etc. Is it far to say that Dolby Atmos is a whole new ballgame which is why it's more challenging? In the past, I just ran my sound tests, used a sound meter and calibrated. The Outlaw has a microphone which does this on it's own and did quite well against my sound meter. In any event, it just works. Very simple. I turn it on, play a movie and enjoy.
That is what I am looking for out of my next processor. Seems maybe I should wait it out for the time being.
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 20, 2021 16:53:55 GMT -5
Thank you all for taking time to respond. I've owned 2 home theater systems in 20 years. Both being 7.1 systems. My Rotel RSP-1098 finally died due to a power hit our home took (despite whole home and independent surge suppression protection). The Rotel setup worked flawlessly every time up until it's failure. I just could not see paying $400+ shipping to repair it so I found a used Outlaw Audio 976 in the interim. On the plus side it has balanced connections and it also works flawlessly. It's not a Dolby Atmos setup and sonically it is okay. I looked at Rotel again, but they're behind the curve it feels. Monoprice was of interest but the poor customer support experiences I hear about was not appealing. I am intrigued to learn more about the latest Anthem processors. Someone suggested all processors have some type of issues given formats, room dynamics, etc. Is it far to say that Dolby Atmos is a whole new ballgame which is why it's more challenging? In the past, I just ran my sound tests, used a sound meter and calibrated. The Outlaw has a microphone which does this on it's own and did quite well against my sound meter. In any event, it just works. Very simple. I turn it on, play a movie and enjoy. That is what I am looking for out of my next processor. Seems maybe I should wait it out for the time being. I don't think you need to wait. Most of these processors can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make them. If you want to use Audessey or a proprietary system from Yamaha, Onkyo, etc., all you need to do is connect the provided mic to the processor and follow directions. Pretty simple. If you decide to go to a higher level such as Dirac which Emotiva uses, or ARC which Anthem uses, things get a little more complicated, or in-depth. Follow directions, run, save, and most of the time you should not have issues. I woiuld not be afraid to try either and Emotiva or Anthem processor. You will have help here if you run into issues and you should have enough time to return the product if it's just too much. It sounds like to me that you want to go to the next step, but maybe you should stick with the standard such as an Audessey system where the mic is connected directly to the processor. Take a look at what Crutchfield for user reviews and additional information.
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Post by adaboy on Jan 20, 2021 17:22:42 GMT -5
I'll add this last bit. Stress free? Don't choose this processor. Being honest most here including myself root for and want to support Emotiva even if that means turning a blind eye to some seriously stressful "hiccups" (problems). It's a love hate relationship and if you don't want to be bothered with it please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. Just imagine you come home from a stressful day at work ready to decompress by enjoying your theater. You turn it on wait.... It gets going you smile then a pause is needed (apple TV). Return no audio? Get up and perform a hard reset.... Not my idea of reliable or relaxing. Again I've had emotiva products since 2012, but never ever will purchase one of there processors. Too many problems (hiccups). I thought he was looking for "current owner" experiences? He did, and I still chimed in. Hopefully he will stay clear until or if the unit ever gets to 99.999% reliability without having to make any work arounds, otherwise the "current owners" are being disingenuous.
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 20, 2021 19:48:19 GMT -5
I thought he was looking for "current owner" experiences? He did, and I still chimed in. Hopefully he will stay clear until or if the unit ever gets to 99.999% reliability without having to make any work arounds, otherwise the "current owners" are being disingenuous. That’s your opinion and you certainly don’t know or speak for me. Let me say it again.....the XMC-2 which I am using right now is working 99.99999% reliable for me. I don’t have any “work arounds” Disingenuous? Come on .
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Post by rbk123 on Jan 20, 2021 19:59:52 GMT -5
Is it far to say that Dolby Atmos is a whole new ballgame which is why it's more challenging? Sort of. It's more the newer HDMI standards aren't as tight as they should be for their complexity PLUS programming for them is very difficult due to their complexity. Atmos is a subset under that hierarchy, but what you said is close enough. If your only source is streaming from AppleTV, I'd wager you'll probably have very few problems, just the occasional hiccup. There are lots of Apple TV users here. It sounds like you're in the states so get an XMC-2 and try it out. You can return it if it proves too painful and just be out a small amount of $ for return shipping. Think of it as the cost of a night out - a fun little project for a few bucks if it doesn't work out.
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Post by adaboy on Jan 20, 2021 23:01:43 GMT -5
He did, and I still chimed in. Hopefully he will stay clear until or if the unit ever gets to 99.999% reliability without having to make any work arounds, otherwise the "current owners" are being disingenuous. That’s your opinion and you certainly don’t know or speak for me. Let me say it again.....the XMC-2 which I am using right now is working 99.99999% reliable for me. I don’t have any “work arounds” Disingenuous? Come on . You sir are lying.... You said you have issues with your apple TV 4k unit, and... You said it wasn't perfect. Nuff Said, enjoy your equipment.
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 20, 2021 23:06:47 GMT -5
That’s your opinion and you certainly don’t know or speak for me. Let me say it again.....the XMC-2 which I am using right now is working 99.99999% reliable for me. I don’t have any “work arounds” Disingenuous? Come on . You sir are lying.... You said you have issues with your apple TV 4k unit, and... You said it wasn't perfect. Nuff Said, enjoy your equipment. No lie.....99.9999% to the good and very rare, occasional noise issue with the ATV4K......last occurrence was a month ago.....more than Nuff Said.
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Jan 21, 2021 3:45:29 GMT -5
I watched a lot of tv today and listened to music for about an hour. I also loaded a Dirac filter. All of it no issues.
Where the issues lie is that I felt like my previously loaded filter didn’t sound right so I had to load another one. And I don’t use ARC right now bc I got sick of unplugging and doing the resetting.
So daily operation with my sources zero issues and I can just turn my XMC2 on and it just works. My XMC2 also doesn’t suffer from any of the slow down that I’ve been reading lately. But I avoid doing something like ARC (well that’s about it) bc the XMC2 doesn’t do it well. Also, something is funky with the filters so I’m hoping emotiva has an answer to that.
Also we don’t have DLBC if that is important to you.
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Post by suffolk112000 on Jan 29, 2021 8:50:29 GMT -5
I've been considering upgrading my XMC1 to the XMC2, but the earlier comment regarding an issue with Panasonic Blu-ray players gives me some pause. I have the Panasonic UB820. Can someone please elaborate on these comments? Thanks! By the way, I'm coming from a UMC-1, then the XMC1 that I currently own. I'm not unhappy about the XMC. The quirks I experience are occasional dropouts. Maybe two per movie. Thanks in advance.
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