RMC1L Zone 2 Static

[vinylfinal]

My RMC 1L has the latest FW and I use zone 2 but not very frequently. Went to use it today and it has a lot of static on zone 2 regardless of the source (turntable, CD player-optical, Oppo BR player -HDMI, cable box). I rebooted and fiddled with settings and inputs (main or component) and nothing seems to affect it. I do recall when I first got the unit earlier this year that Zone 2 worked ok before I upgraded the FW.



Any suggestions would be helpful.

[AudioHTIT]

Nov 24, 2021 15:46:16 GMT -5 vinylfinal said:

My RMC 1L has the latest FW and I use zone 2 but not very frequently. Went to use it today and it has a lot of static on zone 2 regardless of the source (turntable, CD player-optical, Oppo BR player -HDMI, cable box). I rebooted and fiddled with settings and inputs (main or component) and nothing seems to affect it. I do recall when I first got the unit earlier this year that Zone 2 worked ok before I upgraded the FW.



Any suggestions would be helpful.

I answered in the other thread, will report there as well (testing now).

[vinylfinal]

Nov 24, 2021 15:56:56 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

Nov 24, 2021 15:46:16 GMT -5 vinylfinal said:

My RMC 1L has the latest FW and I use zone 2 but not very frequently. Went to use it today and it has a lot of static on zone 2 regardless of the source (turntable, CD player-optical, Oppo BR player -HDMI, cable box). I rebooted and fiddled with settings and inputs (main or component) and nothing seems to affect it. I do recall when I first got the unit earlier this year that Zone 2 worked ok before I upgraded the FW.



Any suggestions would be helpful.

I answered in the other thread, will report there as well (testing now).

Thank you! Hope you find something!   BTW, I deleted my other post from RMC-1/RMC-1L/XMC-2 Owners Thread (Post Firmware v1.10) as I thought I posted it in the wrong location.

[AudioHTIT]

Nov 25, 2021 7:17:06 GMT -5 vinylfinal said:

Nov 24, 2021 15:56:56 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

I answered in the other thread, will report there as well (testing now).

Thank you! Hope you find something!   BTW, I deleted my other post from RMC-1/RMC-1L/XMC-2 Owners Thread (Post Firmware v1.10) as I thought I posted it in the wrong location.

That’s the perfect place for questions like this, lots of eyes from like owners. Hopefully you saw my response there, nothing yet, but a question. I’ll continue there.

[jgeiger]

Just a note, I had a similar (same?) issue when using Zone2 using headphones.

It would work fine for a while, then static kept appearing slowly. The only "fix" was to turn zone 2 off and then back on. It worked for a bit until the static came back.

This is a power supply hardware issue and I had to send my unit back to Emotiva to get it repaired.

I was told it was a specific issue with certain HDMI inputs and using the Zone 2 output as a "sync".

If it's happening to you in other situations, this may be a bit more of a problem than they were aware of.

FWIW my issue happened on 2 completely different units and multiple different firmware versions.

[aleks1980]

Good day for everyone!
I have the same issues with 2nd Zone at my RMC 1L
My setup for 2nd Zone is NAD C38 plus MA Climate 50 as a speakers
I am hearing the noise in speakers when 2nd zone is ON.
I have connected different amp and speakers to ensure that problem on processor side.
I will appreciate for any ideas/advices how to fix it.
Last FW version installed on the unit.

Thanks in advance, Alexander

[AudioHTIT]

Jun 14, 2022 9:18:45 GMT -5 aleks1980 said:

Good day for everyone!
I have the same issues with 2nd Zone at my RMC 1L
My setup for 2nd Zone is NAD C38 plus MA Climate 50 as a speakers
I am hearing the noise in speakers when 2nd zone is ON.
I have connected different amp and speakers to ensure that problem on processor side.
I will appreciate for any ideas/advices how to fix it.
Last FW version installed on the unit.

Thanks in advance, Alexander

Does turning Zone 2 off and back on as jgeiger suggested above work? I know this is just a work around, but it would at least tell us there’s something repeatable and that it’s probably the same issue. I haven’t been able to duplicate the problem, but something’s surely going on. 

[aleks1980]

In my case unfortunately not,
2nd strange thing which I have identified today:
I can shift volume control from - 200db till +99.9db
I assume that its not default option
volume control at 1st zone is ok from -80 till +8 (+8 its my setup, I have reduced Max value)

[AudioHTIT]

Jun 14, 2022 10:05:48 GMT -5 aleks1980 said:

In my case unfortunately not,
2nd strange thing which I have identified today:
I can shift volume control from - 200db till +99.9db
I assume that its not default option
volume control at 1st zone is ok from -80 till +8 (+8 its my setup, I have reduced Max value)

I don't think I've ever seen -200 (maybe -99dB is normal?), and the max I've seen is (I think) +12dB. When you start seeing odd behavior like this you should shut the unit down and then turn off the rear switch, or pull the plug for at least one minute. If that doesn't solve the issue, you should backup your settings, reset to factory defaults, and reload your settings. While this may not solve the static problem, at least your unit should be back to a normal base level.

[AudioHTIT]

OK, using the Harmony Remote App to turn on Zone 2 only, then using the Emotiva App to control Zone 2, I was able to duplicate your 'experience'. I was able to lower the volume to at least -200dB (it kept going and I quit about 250), I was also able to raise the volume to 99.9dB as you mentioned. I will repeat this test with the whole system on, at the moment I'm doing this all remotely and there may be a discrepancy between what I see on the Emo App, and what would be displayed on the unit's OLED.







Edit: There is no difference in how the unit operates 'in person', my experience is identical to yours, and I would assume is normal (I did a power off and it made no difference).

[Lsc]

Great, I was planning on booking up zone 2 for my outdoor speakers this weekend. I better test first.

[ttocs]

Jun 14, 2022 12:51:38 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

OK, using the Harmony Remote App to turn on Zone 2 only, then using the Emotiva App to control Zone 2, I was able to duplicate your 'experience'. I was able to lower the volume to at least -200dB (it kept going and I quit about 250), I was also able to raise the volume to 99.9dB as you mentioned. I will repeat this test with the whole system on, at the moment I'm doing this all remotely and there may be a discrepancy between what I see on the Emo App, and what would be displayed on the unit's OLED.

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Edit: There is no difference in how the unit operates 'in person', my experience is identical to yours, and I would assume is normal (I did a power off and it made no difference).

Using the iPhone app I get to make the volume however low I want, but I stopped at -433dB, and it goes as high as 99.9dB, just like you posted.
Using the app on my M chip Mac, using the Zone 2 Up/Down Arrows for Volume, again, the volume can go up to 99 and down to whatever out-of-range number I want.
But, if I use the Volume Knob on the processor, as soon as it moves, the volume will "jump" from the invalid number to within the range of -96dB to +11dB.

So it seems the apps don't have limits for the numerical numbers using arrows to change volume, but the bar graph only goes within the limits. I'd be confident that the actual volume stays within the preset limits. There is a way to test and keep it kinda safe. Might be interesting to check it out.

[aleks1980]

Thanks for update!
I will try to to complete all steps related to backup/restore on my unit and provide feedback here!

[ttocs]

I ran a Zone 2 output to a miniDSP so its volume control could be used. I confirmed that the Volume for Zone 2 cannot go above +11dB. I kept lowering the miniDSP output Level as the Zone 2 Volume level was raised, and beyond +11dB there was no change.

So the Emotiva Remote apps can indicate an erroneous volume level, but outside the range of -96dB to +11dB it has no effect. It's just a display error in the coding.

[AudioHTIT]

Jun 14, 2022 22:30:34 GMT -5 aleks1980 said:

Thanks for update!
I will try to to complete all steps related to backup/restore on my unit and provide feedback here!

Now that we've determined that the erratic volume displays are not unique to your system, the backup / restore is probably not going to help -- as from the multiple reports, I think the 'static' issue is beyond that. However, it shouldn't hurt, and would eliminate that as a possible fix.

[DellaDog]

Jun 14, 2022 22:30:34 GMT -5 aleks1980 said:

... I think the 'static' issue is beyond that.

I had the Zone 2 static issue as well on XMC2. Sent the unit back to EMO.
Turnaround was quick and the static issue is gone.
(I think they replaced the power supply)

[richter250]

I had that static issue in Zone 2 with my RMC1 with all firmware that I tested. Unfortunately, I don't have a work around or solution. I got frustrated and just turned Zone 2 into an entirely separate system. Sorry I can't be of more help but at least you know that you are not alone.

[AudioHTIT]

Jun 14, 2022 22:30:34 GMT -5 aleks1980 said:

Thanks for update!
I will try to to complete all steps related to backup/restore on my unit and provide feedback here!

Jun 17, 2022 20:33:59 GMT -5 richter250 said:

I had that static issue in Zone 2 with my RMC1 with all firmware that I tested. Unfortunately, I don't have a work around or solution. I got frustrated and just turned Zone 2 into an entirely separate system. Sorry I can't be of more help but at least you know that you are not alone.

Jun 17, 2022 10:23:25 GMT -5 DellaDog said:

Jun 14, 2022 22:30:34 GMT -5 aleks1980 said:

... I think the 'static' issue is beyond that.

I had the Zone 2 static issue as well on XMC2. Sent the unit back to EMO.
Turnaround was quick and the static issue is gone.
(I think they replaced the power supply)

It would be nice to find out if Emo knows about this issue, and if replacing the power supply (or something else) fixes it. One of you with this problem should call and ask.

[SteveH]

Some time ago, my RMC1 had Zone 2 static. Once Emo dropped a new firmware update, the static disappeared and has never returned. I hope you get it figured out!

[AudioHTIT]

Jul 6, 2022 16:21:54 GMT -5 SteveH said:

Some time ago, my RMC1 had Zone 2 static. Once Emo dropped a new firmware update, the static disappeared and has never returned. I hope you get it figured out!

Yes, I remember that too Steve, I’ve referred to that issue as the “Follow Main” Zone 2 problem. As I remember, if you chose a specific digital or analog input for Zone 2 to it worked fine, but if you were using HDMI or “Follow Main”, you got static. That problem was fixed with FW quite some time back (maybe a couple years?).