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Post by jbrunwa on Jan 7, 2022 17:33:25 GMT -5
We have been using an AV40 for about 2 months now, so I think we have enough experience to share what we like and don’t like compared to the XMC-2.
Both AVP’s sounded excellent in our 5.1.4 HT and both included full Dirac Live. I have not used all features of either AVP, so my take is limited to the features that are important to us in our HT.
What I liked better about the XMC-2:
More attractive faceplate and front panel controls.
More presets/Dirac Live slots.
Fletcher Munson loudness compensation
4 independent trigger outputs
Trims directly accessible from the remote
Fast warranty repair turnaround, no having to deal with a third party for repairs
Lower price
What I liked better about the AV40:
Dirac DLBC option is available, we bought the single sub upgrade
HDMI switching with no pops, clicks or dropouts, although there is a quiet click when muting/unmuting
Ethernet interface with a responsive web browser interface for setup and configuration
App and Web client with built in internet radio, streaming services and USB media, FLAC, DSD and MQA decoding.
Auro-3D up-mixer. We don’t care for the Dolby or DTS up-mixers for music, but we have become converts and now listen to most stereo music with the Auro-3D up-mixer
Roon Ready, we plan to configure a Roon server and buy a subscription.
Because the AV40 only has 1 trigger out for the main zone and one for zone 2, I bought the Emotiva ET-3 trigger expansion module to trigger our amps. This is a great accessory. So while the XMC-2 requires an outboard processor for Dirac Live, the AV40 requires an outboard processor for triggers.
Overall, while the AV40 is more expensive, we feel the extra features justify the extra cost for our HT.
That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m happy to answer any questions if I can for any folks who are interested.
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Post by creimes on Jan 7, 2022 19:35:26 GMT -5
Thank you for the comparisons that you have found, I'm still with XMC-1 though I did have the XMC-2 for a few months I have ne need for 4K or Atmos so I ended up selling it to upgrade my speakers from the Emotiva T1's to my current Chane 753 towers which was a better option to increase the sound in my room compared to the XMC-2 with the T1.
That being said have you done any 2ch or critical 2ch listening between them as that is important for some that like me have room for only one setup, I have owned Yamaha, Sherbourn, Emotiva and Anthem and find my XMC-1 is what I prefer the most for 2ch listening, also for me to outright buy the XMC-2(even with UFL discount) and especially the Anthem stuff in Canada is pretty much buying a second vehicle cost wise, heck the one vehicle we have probably has less value than what it would cost me for one of those processors haha. Any 2ch thoughts might be good for those wanting or wondering.
Oops I read Anthem haha, but Arcam is not cheap either lol
Cheers,
Chad
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Post by vcautokid on Jan 7, 2022 21:21:13 GMT -5
I had been a fan of Anthem since the Sonic Frontiers days. I have the AVM-30 in my bedroom. No HDMI switching, no wiz bang stuff I don't need either, got it for a song.  |
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Lsc
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 3,434
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Post by Lsc on Jan 8, 2022 10:00:31 GMT -5
How is DLBC vs non-DLBC?
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Post by springwright on Jan 8, 2022 16:02:59 GMT -5
I had been a fan of Anthem since the Sonic Frontiers days. I have the AVM-30 in my bedroom. No HDMI switching, no wiz bang stuff I don't need either, got it for a song. View AttachmentLoved my AVM 30 when I had it. That's why I've got a AVM 70 on order.  |
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Post by jbrunwa on Jan 8, 2022 16:40:48 GMT -5
Thank you for the comparisons that you have found, I'm still with XMC-1 though I did have the XMC-2 for a few months I have ne need for 4K or Atmos so I ended up selling it to upgrade my speakers from the Emotiva T1's to my current Chane 753 towers which was a better option to increase the sound in my room compared to the XMC-2 with the T1. That being said have you done any 2ch or critical 2ch listening between them as that is important for some that like me have room for only one setup, I have owned Yamaha, Sherbourn, Emotiva and Anthem and find my XMC-1 is what I prefer the most for 2ch listening, also for me to outright buy the XMC-2(even with UFL discount) and especially the Anthem stuff in Canada is pretty much buying a second vehicle cost wise, heck the one vehicle we have probably has less value than what it would cost me for one of those processors haha. Any 2ch thoughts might be good for those wanting or wondering. Oops I read Anthem haha, but Arcam is not cheap either lol Cheers, Chad I didn’t have the facilities to perform an A/B comparison. Both XMC-2 and AV40 sounded excellent to us. We drive a pair of Revel F328Be towers with Buckeye NC502MP amps. We have no analog sources. Particularly impressed by the AV40 playing DSD128 and DSD256 content we are getting from nativedsd.com although this may just be a product of the quality of the mastering |
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Post by jbrunwa on Jan 8, 2022 17:12:36 GMT -5
I can’t give a definitive answer yet. DLBC was super easy to use and the bass and LFE sound very smooth. We do like non-tweaked DLBC over non-DLBC, but to be fair we haven’t gone to the trouble to further tune. Earlier this year we upgraded to a Rythmik FV18 sub, but had trouble dialing it in, probably due to the XMC-2 bass management issues. So our perception of improved bass balance may just be due to the bass management. We still have the miniDSP on hand, and when time permits we do plan to experiment with a couple different configurations and measurements with REW. The Rythmik sub also provides a lot of back panel adjustments that we still have on factory recommended settings. I suspect that with a single sub that we could get just as good a result with miniDSP and Rythmik tweaks given time. So I guess the main feature so far of using DLBC is that we are happy enough with the sound that I haven’t been forced to manually tweak. |
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Post by jbrunwa on Mar 4, 2022 14:30:37 GMT -5
I just sent in my AV40 for the HDMI 2.1 upgrade. The cost is $650 for the upgrade and includes UPS shipping both ways and any other warranty fixes at the same time, which should include the new XLR board that fixes the mute/unmute pops. The new HDMI board has all 7 HDMI inputs and 2 outputs to 2.1 including 8K/60 and 4K/120, HDR 10+, eARC, etc. They are quoting 7-10 work days to perform the upgrades plus transit times so I eagerly await its return.
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Post by Soup on Mar 4, 2022 18:54:36 GMT -5
Sounds Awesome! Let us know how it works out for you!
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Post by jbrunwa on Mar 18, 2022 14:29:05 GMT -5
Well I received the AV40 back from the HDMI 2.1 upgrade and there is no audio. So it has to go back to repair the repair. According to them it is a hardware issue, the DSP board is not receiving power.
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Post by jbrunwa on May 6, 2022 18:29:44 GMT -5
Well I received the AV40 back from the HDMI 2.1 upgrade and there is no audio. So it has to go back to repair the repair. According to them it is a hardware issue, the DSP board is not receiving power. Well, the service center replaced the AV40 main board that was damaged in shipping. They turned it around in 3 days + shipping time. I was away from home for an extended period and finally got around to putting the upgraded AV40 back into my system. I was told that there is virtually no difference between the upgraded AV40 and Arcam's new AV41 model. BTW I heard that the same HDMI 2.1 chipset is used in the new Anthem AVR's. I don't have any 4k/120 sources yet but video and audio is good for my existing sources, no pops/clicks. When the video/audio format changes it takes only a few seconds to lock in. So although there were quite a few issues when the AV40 was initially released, it seems that Arcam did finally get their act together. Since I got a deal on the AV40 as a dealer demo right before the new models came out, with the hardware upgrades my total cost was $3250. Needless to say I'm very happy with this and I think this rounds out our end game home theater. Samsung q90t 65 display AV40 with HDMI 2.1 upgrade Emotiva ET-3 trigger expansion 2 x Buckeye 6-channel Hypex NC502MP amps Revel F328Be fronts and C426Be center Revel M106 surrounds JBL A130 front and rear heights Rythmik FV-18 PC Zerosurge 2R15W |
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Post by Soup on May 6, 2022 19:46:56 GMT -5
Sounds sweet to me. Enjoy your new toy.
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Post by iluvboxing on Jun 17, 2022 13:49:48 GMT -5
We have been using an AV40 for about 2 months now, so I think we have enough experience to share what we like and don’t like compared to the XMC-2. Both AVP’s sounded excellent in our 5.1.4 HT and both included full Dirac Live. I have not used all features of either AVP, so my take is limited to the features that are important to us in our HT. What I liked better about the XMC-2: More attractive faceplate and front panel controls. More presets/Dirac Live slots. Fletcher Munson loudness compensation 4 independent trigger outputs Trims directly accessible from the remote Fast warranty repair turnaround, no having to deal with a third party for repairs Lower price What I liked better about the AV40: Dirac DLBC option is available, we bought the single sub upgrade HDMI switching with no pops, clicks or dropouts, although there is a quiet click when muting/unmuting Ethernet interface with a responsive web browser interface for setup and configuration App and Web client with built in internet radio, streaming services and USB media, FLAC, DSD and MQA decoding. Auro-3D up-mixer. We don’t care for the Dolby or DTS up-mixers for music, but we have become converts and now listen to most stereo music with the Auro-3D up-mixer Roon Ready, we plan to configure a Roon server and buy a subscription. Because the AV40 only has 1 trigger out for the main zone and one for zone 2, I bought the Emotiva ET-3 trigger expansion module to trigger our amps. This is a great accessory. So while the XMC-2 requires an outboard processor for Dirac Live, the AV40 requires an outboard processor for triggers. Overall, while the AV40 is more expensive, we feel the extra features justify the extra cost for our HT. That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m happy to answer any questions if I can for any folks who are interested. Thank you for providing the review. What influenced you to pursue the AV40 rather than move up to either the RMC-1 or RMC-1L? |
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Post by jbrunwa on Jun 17, 2022 15:00:08 GMT -5
Thank you for providing the review. What influenced you to pursue the AV40 rather than move up to either the RMC-1 or RMC-1L? I'm sure that the RMC offers additional features that many people care about. But for my particular use case, the RMC doesn't offer any features over the XMC that I care about, as I don't use a turntable or sources that require additional analog inputs, and I don't have plans to add more channels if they become available. The AV40 has the additional features that I do care about: Auro-3D up-mixing for music, Roon ready, built-in streaming support, a web interface to view and modify parameters, and DSD and MQA decoding. At the time I bought the AV40, Arcam had promised an HDMI 2.1 upgrade. Although the 2.1 upgrade release slipped a few months (came available in Q1 2022), I sent my AV40 in and had it installed installed earlier this year. |
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Post by iluvboxing on Jul 18, 2022 16:57:10 GMT -5
Thank you for providing the review. What influenced you to pursue the AV40 rather than move up to either the RMC-1 or RMC-1L? I'm sure that the RMC offers additional features that many people care about. But for my particular use case, the RMC doesn't offer any features over the XMC that I care about, as I don't use a turntable or sources that require additional analog inputs, and I don't have plans to add more channels if they become available. The AV40 has the additional features that I do care about: Auro-3D up-mixing for music, Roon ready, built-in streaming support, a web interface to view and modify parameters, and DSD and MQA decoding. At the time I bought the AV40, Arcam had promised an HDMI 2.1 upgrade. Although the 2.1 upgrade release slipped a few months (came available in Q1 2022), I sent my AV40 in and had it installed installed earlier this year. Those are definitely good reasons. The AV41 is on my list of options to purchase in September. It's a tough call against the RMC-1 or RMC-1L. The option to use four independent subs and control them with Dirac Live Bass Control is very tempting. |
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Post by jbrunwa on Jul 20, 2022 12:58:57 GMT -5
I'm sure that the RMC offers additional features that many people care about. But for my particular use case, the RMC doesn't offer any features over the XMC that I care about, as I don't use a turntable or sources that require additional analog inputs, and I don't have plans to add more channels if they become available. The AV40 has the additional features that I do care about: Auro-3D up-mixing for music, Roon ready, built-in streaming support, a web interface to view and modify parameters, and DSD and MQA decoding. At the time I bought the AV40, Arcam had promised an HDMI 2.1 upgrade. Although the 2.1 upgrade release slipped a few months (came available in Q1 2022), I sent my AV40 in and had it installed installed earlier this year. Those are definitely good reasons. The AV41 is on my list of options to purchase in September. It's a tough call against the RMC-1 or RMC-1L. The option to use four independent subs and control them with Dirac Live Bass Control is very tempting. Well the AV41 supports up to 16 channels so you can use DLBC with 4 subs as long as you don’t exceed the number of supported channels. If you want DLBC with a full complement of surrounds, sides and wides with multiple subs you would have to go with Storm Audio MK3 or wait and hope that Emotiva ever supports both DLBC and more channels. |
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Post by jbrunwa on Aug 6, 2022 16:04:29 GMT -5
If I read the post correctly, According to Arcam support response to another user’s query, the Arcam AVRs process stereo audio with Dirac at 96 kHz, multichannel audio with Dirac is processed at 48 kHz, anything with higher bitrate is downsampled to these bitrates for Dirac. Without Dirac, there is no downsampling. I had expected stereo to downsample to 48 kHz, so this is a pleasant surprise.
I also learned of an input config option named CD Direct. When this is enabled, Turns off the compressed audio detection mute delay and should only be used for sources that will only transmit PCM audio (e.g. a CD player). Since many digital sources (e.g. Apple TV) send multichannel PCM, I tried it, and this works well to eliminate the mute delay when audio signals change like for Hulu commercials etc.
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Post by AudioHTIT on Aug 6, 2022 16:18:57 GMT -5
If I read the post correctly, According to Arcam support response to another user’s query, the Arcam AVRs process stereo audio with Dirac at 96 kHz, multichannel audio with Dirac is processed at 48 kHz, anything with higher bitrate is downsampled to these bitrates for Dirac. Without Dirac, there is no downsampling. I had expected stereo to downsample to 48 kHz, so this is a pleasant surprise. … That is a nice ‘bonus’ and makes perfect sense, up the sample rate when you have fewer channels to process. |
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