Post by algreen345 on Feb 26, 2010 14:27:01 GMT -5
As many of you know, I was an early skeptic of the UMC-1 release schedule. I was concerned that the much delayed product was shipped to customers without adequate testing. At the same time, I am an Emotiva fan with an XPA-3 and LMC-1 and I was anxiously awaiting my shipping notification for many weeks.
Well, it arrived yesterday and I was really excited. I set it up with my XPA-3, Elemental Design W6-6TC speakers, Oppo BPD-83, WDTV Live, Acer Revo R1600, Directv HR22, and Panasonic G10 Plasma TV. It fit very nicely in the spot where the LMC-1 sat. I plugged in HMDI's from all four source components and then one to the TV. I had heard that HDMI is the best input from the Oppo, and I was anticipating better sound overall.
Here are my impressions from each component for sound and picture, comparing the UMC-1 to the LMC-1 and the Panasonic G10 native resolution, in 2-channel audio:
Oppo BPD-83
On the UMC-1 the picture quality is better than the Oppo connected directly to the TV. The colors are richer and the picture is a bit crisper. I would put this improvement in the 5-10% range, small but apparent. As far as sound quality goes, I would say that the the UMC-1 has better instrument separation, a bigger soundstage, but the sound to my ears is less musical and slightly thinner than the LMC-1. I tried the UMC-1 with both HDMI and COAX to the UMC-1, and frankly I found COAX to be marginally better. I know this flies in the face of years of industry marketing about HMDI, but that's what I heard. The differences between the UMC-1 and the LMC-1 via COAX are not significant. The LMC-1 has some sibilance and the UMC-1 is smoother, but you would have to really listen hard to tell the difference in 2 channels.
Directv HR22
Here again, the picture quality was better on the UMC-1. Colors were more vibrant and the faces of commentators on both PBS and CNN were a tad clearer. The HR22 already presents a great picture hooked directly to the TV, and the UMC-1 improved it. One caveat, I did see some jaggies on some badly dressed commentators with striped shirts and patterned jackets, but that's it. Soundwise, the UMC-1 is a bit clearer with HDMI than with COAX.
WDTV Live
I've had this little box for a few months and love it. I used it previously with HDMI to the TV and Toslink to the LMC-1. With the UMC-1, I connected it directly with HDMI. And there is no audio. Nothing, nada. Audio works fine to the UMC-1 via Toslink, but no sound with HDMI.
I called Emotiva about this and they said that the UMC-1 conforms strictly to the HMDI 1.3a standard but many PC and peripheral manufacturers don't conform, using HDMI voltages and signals that vary widely.
Well, I plugged the WDTV HDMI cable into the Panasonic G10 and then used Toslink out to connect back to the UMC-1 and it works flawlessly. But I don't need a UMC-1 to use Toslink audio from my TV.
Video on the WDTV was a bit darker and not much improved.
Acer Revo R1600
Last up is the Revo, which I've had for a few days. It only has HDMI audio out and it is currently running XBMC Live with Ubuntu 9.11. I have all the latest drivers running on it, as I'm an Ubuntu user for many years. I hooked it up to the UMC-1 via HDMI and it worked sort of. The sound quality was a bit worse than the WDTV, and two steps down from the Oppo. But the irritating thing was the audio drop-outs. If I played a song from the library on the Revo and then tried to play another one, the Revo would show the next song playing but the UMC-1 had no audio. Also, If I had all of my HDMI components on a the same time and set them running and switched between them, the Revo would never have audio on. I would have to switch to another input and then back again to get it to work.
Again, the call with Emotiva cast doubt on non-standard HDMI implementations with Home Theater PC's. So, I unplugged the HDMI from the Emotiva and plugged it directly into the Panasonic G10 TV and used Toslink to the UMC-1. Flawless audio. No drop-outs, now lag, no problems.
After all this, I put back the LMC-1 and plugged all my components directly into the TV and used either COAX or Toslink to the LMC-1. With the XPA-3 it sounds great. Switching components isn't as convenient, but everything works.
My net experience with the UMC-1 is this:
If you are upgrading from a receiver the UMC-1 is a terrific upgrade. The build quality is terrific and the picture and sound quality are far superior to any Yamaha or Onkyo mass market receiver. What it offers in terms of value for the money is just terrific.
But for me, with a 2-channel audiophile setup, the hassle of using the UMC-1 with non-standard media players like WDTV and Acer Revo, the incremental value of using HDMI, small gains in picture and sound quality, don't add up to a big advantage over the LMC-1.
Call me a luddite, but I'm going back to the LMC-1 and will probably return the UMC-1. I can live with the inconvenience of HDMI switching at the TV instead of at the processor because it all works there.
Maybe I'll get an XPA-2 to replace the XPA-3 in the future to go purely 2-channel in amplification.
Emotiva is a great company and I will buy their products in the future. Just probably not keeping this one.
Well, it arrived yesterday and I was really excited. I set it up with my XPA-3, Elemental Design W6-6TC speakers, Oppo BPD-83, WDTV Live, Acer Revo R1600, Directv HR22, and Panasonic G10 Plasma TV. It fit very nicely in the spot where the LMC-1 sat. I plugged in HMDI's from all four source components and then one to the TV. I had heard that HDMI is the best input from the Oppo, and I was anticipating better sound overall.
Here are my impressions from each component for sound and picture, comparing the UMC-1 to the LMC-1 and the Panasonic G10 native resolution, in 2-channel audio:
Oppo BPD-83
On the UMC-1 the picture quality is better than the Oppo connected directly to the TV. The colors are richer and the picture is a bit crisper. I would put this improvement in the 5-10% range, small but apparent. As far as sound quality goes, I would say that the the UMC-1 has better instrument separation, a bigger soundstage, but the sound to my ears is less musical and slightly thinner than the LMC-1. I tried the UMC-1 with both HDMI and COAX to the UMC-1, and frankly I found COAX to be marginally better. I know this flies in the face of years of industry marketing about HMDI, but that's what I heard. The differences between the UMC-1 and the LMC-1 via COAX are not significant. The LMC-1 has some sibilance and the UMC-1 is smoother, but you would have to really listen hard to tell the difference in 2 channels.
Directv HR22
Here again, the picture quality was better on the UMC-1. Colors were more vibrant and the faces of commentators on both PBS and CNN were a tad clearer. The HR22 already presents a great picture hooked directly to the TV, and the UMC-1 improved it. One caveat, I did see some jaggies on some badly dressed commentators with striped shirts and patterned jackets, but that's it. Soundwise, the UMC-1 is a bit clearer with HDMI than with COAX.
WDTV Live
I've had this little box for a few months and love it. I used it previously with HDMI to the TV and Toslink to the LMC-1. With the UMC-1, I connected it directly with HDMI. And there is no audio. Nothing, nada. Audio works fine to the UMC-1 via Toslink, but no sound with HDMI.
I called Emotiva about this and they said that the UMC-1 conforms strictly to the HMDI 1.3a standard but many PC and peripheral manufacturers don't conform, using HDMI voltages and signals that vary widely.
Well, I plugged the WDTV HDMI cable into the Panasonic G10 and then used Toslink out to connect back to the UMC-1 and it works flawlessly. But I don't need a UMC-1 to use Toslink audio from my TV.
Video on the WDTV was a bit darker and not much improved.
Acer Revo R1600
Last up is the Revo, which I've had for a few days. It only has HDMI audio out and it is currently running XBMC Live with Ubuntu 9.11. I have all the latest drivers running on it, as I'm an Ubuntu user for many years. I hooked it up to the UMC-1 via HDMI and it worked sort of. The sound quality was a bit worse than the WDTV, and two steps down from the Oppo. But the irritating thing was the audio drop-outs. If I played a song from the library on the Revo and then tried to play another one, the Revo would show the next song playing but the UMC-1 had no audio. Also, If I had all of my HDMI components on a the same time and set them running and switched between them, the Revo would never have audio on. I would have to switch to another input and then back again to get it to work.
Again, the call with Emotiva cast doubt on non-standard HDMI implementations with Home Theater PC's. So, I unplugged the HDMI from the Emotiva and plugged it directly into the Panasonic G10 TV and used Toslink to the UMC-1. Flawless audio. No drop-outs, now lag, no problems.
After all this, I put back the LMC-1 and plugged all my components directly into the TV and used either COAX or Toslink to the LMC-1. With the XPA-3 it sounds great. Switching components isn't as convenient, but everything works.
My net experience with the UMC-1 is this:
If you are upgrading from a receiver the UMC-1 is a terrific upgrade. The build quality is terrific and the picture and sound quality are far superior to any Yamaha or Onkyo mass market receiver. What it offers in terms of value for the money is just terrific.
But for me, with a 2-channel audiophile setup, the hassle of using the UMC-1 with non-standard media players like WDTV and Acer Revo, the incremental value of using HDMI, small gains in picture and sound quality, don't add up to a big advantage over the LMC-1.
Call me a luddite, but I'm going back to the LMC-1 and will probably return the UMC-1. I can live with the inconvenience of HDMI switching at the TV instead of at the processor because it all works there.
Maybe I'll get an XPA-2 to replace the XPA-3 in the future to go purely 2-channel in amplification.
Emotiva is a great company and I will buy their products in the future. Just probably not keeping this one.
