|
|
Post by red5ive on Feb 27, 2010 1:04:36 GMT -5
Using the remote, push the following button sequence: Mute Status Vol + FW version will appear momentarily on the UMC display. Did you figure that out on your own? Pretty cool. Yes, I have p5ych1c p0w3rz. Really, now... Lonnie posted it in the software update thread. ;D |
|
|
|
Post by wizardofoz on Feb 27, 2010 3:58:47 GMT -5
if yr on upgrade price then sell it at retail and yr good for a profit...even sell it at yr retail cost anyway - warranty is transferable as far as I can tell form the website. can always buy again later if you want too, and then another bro can get a UMC1 fast  - wont be me tho as mine is shipping in a couple of weeks any |
|
|
|
Post by Spiky on Feb 27, 2010 11:07:04 GMT -5
I had heard that HDMI is the best input from the Oppo, and I was anticipating better sound overall. 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. I'm not sure you are understanding HDMI. When people say HDMI sounds better from their Oppo, that means they are preferring the decoding in their processor to the decoding in the Oppo, since HDMI is simply transferring the digital signal to the prepro. (Or they are nuts or did not set things up properly.) Regardless, their comments are not going to apply to the UMC, unless those reviews were with the UMC. What were you listening to via HDMI and coax to compare? The best sounding codecs cannot be transferred over coax. Also, depending on settings, the Oppo can be doing different things before sending a signal on to the UMC. There's a lot of ways to compare. That is unfortunate. They are probably too rigid in something in the software. This is their first HDMI device, I'm not surprised there are issues. Emo will have to work on this and not just blame everyone else, because some products work with these oddball machines, so it can be done. Again, HDMI is not doing anything to sound (other than your handshaking issues), it is simply a transport. It has apparently been put in people's minds that it is some magic device. It is not. So far, as you've found, it's really just made things more complicated. What you are saying in your review is the digital video and audio circuits in the UMC are superior to those in your other equipment. Because HDMI allows you to use the processing in the UMC. Only you can decide if it is worth the money. You have to understand, you generally pay A LOT to get incremental upgrades, esp in audio. The UMC really sounds like a bargain. (once software issues are resolved) If you want to call something an audiophile setup, you may want better sources than computers, esp if you are using lossy files. I'd stick with the Oppo on the quality side. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2010 11:49:45 GMT -5
Spiky wrote:
>> The best sounding codecs cannot be transferred over coax. <<
Ummm, this is not 100% true. The "newest" codecs (DTS Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD) cannot be transferred. However, coax is completely capable of delivering DVD-Audio and SACD As long as you are satisfied with 2-channel playback. DVD-Audio uses MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) and SACD uses DSD.
If you want/need to have 5.1 playback on coax (or TosLink), you'll have to "settle" for using DTS or Dolby Digital. And, frankly, most folks would have a hard time noticing a difference between DTS and the newer codecs unless they were really sitting down for a serious listening session. I have quite a few DTS discs that sound absolutely marvelous - MUCH better than standard CD playback quality.
So, please try not to get caught up in all the buzz about the latest codecs and fret over the fact that you cannot use them. In truth, the quality of the recording and the mastering of it make much more difference in the perceived sound quality.
I have some DTS-CDs that will absolutely KILL the sound quality from some of my SACDs. And this is because the original recording and mastering engineers (Michael Bishop, Alan Parsons, et al) REALLY know what they are doing.
If you REALLY want top-quality sound from your system, this is the order of precedence to look at when purchasing, setting up, and playing:
1) Speakers - great speakers will make or break ANY system. Don't cheap-out here, you will regret it.
2) The Room - A lousy room can ruin the sound of even the best system. Take some time to propely orient your speakers and then go after reflections, standing waves, and resonances. This can pay big dividends for very little money.
3) The source materials - Lousy sources sound lousy everwhere. Great sources are VERY important. DVD-Audio, SACD, and BluRay Discs ususally sound VERY good. DTS-CDs can sound marvelous, too. HDCDs, K2 Cds, and XRCDs are also very good if well produced. A very nice vinyl record played back with a very good cartridge, tonearm, and turntable can sound spectacular as well.
4) Source devices - A great Digital player (DVD, CD, etc.) and/or a great turntable will get the most out of good source material. But we're starting to enter the realm of diminishing returns. However, Spiky is right - the Oppo BDP-83 (and the new BDP-80) are VERY nice digital sources for quite reasonable money. Don't expect a $75 Wal-Mart player to match up well against these giant-killers.
5) Preamp or Pre-processor - This can have a noticeable effect upon the sound quality. But most of them sound pretty good nowadays.
6) Amplifier - Amps do sound different, but most modern amps are pretty darn good. We are definitely into diminishing returns on investment now.
7) Speaker cables and interconnects - Minor quality differences here. This area RULES the diminshing returns concept. Do NOT get caught up in the snake-oil/voodoo touted by the uber-expensive mfgrs. You can get very good-sounding cables for very low money. See MonoPrice.com, BlueJeans cables, and KnuConceptz for very good stuff at very good prices. If you have $2,000 speakers and $1,000 speaker cables (or interconnects), you wasted $900 on speaker cables that should have been invested in the speakers.
-RW-
|
|
|
|
Post by muppetsrule on Feb 27, 2010 14:06:01 GMT -5
I'm surprised that you're having trouble with the WD TV box. While I'm not running it through a pre/pro and/or receiver, I do run the HDMI to the TV, and the sound shows up just fine. I just looked and under the Audio/Video settings there is an option for stereo vs digital. I currently have mine set to "stereo". This setting might be a misnomer on how it's positioned. I found this as well from another forum: www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1130080I hope it's simply just a setting because this is one of the devices I'm planning on hooking up to my UMC-1 once I can get my grubby hands on one. ;D |
|
|
|
Post by muppetsrule on Feb 27, 2010 14:08:45 GMT -5
I also did some more reading, and this seems to be a common problem that a lot of folks have had with no real clear answer if it's a handshake issue, or how the audio stream was transcoded into the container, etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by algreen345 on Feb 27, 2010 14:34:56 GMT -5
I'm doing some A/B testing of the LMC-1 against the UMC-1 today and here is what I'm finding:
1. I removed the WDTV Live from the equation. I had read that 12-bit color support on the WDTV Live disables HDMI sound, and I did reset it to 8-bit color but there still wasn't anything coming out of the HDMI.
2. I upgraded the Acer Revo to the latest ALSA drivers and it improved the HDMI sound quite a bit. There still is a problem switching songs via the UMC-1. Basically you have to stop the song you are on and start a new one after a few seconds delay. The UMC-1 has a two or three seconds handshake lag when starting a new song or video via HDMI. I hope Emotiva corrects this. I can live with the minor inconvenience, but I'd like the thing to work instantaneously when I touch a button.
3. Soundwise, the UMC-1 is better than the LMC-1. I didn't notice the difference at first until I did an A/B comparison. The LMC-1 has some coloration and grain. The UMC-1 is completely neutral and transparent. Instrument and voice separation is clear and I hear things in tracks I did not hear before. I think it makes the sound feel brighter because there is more texture and the LMC-1 lumps some sounds together that are distinct in the UMC-1.
Without the WDTV, the inconvenience factor is less apparent. But the sound and picture improvements are nice. Poorly recorded material is better covered up on the LMC-1. The UMC-1 is less forgiving.
I will do more critical listening. Does this thing have a breakin period?
|
|
|
|
Post by johnnyg on Feb 27, 2010 14:45:58 GMT -5
1. I removed the WDTV Live from the equation. I had read that 12-bit color support on the WDTV Live disables HDMI sound, and I did reset it to 8-bit color but there still wasn't anything coming out of the HDMI. The WDTV Live has a toslink audio output. Why not use it for audio and use the HDMI for video? |
|
|
|
Post by snodog on Feb 27, 2010 14:47:58 GMT -5
Algreen345 that is exactly my same analysis. Upon first hearing some of the channels I was thinking I needed to make some adjustments but while others sound amazingly clear. I really do attribute this to the UMC's ability to replicate the sound as naturally as it can. Never realized that there is so much variation audibly from program to program, I dont like Dolby volume at all so I just deal with the level differences.
|
|
|
|
Post by snodog on Feb 27, 2010 14:51:35 GMT -5
johnnyg you cannot use HDMI audio or video separately. They can only be used together.
|
|
|
|
Post by johnnyg on Feb 27, 2010 14:59:54 GMT -5
johnnyg you cannot use HDMI audio or video separately. They can only be used together. Are you talking about the WDTV or the UMC-1? |
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 18,493
|
Post by DYohn on Feb 27, 2010 15:02:55 GMT -5
johnnyg you cannot use HDMI audio or video separately. They can only be used together. Actually that's not correct. The WDTV Live device will output multichannel audio via toslink no matter what's happening on the HDMI side. See page 140 of your owner's manual, select "Digital" as the audio output mode. |
|
|
|
Post by snodog on Feb 27, 2010 15:23:52 GMT -5
Oh sorry I was talking about the UMC
|
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,493
|
Post by DYohn on Feb 27, 2010 15:26:09 GMT -5
Oh sorry I was talking about the UMC Well in that case, you can select any audio input to work with any video input. Watching HDMI and listening to Toslink digital is absolutely possible. |
|
|
|
Post by johnnyg on Feb 27, 2010 15:30:30 GMT -5
Oh sorry I was talking about the UMC dyohn beat me to it, but according to Lonnie (I haven't tried it) the UMC-1 is capable of using HDMI video with other audio sources. What you cannot do is use HDMI audio with other video sources. |
|
|
|
Post by snodog on Feb 27, 2010 15:33:40 GMT -5
Yes that is right johnnyg, see I try and help out and that is what I get! Overshadowed by more powerful forces...
If that is the case then I CAN use the two channel audio with HDMI video but now I wish Emotiva had a screen saver like my PS3 when listening to music.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2010 10:41:14 GMT -5
Dyohn wrote:
>> The WDTV Live device will output multichannel audio via toslink no matter what's happening on the HDMI side.<<
I'm fairly certain that those multi-channel sources must be lossy (DTS, Dolby Digital) unless they've managed to allow for multi-channel FLACs. The bandwidth required by multi-channel DVD-Audio and/or SACD exceeds the capabilitiy of both coax and TosLink. 2-cahnnel works quite well, though.
-RW-
|
|
|
|
Post by dkjohn on Feb 28, 2010 13:45:23 GMT -5
+1... all this speculation is ridiculous. No one, including Dann, said that the company is on shaky financial grounds. If anyone thinks it is then go elsewhere and stop polluting the forums with this garbage. You could just as well say any other company out there is on financially shaky grounds, too. Just because you say so doesn't mean it is (I'm not referring to Bootman's post, I am referring to the other irresponsible rumor-spreading people out there trying to speak for Emo and trying to put words in Dann G's mouth). The best way to stop a rumor is to address the comments head-on instead of running from them and hoping everyone forgets. When someone given the responsibility *bleep* had to the customers makes accusations of the company, I believe the best way to stop the rumors is to address them head-on as opposed to a watered down "these things happen everything is fine" comment. Or, for those who will believe anything, the "there's no way it could be true, Dann just said it because he was angry". Neither method is going to make this go away. Dann was too much of a mouthpiece for the company online. (which last I knew was how this business model works...online sales). Not looking for all the details, just address/dispel Dann's accusations and then we can all move on. Otherwise every other thread is going to turn into this discussion at some point or another.... That is ridiculous does GM post there internal workings or any other company, its not yours or mine business it goes on everyday you are getting silly.  Dann G was not an executive of the company nice guy yes but him getting fired has nothing to do with the health of the company he will be replaced if need be it does not change the quality of there products or there commitment to providing good products and customer service now lets talk about the equipment and the solutions to the bugs anything else is non productive. |
|
- wont be me tho as mine is shipping in a couple of weeks any 
Dann G was not an executive of the company nice guy yes but him getting fired has nothing to do with the health of the company he will be replaced if need be it does not change the quality of there products or there commitment to providing good products and customer service now lets talk about the equipment and the solutions to the bugs anything else is non productive.