Can Emotiva UMC-1 processor beat our AV recievers ?

[Spidey]

Hi All,

This query is for Emotiva-UMC1 processor which does audio and video processing and feeds to a separate power amplifier usually a XPA-2/3/5/7.

Now, our average AV recievers like Denon, Onkyo etc also do the processing but have integrated amps(usually under-powered).

My question is only for processing :
will UMC-1 better our AV recievers ?
how big will be the difference??


pls give ur valuable opinion.

thanks

 

[GeorgeO]

I dont think you can easily compare an Emotiva to an AVR off the bat, except to say that in general separates are designed for a specific job, cost more than a box solution, and should perform better. If you have a preamp and a power amp for audio you will know what I am talking about. A top of the line integrated will outperform entry level separates, and I suspect this is also true for av prepros+ power amps.OTOH, IMHO, a top level set of separates is definitely better than a top level integrated.

 

[GeorgeO]

I forgot to add-I've picked up an Emotiva prepro and plan to mate it to a 5 channel amp, to replace my Onkyo AVR..

 

[Spidey]

hi GeorgeO

Can u specify what pre-pro u have ordered or recieved ??

what 5 ch amp ??
thanks

 

[GeorgeO]

I picked up a used LMC 1 when I was in the US recently-this is the older gen model and now discontinued. I was sitting on the fence( not wanting to buy seperates, and eyeing a lower cost Denon 1611AVR) until a nudge from a couple of the gurus here, Subhash and Santhosh, pushed me over the fence. The power amp is a diy, using Hypex Class D modules. The specific model is the Hypex UcD 180 which will give 100 wpc @ 8 ohms.

 

[iaudio]

Spidey, imho the emo pre pro(umc1 which i heard) is clearly better than an avr! The clarity is on a whole new level!

I picked up a used LMC 1 when I was in the US recently-this is the older gen model and now discontinued. I was sitting on the fence( not wanting to buy seperates, and eyeing a lower cost Denon 1611AVR) until a nudge from a couple of the gurus here, Subhash and Santhosh, pushed me over the fence. The power amp is a diy, using Hypex Class D modules. The specific model is the Hypex UcD 180 which will give 100 wpc @ 8 ohms.

 

[cmsajith]

I am almost finalised for a UMC-1 (~90%) to pair it with a Quad 909 (FL/FR) and the rest to Qnkyo 606.

Please comment on:

- The Quad909 & UMC-1 combo as it has a pre along w/ the proc.

- Is it worth to wait for XMC-1 w/ HDMI 1.4 and 3D ready (rumors)?

 

[santhosh]

UMC-1 + multichannel (around 100W plus per channel or as per your requirement/room size) amp can clearly beat any AVR upto 1.5 lacs to 2 lacs range.

If your ratio of movies:music is 60:40, the UMC-1 is just right for you. It is also great for 2 channel music, comes very close to my Adcom pre-amp.

 

[kapvin]

UMC-1 + multichannel (around 100W plus per channel or as per your requirement/room size) amp can clearly beat any AVR upto 1.5 lacs to 2 lacs range.

If your ratio of movies:music is 60:40, the UMC-1 is just right for you. It is also great for 2 channel music, comes very close to my Adcom pre-amp.

Hi Santosh,

it's kinda late in the day to ask this, since my UMC-1 should be delivered today afternoon, but i did chance upon this thread and it's a bit worrysome

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1218226

2 key concerns, and your views on each

1. HDMI handshake issue - remember seeing it at your house in the form of video dropouts. what's your current experience with whichever firmware version you are using? have you changed your cables and if so, did that make a difference

2. the emotiva logic of applying channel delays (And eq!) before bass management seems somewhat flawed; since this can lead to combing is most cases. what is your experience on this?


also do you face audio dropout problems

my current situation is BDP/HTPC- hdmi direct to projector and coax digital audio to reciever. - zero audio/video dropouts in about 250hrs of viewing on the optoma. (but no HD audio ).. so I'll really get flack from my better half if this product changes that..

cheers


Kapvin

 

[subhash]

Hi Kapil
dont worry there hardly will be any issues with the UMC-1 , just connect set it up get going , forget the link u posted

do use a good HDMI cable

rgrds

 

[kapvin]

Hi subhash,

thanks for the mail.

I played with it a bit and watched a few movies over the week.

No audio challenges at all. (except that it takes a bit of time to sync up.) video is still a bit of an issue, (no drop outs at all) but you have to select "passthrough" for 24fps, otherwise (in auto) you are stuck with 1080p60 and the occasional judder.

I have the final iteration of the v6 firmware (v7 is out and supposed to be better still)

I am currently playing through the 7.1 inputs of my yamaha. as my power amp is in transit. so have only set it up manually "by ear". I am very happy so far.
OT- shipping through bordrlinx was a great experience. got it in 3 business days from the time i released it for shipping on their site

cheers

Kapil

ps - that aluminium remote is a work of (modern) art

 

[aventhu]

Hi Kapil, How was the HD Audio when using with Yamaha 7.1 inputs? I am contemplating buying one UMC-1 and mating with my Yamaha DSP Z-9 via 7.1 analogs. Would it be nice?

 

[jatinmalhotra]

I have a UMC1 and it is excellent, YOu will be hard pressed to buy a AV processor only a 699$. Sound is very clean .

HD audio ( DTS MA and Dolby Tru HD) Play without issues.

The only issue is if you Fwd and Rewind then sometimes it takes 1-2 seconds to lock onto signal, a little irritant but i can live with that.

 

[acoustics]

i have auditioned both yamaha rx-v3067 (117000 inr )and emo umc1 + upa7 side by side with the same set of speakers.In no way can the emotiva beat the yamaha 3067,let it be sound quality , sound dynamics , detail , video processing , room callibration , flexibility , features so it wouldnt be right to say that emo can beat any avr in the range of 2 lac. Not only yamaha but other other good avrs from anthem and the pre pro combo from marantz can easily beat the emo on sound quality. Please dont take my words just go and compare them , i ve done it and can vouch for my statement.
The Repair manuals for all high end receivers are avaliable online and i have compared the circuit designs and parts of marantz and yamaha higher end models to that of emo umc1 and both yamaha and marantz stand a mile apart higher in quality as compared with emo.The level of electronics that has been put into higher end x branded models (which can be bought a well under 2 lac price level ) is much superior than emo.
No doubt the umc1 sounds good and that it can be comapred only with the upper mid level models from different brands but no way can it challange the high end models.
The main reason behind so many people get attracted towards emo is that their amps have good power output at a reasonable price but as far as av processing is concerned wrt higher end models no comparision at all.

And as far as the comparision of the built in amps of the higher end avrs to that of the emo standalone amps, the amp section inside yamaha 3067 performs better than the upa7 and also the marantz mm7005 is a very respectable amp which can be bought @ 50000 inr on the gray market

 

[kapvin]

Hi Kapil, How was the HD Audio when using with Yamaha 7.1 inputs? I am contemplating buying one UMC-1 and mating with my Yamaha DSP Z-9 via 7.1 analogs. Would it be nice?

Aventhu,

it was a long time ago; but it made me realise that the power amp section in the yamaha was not at all bad. everything opened up considerably on multichannel music. but then, adding the emo power amp took things up another new level again.

there's a b-stock sale on the emo website, and with the latest 7.04 firmwares things (dropout, slow sync ups) are almost 100% sorted. just remember to switch on the emo before you switch on anything else and you'll have no issues at all.

 

[raj]

Hi All,

This query is for Emotiva-UMC1 processor which does audio and video processing and feeds to a separate power amplifier usually a XPA-2/3/5/7.

Now, our average AV recievers like Denon, Onkyo etc also do the processing but have integrated amps(usually under-powered).

My question is only for processing :
will UMC-1 better our AV recievers ?
how big will be the difference??


pls give ur valuable opinion.

thanks

I tend to agree with George here and on top of what he said I would add that it depends on the speaker you use. The rule of thumb used to be that if you buy speakers costing more than USD 1000, then you should make sure that the amp can drive speakers. When you use a speaker that is difficult to drive, then separates help (especially power amp). From my personal experience (which is limited to a few components), I did not get any benefit of the pre-power separates in my HT till I got a decent speaker. But then the speaker could not be driven by the power amp in my HT and so I had to get a better power amp.
I don't have any experience with Emotiva but it gets fairly decent reviews.
IMO, if you have speakers that don't match well with the typical AVR, then you can go for pre-power. Otherwise, you can get a better value by using an AVR (provided it has all the functionality you need).