Am the proud owner of Lexicon MC-12B today. Will there be any improvement in SQ if I upgrade to a new 12B HD? Anybody heard both versions?

Am the proud owner of Lexicon MC-12B today. Will there be any improvement in SQ if I upgrade to a new 12B HD? Anybody heard both versions?
12HD= HDMI in/out 1080P !!!

I agree

I have the newest MC12B-HD

With the HD, you get to hear the MC-12's unmusicality in high-definition. ;)

Seriously, I upgraded from an MC-12B EQ to an MC-12HD B EQ, and for the same kinds of sources, it sounds the same. The big things you get with it besides HDMI connectivity (1080p 24, 50, 60, and 6-channel PCM input) is better adjustment of the PLL locking times per logical input so when you switch fussy digital audio sources, you can pick between faster lock times (which may misjudge what kind of input format you have and output noise) and longer pre-lock silences, but with more accurate determination of the format.

I've found it useful with a few of my devices to have faster lock times so I don't miss the first second or two of music.

An Oppo 980H and MC-12HD is a pretty nice combo. If you toss in a nice scaler, there's not much that can beat that combo for what it is.

--Andre

If you plan to do anything with a multi-channel PCM signal (bass management, time alignment, surround processing, room correction, etc), then the MC-12HD has an advantage: you can transmit the PCM signal digitally into the processor via HDMI rather than have to digitize the 6-channel analogue input. The difference in sound quality is small to negligible, since modern A/D conversion is quite good.

Sanjay

I have a MC-12, and resisted the HD upgrade that was offered a few years ago because I knew that I wasn't particularly close to needing to deal with HDMI switching (I had a CRT projector at the time that wasn't really up to the task of 1080p, so the component switching in my 12 was fine.)

Zoom to today, I'm finally in the game with 1080p projection and HDMI, but have still wondered whether going with the 12HD was the best move. I'm going to have a few sources that will continue to require component switching. I've been working on the assumption that within the 12HD there was no video digitization that could channel a component input to the HDMI output. Is this correct? If true, this means that I will either have to continue to have a video processor that can perform this conversion (& move part of the video switching outside the 12), or make a very long component video run up to the projector in addition to the HDMI run I now have.

Trying to focus though on the SQ slant to this thread, what are the benefits of obtaining the HDMI connectivity into the HD over the normal SPDIF or optical connections for audio?

What version of MC-12 do you have now?

If you don't have Room EQ and/or v5 you essentially get those upgrades as part of the trade in too.

Shawn

What version of MC-12 do you have now?

If you don't have Room EQ and/or v5 you essentially get those upgrades as part of the trade in too.

Shawn

Hi Shawn,

I'm at v3. When I got that upgrade I did get the mic kit to use with the level set features. At the time I anticipated that the mics would also be needed for the EQ version when it came out, but when it arrived I didn't think that the $$ was justified relative to the small correction that might result in my room. (I'm lucky to have a room that is blessed with really good native response.) Realistically, then I became involved in a big way in other activities and just let my setup stay static for quite awhile.

So... I wasn't being driven by the desire for the EQ feature. I did recognize that I might be missing some codecs for the newer audio streams, but those features weren't really being strongly pushed compared to the EQ (and I was easily distracted w/ other things... I learned to play bass guitar and golf in the interim.)

As I mentioned above, also, I figured that since the 12HD HDMI switching was unlikely to eliminate my need for the outboard VP I felt the $$ I'd invest in that processor would already carry all of the video switching capabilities that I'd be buying in the HD upgrade (and then some.)

Are Buzz & Bart still involved w/ Lex?

Kevin

Kevin,

"I learned to play bass guitar and golf in the interim.)"

Have you read about LIVE yet? You might enjoy that since you play guitar.

"Are Buzz & Bart still involved w/ Lex?"

Nope. Buzz left shortly after the MC-1 came out, Bart left a year or two ago.

Shawn

The LIVE feature would be amusing now and then, but I wouldn't be surprised if I used it once or twice then forgot about it. The bottom line seems to be that since I'm not really driven by EQ or LIVE, the only thing that my v3 equipped MC-12 doesn't do is Dolby ProLogic IIx. My ongoing need to have a few component sources in addition to HDMI sources will always require me to use an outboard VP that can work with both (or run a separate long component line up to my projector). Seems to me that from a functionality perspective the thousands of dollars I'd need to invest to upgrade to a MC-12HD would be better spent on a VP upgrade. (shrug)