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Emotiva XMC-1 coming soon (please limit posts to technical issues)

73K views 1K replies 117 participants last post by  markrubin 
#1 ·
Please take a look here


Among the features of audio capabilities this Emotiva processor has something like: "Selectable Fletcher-Munson loudness compensation".


Boy, now that is something I would have never expected to see any company in the 12th year of the 21st century to enlist as a "feature". What are they talking about? Technology 80 years behind us? Arrrgh!!
 
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#1,115 ·
You won't really know until it's been around for a while. Initial reports tend to be unreliable for just about anything you can think of.
 
#1,122 ·
I have always found the information provided by those doing beta testing for Oppo to be extremely reliable. Question is would any of these guys recommend a competitors device based on the users needs as done many times by those on the Oppo threads. Reliable and honest :)
 
#1,124 ·
If you take what he says with a grain of salt. Do you REALLY think that he's risk his job by saying something negative other than a few throw away items just to attempt to prove he isn't baised by the nature of his employment?

A review by someone who is NOT employed by or beholden Emotiva, by someone who paid cold, hard cash for the unit rather than being given one since they work there, or by someone who is not affiliated with Emo as a moderator or similar would be much more informative.
 
#1,132 ·
Yep. They handled the communication around the development *horribly*, but the measurements and reviews so far are stellar. It may very well be at least as good as high end processors with a similar feature set, like the Classe SSP800. Hopefully I will have mine soon and can put my 2 cents in on it. To say its a total joke because of not having Dirac makes no sense. By that rationale every other processor except the Datasat is also a joke.
 
#1,138 ·
Yep. They handled the communication around the development *horribly*, but the measurements and reviews so far are stellar. It may very well be at least as good as high end processors with a similar feature set, like the Classe SSP800. Hopefully I will have mine soon and can put my 2 cents in on it. To say its a total joke because of not having Dirac makes no sense. By that rationale every other processor except the Datasat is also a joke.
really
 
#1,133 ·
I think the statements that the XMC-1 "is a total joke" should be put on hold till some "real" reviews by non biased owners are available. I've been very critical of Emotiva's handling of the whole XMC-1 roll out but I'm very interested in how well it will be reviewed. I'm definitely interested in the XMC-1 but only after Dirac is active and there are no operational issues to speak of.


Bill
 
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#1,137 ·
#1,139 ·
Amazing....shakes head...I really hope this piece turns out to be a great success. For a USA built product by a USA company at this price point would be really great...it's just taking so dang long.
 
#1,140 · (Edited)
I hope it does well also. However I have been watching this thing for a year and got on the list 6 months ago. First it was February, then nothing, then shipping at the end of June and now it is almost August and I have heard nothing. Now no Dirac? I gave it a year.
 
#1,146 · (Edited)
^ I guess we didn't read the same review then, to quote and this is heady stuff:

"I’ve played with my share of AV processors over the years and the XMC-1 has more in common with say the Meridian G65 or 861V8 than it does with the Integra DHC 80.3. Allow me to explain. Earlier in my review I said the XMC-1 was more akin to a multi-channel, analog-only preamp that just so happened to possess video chops too. This is the type of language I would use to describe the Meridian 861V8, for it too has placed its focus squarely on the reproduction of sound rather than the processing of video. In that respect, the XMC-1, sonically, is a closer rival to the Meridian, Classe and Mark Levinson products, than it is to a Japanese big-box brand. In truth, and I said this the day after receiving my XMC-1 for evaluation, I feel the XMC-1′s overall sonic character is extremely reminiscent of Meridian’s G Series components, as well as Classe’s current SSP-800, and even Mark Levinson’s now discontinued No.502 processor -albeit with a few more modern technological touches.
With the XMC-1, Emotiva wanted to make a reference-caliber, AV processor that was capable of holding its own against the likes of the high-end boutique brands. I think they’ve accomplished their mission objective, for while some may dismiss the XMC-1 as being behind the curve or too little too late, great sound quality is great sound quality, which is something the XMC-1 a) possesses in spades and b) never becomes obsolete."

"And the reality is pretty simple; the XMC-1 is what was promised, way back in the beginning, which was a reference-caliber, multi-channel preamp processor for the everyman.
You can throw all the talk about, video processing this, Dolby Atmos that, and anything else you want into the mix, but at the end of the day, those were not items that the XMC-1 was ever designed to address. The fact that it does address them, and in some instances includes them, for example support of 4K resolution (as it sits today), is but icing on the cake.
The fact that the internal architecture has already proven to be robust enough to be updated without any major overhauls only speaks to the future possibilities of the XMC-1 platform -Dolby Atmos anyone? But we must stop living in a future that has yet to be written and deal with the present, for technology will always evolve, all we can help is the here and now. Right here, right now, the XMC-1 is as good an AV preamp processor in terms of its absolute sonic performance as you can hope for, and expect to find in the marketplace today, regardless of price."

After reading that if he worked for me I would be giving him a pay raise. How is this review anything but a glowing endorsement of a product that is still under construction? I bet where his check comes from never entered his mind :rolleyes: and that's why one shouldn't review the equipment of those they work for. It would be hard if not impossible for anyone in that situation to be impartial. By the way any typos are his, as I mentioned his quotes not mine.

I also think its irresponsible to suggest that the unit will eventually have Atmos when Dirac has yet to be delivered. One step at time Emo.
 
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#1,149 ·
^ I guess we didn't read the same review then, to quote and this is heady stuff:

After reading that if he worked for me I would be giving him a pay raise. How is this review anything but a glowing endorsement of a product that is still under construction? I bet where his check comes from never entered his mind :rolleyes: and that's why one shouldn't review the equipment of those they work for. It would be hard if not impossible for anyone in that situation to be impartial. By the way any typos are his, as I mentioned his quotes not mine.

I also think its irresponsible to suggest that the unit will eventually have Atmos when Dirac has yet to be delivered. One step at time Emo.

Your faith in mankind to be honest is surprisingly low, and I notice how you stick your whole argument to one person vs. the group I referred to. Sure, shoot down comments from 1 of 5 I refer to. That does not diminish the comments of the other 4...which, by the way - are quite consistent with the 1 you discredit. And all of their comments are consistent with what the data says it should do. And, perhaps you didn't read the parts where Andrew acknowledges outages with the product as it exists as well as the flaws re. communication through its development. I call that balanced reporting...balanced enough that if I were his boss, I'd hold on the raise you propose. And, I would thank him for his honesty as it makes the glowing parts actually believable that he doesn't gloss over issues.


As far as Atmos and the XMC...truthfully...who knows? Do you, with certainty know it never will? Unless you have inside info that even an employee of Emotiva does not, then I will take your comment with a grain of salt. Your statement is every bit as irresponsible as his, if you think his is so.


Meanwhile - sticking to the topic...it appears based on published data and reports from trustable beta testers (whom I personally know...do you?) and 1 trustable purchaser so far (whom I personally know...do you?)...that this machine is something to consider. For you, maybe not. Your loss.


Have a nice day.
 
#1,147 ·
Andrew just recently put an ethics statement on his website, with a whole long sob story about how he didn't think it would ever be necessary, that it's in his contract with Emotiva that they'll have no input on his website, and so on, but the criticism with regards to his review has caused him to write that. On the Emo forum the fanboys are all backing him with "haters gonna hate" type posts.

It's ridiculous. Anyone that writes reviews and is employed in some capacity by a company in the industry they review should always be clear in each review about their potential conflict of interest. Now if he was writing about turntables or subwoofers or something else Emotiva doesn't sell, it wouldn't be a big deal. But if he is reviewing an Emotiva product, or any other amp, processor, or CD player, or anything else directly competing with Emotiva, it is only right that he state somewhere in the review that he is an employee of Emotiva. Now at times he, and the Emo fanboys, are trying to claim that it is "common" knowledge that he works for Emotiva. But that is only true on their forum. Outside of there it's hardly common knowledge. And if someone received the link to his review on his website and someone went and read that they'd have to do a bunch of searching around to establish that the Andrew Robinson that owns arccinema.com is the same Andrew Robinson that works for Emotiva. Even now you still have to follow a link on his site to the ethics statement as it is not established within the review that he has a professional relationship with Emotiva.
 
#1,150 ·
Andrew just recently put an ethics statement on his website, with a whole long sob story about how he didn't think it would ever be necessary, that it's in his contract with Emotiva that they'll have no input on his website, and so on, but the criticism with regards to his review has caused him to write that. On the Emo forum the fanboys are all backing him with "haters gonna hate" type posts.

It's ridiculous. Anyone that writes reviews and is employed in some capacity by a company in the industry they review should always be clear in each review about their potential conflict of interest. Now if he was writing about turntables or subwoofers or something else Emotiva doesn't sell, it wouldn't be a big deal. But if he is reviewing an Emotiva product, or any other amp, processor, or CD player, or anything else directly competing with Emotiva, it is only right that he state somewhere in the review that he is an employee of Emotiva. Now at times he, and the Emo fanboys, are trying to claim that it is "common" knowledge that he works for Emotiva. But that is only true on their forum. Outside of there it's hardly common knowledge. And if someone received the link to his review on his website and someone went and read that they'd have to do a bunch of searching around to establish that the Andrew Robinson that owns arccinema.com is the same Andrew Robinson that works for Emotiva. Even now you still have to follow a link on his site to the ethics statement as it is not established within the review that he has a professional relationship with Emotiva.

So, if you don't trust his reviews...don't read them.
 
#1,148 ·
Who can forget when he got a pair of Tekton speakers for nothing because they were to be used for an upcoming film project or something and ran interference for Eric Alexander for months.

It wasn't that long ago there was this guy who ran a somewhat popular audio business, now defunct. He would always compare the products he sold to those he said he owned but as it turned out, he didn't own any of the stuff he said he had. That said, I'm sure it's a nice product. Does anyone know if the units have serial numbers?
 
#1,156 · (Edited)
Apologies if my quoting Andrew's review offended anyone - just pointing out that it was an extremely positive review.

Specs and DACs are great, but past a certain point indistinguishable to most of us but those magical reviewers. XMC-1 specs do look good, but no better than a lot of other similar products on the market today - see Marantz 8801 and others. So then it comes down to features or lack of and price (later for some of us).

So far glowing reviews from Emo moderators with racks full of Emo gear, not convincing me to buy it yet. Lack of Dirac, not knowing how Dirac will be implemented, if Atmos will be delivered within the next year (even if limited to 5.1.2), and the bass management issue with 2 subs - these require answers and solutions before I part with $2k. If it was only $1200 it might be easier to take a plunge.
 
#1,171 ·
and the bass management issue with 2 subs - these require answers and solutions before I part with $2k. If it was only $1200 it might be easier to take a plunge.
I hesitate to call the bass mgmt situation an "issue". First, they made a decision on how to implement it. It is not a bug or an issue...it is how they chose to implement it. and it appears to work as intended. Second, Lonnie today posted that it is something they can change and intend to via a FW update. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

And yes...I know your answer to that and the answer of many others will be " I don't trust them to...I will have to wait and see if they do". Well, let's get real...you will be waiting anyway unless you are on the waiting list already. I suspect you are not. So...just wait and see with the rest of us.

And by the way, hemster has confirmed they already adjusted the FW to improve the menu system, and the process was a breeze. So, that monkey on the back of the UMC-1 and -200 has been slain. Net, one less thing for people to compain about or speculate about being wrong.

For those of you saying Andrew didn't handle his ethics statement perfectly...I suspect that if any of you ghost-wrote anything for him on the topic, you would still complain he did it wrong. How about giving the guy a little credit for trying? I guess he's not perfect but some of you are.
 
#1,157 ·
What discounts do Emotiva moderators enjoy and does Robinson have a sweeter deal?
 
#1,160 ·
I'll wait for reviews from owners and professional reviewers who are impartial and have no connection to Emotiva either by employment or forum ties.

Bill
 
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#1,169 ·
CNBC runs a program called American Greed that talks about how people have had their trust manipulated.

Would the people one trusts at Emotiva have told a prospective purchaser of the UMC-1 how as a whole how buggy they were? Or that they screwed up the bass management as Markus so ably illustrated? For those who bought their speakers and perhaps were looking to flesh out their purchase a bit later that once they sold off the last one that was it? Sorry Charlie. What abou their subs which were developing problems and would be shortly discontinued never to be seen again.

No one who works for any company is going to tell you about the warts and give you a heads up. If they do they won't be working there very long and likely will be demonized.
 
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#1,188 · (Edited)
Only Emotiva can answer that question with exact certitude.

Perhaps it is because of financial cost; royalties. ...Or they saw the flaws in Audyssey?
...Or too much processing power needed, in top of their sophisticated PEQ. ...More DSP chips, more money.
And they like Cirrus Logic, and the implementation of Audyssey is harder? ...

* TacT was kind of a deal for them when it was first talked about around the table, but it fell apart eventually.
Then came Dirac, and Dirac is software implemented, and they are still working on it ...
 
#1,192 ·
Here's oNe way to look at the AR ethics thing. Would your wife feel more comfortable with you going to Vegas for several days on a business trip with you wedding ring on your finger or with the ring in your wallet?
 
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