EMOTIVA Thread Q&A [TECHNICAL TALK ONLY] - Page 21

If you don't mind me asking. Which processor do you have experience with?

I spoke with Emotiva and they said they are pushing for December of this year!!

Matter of fact here is the info...

"First off I would like to say thank you for being a loyal Emotiva customer. To that end we currently do not have any equipment that will do HDMI 1.3, however. We are working on a next gen platform to be released close to the end of this year. I really can't give out a lot of information on the new product, but I can tell you that the next gen processor is not just an upgraded version of what we currently have, but in reality several generations ahead of the current platforms. It will have full up-conversion of all formats to HDMI with a ghost overlay for the OSD. Full loss-less audio stripping, HDMI driver and switching circuits for multiple inputs and a list of features that is longer than my arm. Being that you are a current customer, we will offer the new processor to you at a substantial savings of 40% off when it becomes available. So if you can hold on for a little while longer, I can promise you it will be worth the wait. Also, we will be staying with the black and blue cosmetic package as this is an Emotiva trade mark."


I am very confident that it will be right around the first of December. The projected release date is the first of the third quarter, so given our track record with actual release dates, I padded it when I said the first of December.



So I feel very confident that you will see it before the year is out. There are some other reasons I know it will be finished by then but I really can't get into it now.

Emotiva does sound interesting, but does it bother anyone that an internet only company doesn't have their own support and discussion forum? What does that say about their commitment to customer service?

kaotickr1 Says "I am very confident that it will be right around the first of December. The projected release date is the first of the third quarter, so given our track record with actual release dates, I padded it when I said the first of December." Is that YOU talking or the Emo folks? Given the close to 18 month delay in delivering the current processor, do they really want to pad it for only 3 months? The new product described would seem to be considerably more complex than the LMC-1, and they will have it this year? Anyone can promise deliveries, but over time everyone, including BOTH Emotiva and Outlaw have been late in delivering new processors. Why should we think that their new processor will be ready on time?

No offense to Emotiva, but their credibility is questionable. Consider the LMC-1. It has been a trail of broken promises from the day it was announced. It still is not fixed with all of the known bugs and there appears to be deafening silence about the major software modification (with dongles?) which was promised to be ready back in mid-April. Despite repeated requests for a progress reports on this final fix, there has been nothing announced except declarations of new leading edge designs and big discounts on these future products if you buy their present offerings. Am I missing something here?

Bill had the LMC-1. As is evident by quite a few posts here and elsewhere, he is not alone in disappointment with that unit. Also plenty of folks happy with it at the price point.

So far, so good with my MMC/LPA. The power button 'stuck' on the MMC yesterday. Hoping it was just a minor incident. I should be using the remote most of the time, once I'm fully set up.

Everything I posted below this line Matter of fact here is the info... was from Emotiva.

I am not aware of the issues the LMC has, but I run the DMC/MPS setup and I couldn't be happier, well I guess I could if it was HDMI 1.3, etc... I have faith that Emotiva will bring their new processor this year, but even if they don't I am not going to get all worked up about it.

I've never owned an Outlaw product, and I currently own Emotiva's LPA-1 amp. I returned my LMC-1, but I did enjoy its sound quality. I am a fanboy of neither company.

How can anyone slam Outlaw for 'not passing the savings on to the customer', and praise Emotiva for passing on savings? Take a look at the price/features (featuers based on my understanding, so don't take it as law) of the prepros from each....

LMC-1: $499. comparable DSP & DAC to the discontinued Outlaw 950. Free HDMI video switcher. Buggy. Made in China.
970: $699. More current DSP, older DAC (950). DVI inputs. Field updatable. Made in Malaysia.
990: $1099. More current DSP, newer DAC. balanced connections, DVI inputs. Auto calibration. Made in Malaysia.
MMC-1:$1199. More current DSP, newer DAC. Based on DMC, lacks some of the features of the 990. built in HDMI video switching. Made in China.
DMC-1:$1299 (on sale). More current DSP, newer DAC. Based on Sunfire IV. Balanced connections. Free HDMI video switcher. Made in China.

It's a wash. 2 of Emo's prepros are more expensive, but don't really have any solid benefits over the 990. I could be very wrong about that, but I've researched extensively and it appears that the 990 is sonically very similar to the DMC/MMC. The 990 does have more flexible bass management, auto calibration, and balanced inputs. Solid features above and beyond the MMC/DMC, except for the DMC's balanced inputs. And it's cheaper! They're all made overseas where the labor is cheaper.

In my book, it looks like Outlaw has the lead in 'passing the cost savings on to the customer' over Emotiva. The 'flagship' Outlaw 990 is at least $200 cheaper than the 'flagship' Emotiva DMC-1, and offers a few more features.

The 40% off deal is very tempting, but at the same time it's a bit of a double-edged sword. Everyone likes to upgrade to the latest and greatest audio toys, and the 40% off helps so long as you're content to stay in the Emotiva camp. But then again, they're almost saying that "we can't count on our customers to be loyal to us in the future, so we're going to bribe them to buy our first-gen products now." If Emotiva had a track record of product improvement over the years, it'd be a no-brainer. But they're new, and they don't. So it becomes a question of faith. Do you have the faith to believe that they will deliver new and better prepros that you are going to want to upgrade to?

You have to add $500 to the 990 because it looks like crap.

It is true that Outlaw products are a bit more subdued than Emotivas. But that's a personal preference. Some folks want bling, others want stealth. Emotiva-haters could argue that their flashy design is just an attempt to 'polish a bowel movement' .

I like my LPA-1, but the blinding blue LED's are a bit much when you're trying to watch a movie in the dark. So much so, I've thought about taping over them. I wish they would have added a 'fault-condition only' switch for the LED's.

I don't see my lights as they are in a differnt room than my media room.

I am still waiting for the replacement of my LMC-1 - the first they sent has this outrageous hiss... In the meantime, I have been looking at Outlaw, namely 970 and 7125. Honestly, I don't really like their designs, its kind of strange, and simply doesn't "go" with my living room.

The lights on the LPA-1 don't bother me, but I am watching TV with some background light.

I do agree with that. 95% of the time I'm watching TV or listening to music with at least some ambient light in the room, and in that situation it's not a big deal.

But if we're the mood to watch a movie in the dark, those LED's are pretty bright, at least in my setup. It's nitpicking, for sure.

Out of curiosity, how long have you been waiting?

Well, they were relatively slow in sending the replacement. I requested it on 5/2, and they shipped UPS ground on 5/7 - yesterday. So it will be another 7-8 days.

You are contradicting yourself. You say your unit is "... in a differnt room than my media room." If that's the case, please tell us why it matters how either unit looks or find a better reason to like one or the other. The statement above is an opinion you're certainlly entitled to, but it has no impact on how the unit sounds, operates or what type of connections it offers. As noted elsewhere, some like bright and bling, others like dark and subdued. Some simply can't handle the height of the Outlaw.

NONE of this has anything to do with the SQ, product build quality or after sale product support.

Please tell me your joking... I surely hope you saw the smiley face that was a wink, meaning I was just giving the guy a hard time.

Ordered and returned the MPS-1. I had several bad modules (4 out of 11) whih made me very oncomfortable with the QC at their facility in China. When I finally got 7 good mods loaded...wasn't that impressed with the sound quality. Plenty of power, but kind of lackluster sound.

While it is not expensive, the consistency of the product does not seem to be there. Better off spending money elsewhere...

I have had an emotiva mps-1 and shipped it back because of SEVERAL bad modules...STAY AWAY

... and my LPA-1 has been perfect and sounds delightful. A nice improvement over the amp section of my Pioneer Elite VSX-43TX AVR, at least at high volume levels.

gmauriello, can you explain what you are comparing the MPS sound to? I'm just curious as to what you use that you feel sounds better, for my own frame of reference.

While I have heard of others having problems with the MPS modules, you are the first one I've heard complain about the sound quality itself.

Emotivas look cool...but talk about a waste of money...they are built like junk and don't sound much better. keep your denon until you can buy a REAL amp

Frankly, given the tone of some of your comments, it was hard to tell if you were kidding or not. I'll take it from your comment that you were.

Unfortunately, emoticons and smileys are no replacement for the nuances of inflection and body language that you have in face to face conversation. Flat text, even with the little thingys just isn't the same. Besides, around here there is (perhaps here, perhaps not) a bit more "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude and defensiveness about a product someone owns that is driven by the anonimity of a forum. One wonders if people would address one another in person as they do here...but that's a topic for a totally differnt venue.

As another example, the reason why I queried you above about the "speaker" and context of the comments about a delivery date for the new Emo processor is that the larger paragraph was in quotes while the two sentences in the bottom were not. That telegraphs that the last two statements were written by you and not carried over from Emotiva. You've been kind enough to clarify that all comments shown were from them.

By the way, was that from Dan or someone else? Does everyone (anyone?) here really think that we'll see an HDMI 1.3 product from anyone in the "internet only" world before some time in 2008. THe respective track records for all are less than stellar.

Nope. Mainstream yes, Internet-only, no.

I agree with BigStig - the largest manufacturers are just starting to try to get HDMI v1.3 product on the market (Onkyo being the first), and they have a lot more manufacturing muscle and R&D resources at their disposal. There are only a couple of the smaller manufacturers currently even talking about v1.3 product in 2007 (Emotiva being one, Sherwood being another), but I'd be amazed if either can hit a 2007 delivery date. All manufacturers (big and small) regularly experience delays in product development, and HDMI v1.3 is going to add so many new wrinkles to a receiver or processor that it is going to have to take some time to get right. Not only do you have to handle the capabilities associated with HDMI v1.3 itself (automatic lip sync, for example) and all the traditional surround receiver duties (DD, DTS, bass management, analog video switching, Pro Logic II/IIx, NEO:6, ...), you have multichannel PCM and three brand new processing modes (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD MA).

Sure...

I am currently using a Yamaha RX-V2500 receiver to drive a pair of Def Tech BP7002's, a CLR 2500 and a pair of BPVX's. The MPS-1 with my Yammy as the pre-pro sounded WORSE than the Yammy alone! I was VERY disappointed, because I wanted to love the amp. Trying to find the right amp, but it definately will not be an emotiva.

The thing weighs a ton and feels solid...but the bad modules made me very uncomfortable. I am currently looking at the Earthquake CineNova Grande, The Theta Dreadnaught II and the Gemstone Blue Diamond in addition to Parasound, Arcam and Anthem.

Please don't take this as grounds for a fight, but how did you know?
Did you actually do an A/B test with a switching box?
Was your perception subjective due to the "bad modules"?

Granted the LMC-1 I received hisses like crazy, I am impressed with the LPA-1 nevertheless. It is a very good amp. I did an A/B test with my Sony-STR-DA5ES, and the improvment is great.

It seems as if the Emotiva forum has some Outlaws trashing the Emotiva name. This also happened on the HSU Research Forum from SVS fans. I have not received my components yet from Emotiva. I based my purchase on what Secrets of Home Theater said about the quality of Emotiva's products.

Many might be suprised to find that many manufacturers build their pre/pro's and amplifiers overseas. Brands like Sunfire, Krell and many others are made overseas. So the argument becomes is overseas factory A better than overseas factory B?? One person even mentioned that Outlaw Audio's components are manufactured in Malayasia. Outlaw claims everythings made in the USA. Let's not forget the most reliable cars in the World are manufactured in Asia, primarily Japan.

My Denon AVR-3801 has never skipped a beat. However, according to consumer reports, Denon's are unreliable. I have friends who have Denon's that have crapped out early.

I rarely return any product I've purchased. The Emotiva combo unit is only $900. I think many posters have untreated personality conditions. Instead of dealing with one's own faults, these individuals create of find fault in material possessions. Let's face it, stereo equipment is no different than owning a powerful sports cars.

They do? All you have to do is look at the gallery of their items, 'View it huge'....

The Prepros all say 'Made in Malaysia'
The 2200 Monoblocks say, 'Made in Thailand'
All of the other amps say, 'Made in the USA'.

I don't think anyone is trashing a particular product because of where it's made. I know that I certainly wasn't. My post above was just stating that both companies use factories overseas, and so both should benefit from lower costs of production.

Even the comment about the Quality Control from a China factory - Emotiva's a lot newer than Outlaw, and so there are bound to be a few QC problems. Doesn't matter whether it's in Pittsburg or Shanghai.

Emotiva's DMC and MMC both have good reputations - they're based on a well-respected design and have been well-liked by their owners. I don't think I've ever seen an Outlaw owner disagree with that. The LMC has well-documented problems that deserve some response from Emotiva.

Some people may be surprised by where their gear is being manufactured, but your comments about Outlaw claiming that everything being made in the USA is incorrect. Outlaw claims that their multichannel amps are manufactured in the US - which is a perfectly accurate claim, seeing as ATI builds them out on the west coast. Outlaw has been having electronics manufactured overseas ever since their Model 1050 receiver, and it's never been a secret. Eastech (in Malaysia) built the Model 1050 and Model 950 and currently builds the Model 1070 and 970. Etronics (Korea) builds the Model 990. The Model 2200 monoblock amp and LFM subwoofers are also built overseas (China for the LFM's, Thailand for the 2200). It's all out there for anybody to see.