Quote:
Originally Posted by rdgrimes /forum/post/18223256
Consider an AVR for use as a processor for whatever amp. Any AVR with pre-outs to feed an amp. The Yamaha V665 can be had for ~$350 on sale, the V765 for about $400 on sale. Those 2 have identical front ends that although are slightly less feature-rich than the UMC-1, they essentially do all the same stuff. There are other choices in the same price range, but the Yamahas have very good DACs and DSP.
Many folks are using AVRs as a pre-pro and are very happy with them. They also give you the option of removing the separate amp if you need to do that for whatever reason. You'd be hard pressed to actually hear any difference between the UMC-1 and any decent mid-level AVR once connected to a good amp.
I wouldn't say that, many UMC-1 owners have heard a upgrade coming from upper end AVRs.
I myself hear a huge step up coming from a mid-range Yamaha 663! The midrange opened up, better separation, better detail (without the Harshness) and a bigger soundstage. I felt like I had a new set of speakers! The UMC-1 also has zero noise (that I hear) from it's pre-out. It's been a while since I last hear the Marantz SR8002 in my listening room (so take it with a grain of salt) but I'm also more impressed with the UMC-1.
I'm pretty skeptical in nature and I honestly wasn't expecting much (if anything) but I am pretty amazed by the sound. It is a shame though, I was hoping to save some money! I sold the 663 on Craigslist once I heard the sound differences. I love the features and functions! Emo-Q is crap from what I've read but I've always set mine up manually with test-tones and a mic. Outside of Emo-Q it only has a couple annoyances (bugs) that affect me and most should be worked out soon with the upcoming firmware. (Emotiva claims)
Nothing horrible as far as I'm concerned. I can see how people would come to that conclusion, I would have myself had I not actually had hands on experience with it. It might be best to wait it out if one expects perfection (Very few HDMI pre-amp processors) come close to perfection out the gate or even sometimes long out the gate. This is where AVRs tend to excel (that and features.).. Not all AVRs are fool proof today but the 663 was pretty close. The UMC-1 sound upgrade is worth the minor annoyances IMO. This could make or break Emotiva in the field of processors and the UMC-1 is the backbone of their upcoming flagship processor, so I'm hoping for the best.
There is a 4-page long thread of UMC-1 owners attesting to the same experience I had coming from Yamaha AVRs... and no I'm not one of their crazy fan boys.
http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/i...ad=4357&page=1
Quote:
Originally Posted by croseiv /forum/post/18223237
Many folks have been having to return theirs for issues that can't apparently be fixed from firmware updates alone.
Like what? The remote issue?
The only hardware issue I heard of was the UMC-1's remote functions interacting with the USP-1. Emotiva will giving away a work around at no additional cost (as they should.)