Emotiva XMC-1 Surround Sound Processor | Short Video | Launch Date: Presumably February 14, 2014

I've been following the "progress" of it and it turns out that it sounds like it's still a few months before they ship. Apparently the info we got from the Atlanta "Emo on the Road" event is they are still working the bugs out the Dirac room correction. One of the Emo employees said that they have a ton of the built, FWIW (and it's not worth much IMHO) :S. If this doesn't hit the market soon and without any major bugs, I don't think there's any recovering from this for their processor business. I still have my 40% card but unless this thing is perfect and sounds awesome, I'm going to be selling it and figuring out something else for my pre/pro needs. I've lost most of my faith in Emotiva.
 
Matt, do you still post @ the Lounge?

* Mike on the previous page mentioned that "This is so funny and sad at the same time".
Having been a steady member @ the Lounge for few years I can say it is totally pathetic and they are getting back what they preached from the very beginning; Blue SSP Emo kool-aid mixed with arsenic poison. That is one of their major downfalls (all their SSPs), among the addicted affliction of some of their members.

It is not the fault of the people, or their customers (happy or unhappy), but their own goddamn fault exacerbated by the unfriendly and aggressive attitude of some of their most loyal members/customers. ...I saw there lies over lies over lies and absolute dedication to non-sense ideology! ...It's like a very bad nightmare created by an obscure cult of the 'outerworld', not from this universe.

Amplifiers they should have stick with.
 
Nope, I'm no longer an active member at the Lounge. I do still lurk there to check into the progress or lack there of concerning the XMC-1 and check out new product announcements but I rarely ever participate in any discussions. Little by little I've lost the warm fuzzy feeling I used to get from that company and the members on the Lounge. There's no denying that they get a lot of budding audiophiles into this hobby by offering good bang for the buck products but I often stop and wonder if they aren't getting a little too big for their britches and losing focus as to what made them successful.
 
He's been saying "soon" for years. I'll believe it when I see it. Even then, it's already outdated. There are newer HT technologies out now.


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As far as I know he's never come out and actually stated that they are going to get shipping and payment info so that's a major step for them. I agree, the XMC has been in the works a bit too long and now it's starting to get long in the tooth compared to what the big companies are releasing. For my needs, I could care less about 99% of the bells and whistles that pack today's processors; I just want it to sound great for both 2 channel and multichannel duty and work without major bugs at a price point that doesn't require me to save for 5 years. I have a suspicion that things, especially the room correction, are going to require some tweaking once the masses get their hands on the final product.
 
Seriously? They've been saying "coming soon"'for years and took preorders.

Buy a Marantz and save yourself the headaches. That's my two cents.


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I'm not defending them but they didn't take any preorders. It was just a list to get one reserved; no money ever changed hands.

A Marantz is a possibility but I haven't decided yet. I've got some major work that needs to be done to my house before winter so all nonessential purchases are on hold for quite some time. :)
 
The first XMC-1's shipped today minus DIRAC room correction. Oh boy. :facepalm:They are saying that Dirac will be shipping with units within 60 days and available as a firmware update for the early units. Would I trust them to deliver a firmware like that with no issues? No thanks!
 
hiro100 said:
Hi Dave

I own the XMC-1. Happy to answer any questions on the unit.
Click to expand...

Hi Hiro100,

First, thanks for being here to share your experiences and answer questions. For myself, I still have a 15 year old Pioneer Elite Pro-710HD 64" rear projection TV that looks great, but it's only 1080i. Needless to say, 4k or HDMI 2.0, etc, etc are not important to me at this point in time. For my sources, I go hdmi in the the processor and then hdmi out to a Cary Cinema 11V, which then outputs the video to component to my TV. Eventually, I will change up to a 4K TV and/or projector - probably in the next year or two (or three).

Also, in this house, I have a "great" room, which is a family room, dining room, and kitchen combo. Since there really isn't a "back"of the room for my setup, I have no place to put surround speakers down low - they are all ceiling mounted. My fronts are floorstanders, and the center is not ceiling mounted. So, given all this, ATMOS and AURO, etc are not likely in my future.

Having said all of that, getting the best 7.1 is my priority. I want a unit that has top notch sonics, as well as a decent eq setup. I did not think Emotiva would be that kind of unit, but after reading some reviews (Andrew Robinson and some folks on the AVS forum), I'm having to think twice. Plus, there's a 30 day return, so you can't go wrong.

I'd like to ask:

* What do you think of the sonics of the XMC-1?
* What processor(s) have you had prior to the XMC-1, and how does the XMC-1 specifically compare to those units?
* Any other pros/cons that you want to mention?


Thanks,
Dave
 
Hi Dave

To answer your questions:

1. Sound Quality. In my opinion, the sound quality is one of the XMC-1 primary strengths. I had low expectations based on my experience with Emotiva products in the past (amps, processors, even the cables) but was intrigued by the Dirac software based on my use of the PC version of Dirac in the past. Without EQ, the sound quality is on par with any HT processor I’ve had (see below). Dirac is the first EQ that I am competent enough to employ and that I find beneficial. Being able to tailor your own house curve and select the frequencies EQ is applied is a very powerful tool. I ended up something similar to the Harman House curve with slight adjustments for certain frequencies where it was trying to correct more than 5db.
2. Past Ownership-Marantz AV7702, Marantz AV8801, Bryston SP3, Classe SSP-800, Arcam AV888, Integra DHC… many more but those are the most recent processors I’ve owned. I can’t comment on most of them as they were used in a different room and too distant in time for me to remember. However, my favorites have been the Marantz for bang for the buck, Bryston SP3 for sonics with Classe a step behind the Bryston but definitely the most aesthetically beautiful. I seem to always end up with Marantz as the price is fair and the sound very good for HT. I did have the Emotiva side by side with the Marantz and preferred the Emotiva for sonics in the end. The Marantz was definitely more polished (see cons below on Emotiva) and the 7702 is a very good deal. I found it better than the AV8801 which I had concurrently. I feel the Emotiva, sound-wise is very reminiscent of the Classe SSP-800 and with the Dirac engaged, my favorite in terms of sound quality. A slightly laid back soundstage but still very open and detailed. Very clean but natural sound which I prefer. While the Marantz is slightly forward soundstage.
3. Pros are the price, sound quality, and Dirac. You can also have an acoustician look at your REW measurements, offer PEQ settings and you can import them into the unit. I haven’t found a processor that offers all this short of the Datasat RS20i which costs 15k+. Very impressed with the sound and feature set.
4. Cons-This is a big one. It’s not a polished unit. I’ve had lots of issues. Aside from being a quirky unit in terms of the menu structure, I’ve had many issues to get Dirac working right. Initially, it had issues with Dirac telling me my center speaker volume was too high, despite it being identical to my left and right speakers and showing volume was the same in Emotiva’s own pink noise. So I could initially only run Dirac for L/R speakers. With Dirac full software, this was resolved and it has its own volume scaler for the Center channel so even if it wasn’t resolved I could have made adjustments anyway. However, after Dirac was done, it had my center volume 10 db too low. I had to lower the L/R and increase the Center to get them all level so it works great now but still frustrating to even need to do this. The Dirac software used to crash quite a bit and still does but less frequently with the full Dirac suite and new 3.0 firmware. To be honest, if it weren’t for the price and how much I like the sound I would not put up with these issues. Aside from those issue another con is no Atmos but it sounds like this isn’t a consideration for you.
 
Thanks so much for the information! Great info, by the way. So, without EQ, it sounds like it's on par with the SSP-800, but the Dirac takes it a notch above. Without EQ, is it close to the Bryson SP3? I'm guessing with Dirac, the XMC-1 surpassed the SP3.

When you say the Dirac software crashes, is that only when doing the calibration? When in normal use for music and movies, I'm guessing that it does not have those issues? How about hdmi switching?

Thanks again,
Dave
 
thezaks said:
Thanks so much for the information! Great info, by the way. So, without EQ, it sounds like it's on par with the SSP-800, but the Dirac takes it a notch above. Without EQ, is it close to the Bryson SP3? I'm guessing with Dirac, the XMC-1 surpassed the SP3.

When you say the Dirac software crashes, is that only when doing the calibration? When in normal use for music and movies, I'm guessing that it does not have those issues? How about hdmi switching?

Thanks again,
Dave
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Good news is I haven't had issues with HDMI switching or crashes in use. It's the Dirac software itself, how it connects to the XMC-1 and the calibration process that has had several hiccups. Other than that though the unit is not that intuitive to use. I definitely don't recommend to those that look for a set it and forget it type unit. Hard to say how it would compare side by side with the SSP-800 or SP3 with our without Dirac engaged. The SP3 truly was the first HT processor I felt was on par with a good stereo preamp but its limitation in feature set (e.g. eq), particularly in bass management was an issue for me. Although the XMC-1 reminds me of the Classe house sound, it was a while ago since I had that unit so I'd be hard pressed to say how they would compare side by side. I can say, the XMC-1 sonically has me very satisfied and no urge to upgrade until the rest of my system is ready for Atmos.
 
hiro100 said:
Good news is I haven't had issues with HDMI switching or crashes in use. It's the Dirac software itself, how it connects to the XMC-1 and the calibration process that has had several hiccups. Other than that though the unit is not that intuitive to use. I definitely don't recommend to those that look for a set it and forget it type unit. Hard to say how it would compare side by side with the SSP-800 or SP3 with our without Dirac engaged. The SP3 truly was the first HT processor I felt was on par with a good stereo preamp but its limitation in feature set (e.g. eq), particularly in bass management was an issue for me. Although the XMC-1 reminds me of the Classe house sound, it was a while ago since I had that unit so I'd be hard pressed to say how they would compare side by side. I can say, the XMC-1 sonically has me very satisfied and no urge to upgrade until the rest of my system is ready for Atmos.
Click to expand...

Thanks hiro100! I'm a little confused though. You mention the "Good news" is that there are not HDMI issues, when in use. You also mention the Dirac software issues - how it connects and the calibration. From that, I would think it would be set and forget. But you are saying that it is not set and forget? More specifically and from your descriptions, I had thought that the "set" part was where the issues were with Dirac, but once set, I thought that "forget" was possible, since it sounds like there are not any issues during normal use. Please let me know...

Thanks,
Dave
 
You're correct. Once you run Dirac Calibration, you are set but there is many reasons to have to go back into the software. The first is the fact that you have to run a 9 point calibration at varying locations and heights so you may find you need to run a few times to get it right. The second is that you get to adjust the target curve set by Dirac and each time you do this you have to get into the software to do this. But if you run it a few times, like the Dirac curve and just leave it alone you are fine. No need to get back in. Also YMMV as I'm sure other people have run Dirac with out issue.
 
Thanks so much for all of your help and the great information hiro100! For me, it's enough to convince me to order one and try it out.

Dave
 
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