I'm sure some of you are aware that the Emotiva UMC-1 pre/pro has been released. Since I was one of the first to receive the unit, I guess it's about time I started a thread about my experiences with the Emotiva UMC-1.
Unlike the few other guys who got their UMC-1 last week and spent the whole weekend figuring it out, I got stuck with multiple major disasters at work. The UMC-1 couldn't have arrived on a worse weekend for me. But I have spent as much time as I could getting it set up (which wasn't much).
A little background on my theater equipment and what I'm hooking up to the UMC-1:
- B&K Reference 31 pre/pro replaced with UMC-1
- Behringer A500 amplifiers (seven) all bridged
- B&K 7270 seven channel amp (used for testing purposes)
- Epson Powerlite Pro Cinema 7500 UB projector
- Stewart Filmscreen 100' 16x9 Luxus Deluxe Screenwall w/Firehawk material
- OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray player
- Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player
- DISH VIP622 HD satelite receiver with DVR
- Ion Audio VCR2PC vhs to usb converting VCR deck
- HTPC home computer hooked up via HDMI and Toslink
- Fantom Drives 1 TB External Hard Drive for DISH Receiver
- Premier Mounts PBL-UMS Universal Projector Mount
- Status Acoustic Decimo bookshelf speakers (on stands)
- Canton Ergo 80 tower speakers
- Canton Ergo CM-51 center
- Canton THX S-10 surrounds
- Canton Ergo In-wall rears
- HSU VTF-3HO subwoofers with Turbos (two)
- HSU MBM-12 midbass module
- Xbox 360 Elite w/many extras
- Original Xbox w/Logitec wireless controllers
- Sony PS1 (old school)
- Tributaries S-video Compensator
- Tributaries Silver interconnects
- Tributaries Pentavideo RCA to BNC 5-wire component video cable (8 meter)
- Bluejean Cables various audio interconnects
- DVI Gear "SHR" HDMI cables
- Ixos Gamma interconnect for other components
- Ixos Gamma in-wall speaker wires
- Phillips Pronto Pro TSU6000 with RF receiver
- APC Smart-UPS XL 1000VA (component rack)
- APC Smart-UPS XL 1000VA (projector)
- Lutron Maestro IR lighting control
- Berkline Leather Theater Seating w/electric recline (X 5)
- Auralex Subdude subwoofer isolation platforms (X 4).
- Ready Acoustic Chameleon Bass Trap panels (X 8).
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22943
So you can see from the various equipment I've listed about, I have many different forms of connections and formats to deal with. This ranges from the component video/optical digital audio on the XBOX, the composite video/mono RCA audio on the VCR2PC, to the S-video/stereo RCA audio on the PS1 and lastly five different HDMI connections.
Obviously, the first thing I did was remove the old B&K pre/pro and swap wires over to the UMC-1. Since I was able to now use HDMI for most of the inputs I was able to remove a lot of digital audio connections. It was also a good time for me to reorganize cables and clean up the back of the rack. (well, it's never really clean)
The UMC-1 is very straight forward with the controls and menu setup. If you've ever setup and calibrated a modern AV pre-pro, it should be intuitive to most. The text is easy to read, the choices are well organized into groups that make sense and the amount of "keystroke" button pushing to navigate is not excessive. I was able to easily configure each item of my system into the UMC-1 and get all of the labeling the way I wanted it to appear on the screen. There are tons of options for each component and this can take some time to get things just right. In my case I swapped a few items around just so I could get them to scroll in the order I wanted when using the input selection arrows on the remote. Might not seem like much, but it's much easier to use the arrows then enteing the menu to select input. So just group your favorites together so it just a simple "up and down" between them. It's also much easier to feel those buttons on the remote in a dark room.
My first task was to start from scratch with all my video sources and the projector with calibrations. I was previously using an external HDMI switcher since the B&K was not capable. And since I was not converting any of the lesser formats to HD prior to the projector, it was a little more involved. I have only caibrated to "eye" using DVI Bluray for now. Once I get time I will borrow a colorimeter and get some proper numbers and a good calibration. My contact colorimeter will not do front projection, only flat panels. Maybe Clint or Gene will volunteer to drive over to the East Coast and "help a brother out".
So far I have really only got the video end of the equation sorted out and running the way I want. I did spend a little bit of time doing a manual audio calibration and getting that set up the way I am used to things. Then I tried the EmoQ system. I must admit I need to spend some more time with it like Grapenuts did before I can truly pass judgement and rate it. My first time I tried it the system cranked all the speaker levels way down and the subwoofer level way up. So the first time I tried it out the subs nearly shook the walls apart. I'm sure it had to be an error on my part since I tried it with tons of stuff piled all over the place, subwoofers blocked with a pile of unused components and way too much ambient noise. But this was only a trial run since my first priority was getting the video right. Anyway, I did a quick audio cal with my faithful RS meter and left it at that till tomorrow.
But let's talk about the video...
WOW! It does a beautiful job with scaling all of my sources to 1080p. Like Grapenuts said in his review it detects the incoming source and reacts way faster than my projector when switching between sources. I was quite amazed at how well it handled video from my VCR over composite video and the PS1 over S-video. Two of the crappiest possible qualities you'd ever even think about projection on a 100" screen (I know, why bother). I actually couldn't help myself and had to take a break to play a little Resident Evil on the PS1 since it was my trial source video.
Now that I have the video close to the way I want it, I will try using the HDMI "pass through" tomorrow to see if there is any notible difference between the scaling in the UMC-1 and the Epson 7500 UB projector, which is quite good.
Before I get back into the audio calibration I need to clear out a couple piles of "spare" gear and test equipment. Basically I need to clean the room up. I also want to get my new laptop up and running to try a few audio sweeps in the room first. I also need to get ColorPro loaded and running, too.
My only major gripe so far is the remote control. It's very small and hard for my blind eyes to see. It's also not backlit nor does it glow-in-the-dark. I do admit that I need a new universal remote. I'm just not in the mood to totally reprogram the Pronto Pro. So thats a priority. But in the mean time I'm stuck with the factory remote. So of course I keep a little flashlight on the armrest just to light the remote.
I also have a minor gripe, but it's really more of a wish list item for the XMC-1 since it will be the pre/pro I ultimately have planned for this room. I need front panel inputs. I really need the microphone jack and at least one HDMI port on the front panel (plus five on the rear). It would also be nice if the USB port was up front if that's the way firmware will be upgraded. It's just a major PITA for me to pull my rack out of the closet just to reach the back side of components.
I'll post more later this week when I get time.
