Emotiva UMC-200 Preamp / Processor Review

[Chu Gai]

Gene, I read the manual for the unit and noticed that it had the obligatory FCC boilerplate language for Part15 B (unintentional radiators of EMI/RFI) as it should since it has DACs. However, from looking at the pictures on their website, I could not find any FCC logo which unless I'm mistaken is also mandated by the regulations. Could you or anyone who has the unit see if it's there? If its not is there any chance you could get an official reply as to why not? Thanks.

 

[gene]

Gene, I read the manual for the unit and noticed that it had the obligatory FCC boilerplate language for Part15 B (unintentional radiators of EMI/RFI) as it should since it has DACs. However, from looking at the pictures on their website, I could not find any FCC logo which unless I'm mistaken is also mandated by the regulations. Could you or anyone who has the unit see if it's there? If its not is there any chance you could get an official reply as to why not? Thanks.

It's on a permanent label attached to the bottom of the unit which is allowed when there isn't enough room on the back panel.

 

[Nomo]

Gene, I read the manual for the unit and noticed that it had the obligatory FCC boilerplate language for Part15 B (unintentional radiators of EMI/RFI) as it should since it has DACs. However, from looking at the pictures on their website, I could not find any FCC logo which unless I'm mistaken is also mandated by the regulations. Could you or anyone who has the unit see if it's there? If its not is there any chance you could get an official reply as to why not? Thanks.

Looking to grind an axe???

 

[j_garcia]

Has any mention been made with regards to firmware revision?
I noticed mine is 1.52.02.31 and was curious if this is the only one since the UMC-200 began shipping.
I don't know if this is just a version or an actual software rev. number.

Verified this is the same firmware I have on mine.

 

[Chu Gai]

Looking to grind an axe???

Just seeing if they're finally playing by the rules.

And thanks Gene.

 

[DaleAV]

Verified this is the same firmware I have on mine.

I'm interested in your continued experience with the UMC-200.
Overall, I am very pleased with the SQ but still have some reservations about the Emo-Q. Coming from an Audyssey equipped receiver some things in the Emotiva are not clear to me. When I had my Onkyo, the only thing I fiddled with were crossover settings. With the Emotiva it seems necessary to do additional tweaks. What I am going to do today is a full reset and see the result of a fresh run. I saw data and heard enough differences between two cal runs to make this worthwhile effort.

 

[j_garcia]

I'm interested in your continued experience with the UMC-200.
Overall, I am very pleased with the SQ but still have some reservations about the Emo-Q. Coming from an Audyssey equipped receiver some things in the Emotiva are not clear to me. When I had my Onkyo, the only thing I fiddled with were crossover settings. With the Emotiva it seems necessary to do additional tweaks. What I am going to do today is a full reset and see the result of a fresh run. I saw data and heard enough differences between two cal runs to make this worthwhile effort.

Haven't had a chance to do a full reset and re-run the calibration since the previous ones. I intend to do the same, factory reset and run it again also, but I will be out of town this weekend so I won't get time to do it probably until next weekend.

 

[DaleAV]

I reset the works, and ran it again. I got similar data, and again, it shows all speakers are out of phase as it did the very first time I ran it (and never again after subsequent runs). So I am ignoring that as I did before.
I'm going to give it a few days and listen to a good mix of recordings and sources.
I did reset xovers to 80Hz (leaving LFE for the sub at 175Hz) and raised the input levels to 7db (again) for both my Sat. box and BluRay player which puts the 'normal' listening level about 35-40% on the volume indicator instead of 50+%.
Have a good weekend, catch up with you later!

 

[DaleAV]

The processor did route fullrange signal to the front left/right channels but the LFE channel contained much of the same bass at greater amplitude. By not having all 4 subs playing the same signal, this was noticed as very weak bass for 5.1 HD music sources.

No I don't recommend routing LFE to the main channels for 99% of installs for the very reasons you stated. In my case my speakers and amps are capable and ideal for this configuration. This was the only way I could configure them and my external powered subs to properly play together for all sources.

There are no timing issues if you know what your doing. All of this is in my review of the Status 8T system.

It's reckless to make assumptions on what I recommend

Maybe I missed this, but I noted on my unit if I run EmoQ2 and the final data says my speakers are set SMALL, I can look down the list of channels and see that ENHANCED is on.
Now, I understand no LFE should be going to the main speakers since they are set SMALL. To be sure, I can go to the Front speakers; SMALL, click it to LARGE, and then click it again back to SMALL. I will now see ENHANCED is OFF which it should be if no speakers are set LARGE.

This may be a moot point, but the fact that ENHANCED can be toggled in this fashion, may be noteworthy.

 

[j_garcia]

I intend to do the reset and recalibration this weekend.

Side note: anyone have any luck programming the functions from the UMC-200 on their universal remote? It won't work on my URC R50 and I don't want to buy another just to find I have the same issue. Emotiva says they've had no issues with Pronto, but I own a Marantz branded Pronto touch screen and I hate it. Too many bad reviews of Harmony including my own not so favorable experience, but I am open to them still.

 

[j_garcia]

I re-ran the EmoQ calibration twice today after a factory reset and this time it gave me slightly different results from previous. Like last time, it said my front 3 were out of phase but my rears and sub are not. Both times this time though it set my speakers all to large and the sub x-over at 150Hz. I made only an adjustment to the position of the center, pulling it even further out than before, so it actually slightly overhangs the front lip of my rack instead of flush. Comparing the UMC to the 83SE the 83SE's DACs still win (stereo).

 

[Nomo]

I intend to do the reset and recalibration this weekend.

Side note: anyone have any luck programming the functions from the UMC-200 on their universal remote? It won't work on my URC R50 and I don't want to buy another just to find I have the same issue. Emotiva says they've had no issues with Pronto, but I own a Marantz branded Pronto touch screen and I hate it. Too many bad reviews of Harmony including my own not so favorable experience, but I am open to them still.

My Harmony One does fine with the UMC-200.
For the most part I really like the UMC. My primary trouble is what I'm assuming to be an HDMI issue with either my TV or Dish Hopper. Occationally, every couple of days, with the UMC off, I lose all sound from the Hopper to the TV. Even when I switch cables and go directly from Hopper to TV instead of going through the UMC; the sound does not come back.
I need to completely reboot the Hopper.

The GF prefers to watch TV via the TV speakers.
The HDMI standby passthru was one of the reasons I got the UMC. I'm a bit frustrated.

 

[Grador]

My Harmony One does fine with the UMC-200.
For the most part I really like the UMC. My primary trouble is what I'm assuming to be an HDMI issue with either my TV or Dish Hopper. Occationally, every couple of days, with the UMC off, I lose all sound from the Hopper to the TV. Even when I switch cables and go directly from Hopper to TV instead of going through the UMC; the sound does not come back.
I need to completely reboot the Hopper.

The GF prefers to watch TV via the TV speakers.
The HDMI standby passthru was one of the reasons I got the UMC. I'm a bit frustrated.

This is a bit of a stab in the dark, and frankly I hope it's not the issue since it's a really dumb thing for the box to do... I had a DVR in the past that would put itself on mute if it needed to record something while the power was off. If you left the DVR powered on 24/7 it would never do this.

 

[Nomo]

The hopper doesn't have a volume control of it's own, at least not that I'm aware of. Maybe something to look into.
Something does seem to be "falling asleep" while not in use.
I've been trying to recreate the issue today with no luck. Figures it only happens when I don't have the patience or time to trouble shoot the problem.

Grrrrr...

 

[j_garcia]

I got the URC to accept the UMC-200 codes finally. Kind of dumb actually: it works if I drop them into a device instead of directly on the main menu.

For the sound to the TV, I occasionally have that issue too. What I noticed is that the mode that was set seems to be retained even when the device is off which in turn affects the audio sent to the TV. Yesterday I switched from the UMC to the TV speakers because it was late and was missing portions of the audio. If I turn it back on, switch it to direct and then turn it off, it works again, however yesterday it kept switching back to stereo and leaving out the other channels (multichannel audio). I had to turn everything off and back on to get it to work again.

 

[Nomo]

One thing that seems to have helped, but not eliminate, the TV audio issue was to turn off Viera link on my Panasonic. This turns off the HDMI ARC function. This way, if the TV loses audio, I can regain audio by turning the TV off and on again. So far anyway. It's a very sporatic issue.

I haven't had much time to use the UMC in the past week, but it does seem to have trouble retaining it's last used sound parameters. Hopefully a firmware update will fix this. Whenever it gets released.

One thing I do feel is that I'm getting a better sound stage and imaging than I did with my Yamaha 1800. Speculation, because I can't compare them side to side. An example: Henley's voice on The Eagles Long road out of Eden seems to be much more centered and clear on the UMC in direct than it was on the Yamaha in Pure direct. I had to double check to see if I had accidently turned on a different sound parameter because I could swear the center speaker was on. It wasn't.

I've been using Yamahas for the past 7 or so years, so getting used to the UMC's way of doing things has been a bit frustrating. Very minor differences, but enough to throw me off at times.

 

[j_garcia]

Not saving the settings is a confirmed bug. I've been a Marantz guy for over 10 years and I had to adapt to their menu system, but even without the manual I was able to figure the majority of it out pretty quick. It can be a bit cumbersome, but once you get the hang of it, it isn't too bad. What took me about 2hrs of poking around last time to find what I wanted took me less than 30 min after the factory reset.

What I've found in comparing over the last few days is interesting. In stereo, my 83SE is clearly better. However in multichannel, the EMO-Q setup does seem to have a cleaner overall sound, though the 83SE still has a bigger sound stage.

 

[Zed333]

UMC-200 & Dolby Pro Logic IIz

The Emotiva UMC-200 seems to be a fine Pre/Pro in many ways. I would point out that the implementation of Dolby Pro Logic IIz is lacking, if not out of compliance with the Dolby spec.
To quote from:
Dolby Pro Logic IIz for Professionals

"Dolby® Pro Logic® IIz adds front height channels to surround sound, creating a 7.1 or 9.1 playback system for home music, movies, and video games
Enables increased flexibility for expanding a 5.1 playback system to a 7.1, or a 7.1 system to a 9.1"

The UMC-200 does not expand a 7.1 system to a 9.1 system instead it becomes a 5.1 system with height or as some would say a 7.1 system. The UMC-200 in Dolby IIz mode reconfigures it output so that the right and left front height channels now come out the outputs formally used as right and left rear. That is to say using the UMC-200 it is impossible to achieve a 9.1 system as called for in the Dolby specification.

While I have not examined all 7.1 Dolby Pro Logic IIz implementations, of the ones I have looked at none have chosen this method. In my limited sample all others have kept with the Dolby spec and allowed users to realize 9.1 outputs from 7.1 devices when operated in Pro Logic IIz mode.
Even given rear panel hardware limitations I believe that Emotiva could have easily chosen to have the height outputs reconfigure the Zone 2 outputs and replace Zone 2 outputs with height channel outputs allowing for compliance with Dolby IIz specified up-mixing of a 7.1 device to a 9.1 device.

Conjecture on my part
A possible reason for this choice on Emotivas’ part might be that their DSP ran out of power and can not realize a 9.1 system.

Flame retardant
Please note I am NOT addressing the pros and cons of Pro Logic IIz. I am simply calling attention what may be misleading statements on the part of Emotiva regarding their otherwise well reviewed UMC-200.

 

[j_garcia]

Received an email from Emotiva about the bluetooth module for the UMC-200 that was mentioned somewhat in the manual but was not available at the time. It is out now:

BTM1 | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, stereo amplifiers, and monoblock amplifiers, as well a

 

[Infinite]

Nice Article I'm Sold

I was just wondering if it would be better to buy a UPA 200 for my
Pioneer SP-FS52's and a UPA 500 for my Pioneer SP-BS22/C-22. Or just use the UPA-700 to power all 7. Also, would the UMC-200 have enough voltage to run a Crown XLS 2500 as well for my subs or should I look into getting a Converter? Thanks!