Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Home Theater Processor w/Dirac & Alexa Compatibility

[Alex2507]

I can say with confidence that my wife has no part in my HT buying decisions since she doesn’t even know about them.

Oh, I bet you have a lot of bananas.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Oh, I bet you have a lot of bananas.

Damn straight.

 

[KEW]

I can say with confidence that my wife has no part in my HT buying decisions since she doesn’t even know about them.

Not all of us have such ready access to drugs as you do!

 

[everettT]

Not all of us have such ready access to drugs as you do!

The hard part is convincing them its vitamins

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Not all of us have such ready access to drugs as you do!

Ha ha. Very funny.

 

[mars2k]

Saw on another site a reference to Emotiva's unit being buggy around the dirac. I have been shopping dirac equipped surround processors. NAD M17 V2 was a strong candidate....on paper. However, upon speaking with a trusted distributor and being waved off for similar bugginess. I cannot help but wonder.
2 questions
1 Is there an ETA for this unit yet?
2 The consensus when from "maybe" sourced from DatSat to "definitely" and I cannot find the post that firmed up that actual link...how do we know that again?
BTW I owned a series on N series ATI amps and have found them truly delightful

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Saw on another site a reference to Emotiva's unit being buggy around the dirac. I have been shopping dirac equipped surround processors. NAD M17 V2 was a strong candidate....on paper. However, upon speaking with a trusted distributor and being waved off for similar bugginess. I cannot help but wonder.
2 questions
1 Is there an ETA for this unit yet?
2 The consensus when from "maybe" sourced from DatSat to "definitely" and I cannot find the post that firmed up that actual link...how do we know that again?
BTW I owned a series on N series ATI amps and have found them truly delightful

I believe the buggiest is specific to dirac and not the processor and I believe it’s been largely resolved. It’s certainly more involved than Audyssey, but when it first released it was also problematic. We’ve reviewed more recent versions and found it to work well. You may want to see if you can get a home trial and do the setup yourself to see how it goes.

I did a dozen or so setups for a shop here and even in the midst of the problem I was able to eventually get them setup. As of right now the systems I’ve used have all worked ok. No major issues like before.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Saw on another site a reference to Emotiva's unit being buggy around the dirac. I have been shopping dirac equipped surround processors. NAD M17 V2 was a strong candidate....on paper. However, upon speaking with a trusted distributor and being waved off for similar bugginess. I cannot help but wonder.
2 questions
1 Is there an ETA for this unit yet?
2 The consensus when from "maybe" sourced from DatSat to "definitely" and I cannot find the post that firmed up that actual link...how do we know that again?
BTW I owned a series on N series ATI amps and have found them truly delightful

I still have not heard any definitive answers on the actual release dates on the ATI or Monolith.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I still have not heard any definitive answers on the actual release dates on the ATI or Monolith.

I was told there isn't one to release as of right now. Some design decisions were still being made.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I was told there isn't one to release as of right now. Some design decisions were still being made.

Yeah, the ATI ATP-16 was shown at the CES in Jan 2019. But I guess ATI is not done "finalizing the updates".

 

[Phase 2]

I am expecting a full review of this Monolith Pre-pro this year.

4 k, that'll be outdated in a few years no thank you.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

4 k, that'll be outdated in a few years no thank you.

True. It will be 8K in a couple of years.

I think they should just make the Pre-pro an "Audio-only" device and let the Video be simply "PASS-Through".

So the pre-pro will take both Audio and Video, process the Audio for Atmos, etc., and pass-through the Video (4K or 8K or 24K ) unchanged to the 24K Projector or 24K TV.

 

[Phase 2]

True. It will be 8K in a couple of years.

I think they should just make the Pre-pro an "Audio-only" device and let the Video be simply "PASS-Through".

So the pre-pro will take both Audio and Video, process the Audio for Atmos, etc., and pass-through the Video (4K or 8K or 24K ) unchanged to the 24K Projector or 24K TV.

Andrew, I've replaced AVR' s since 2011 because they become outdated. Not saying it's not a nice pre-pro I'm sure it is, 4k can get you a very nice pair of front main speaker's. I say just get a Flagship AVR like a Yamaha A3080. Really how much of a difference in processing would anyone notice? I had a 3k pre-pro found it didn't do any better than the Onkyo AVR it was to replace.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Andrew, I've replaced AVR' s since 2011 because they become outdated. Not saying it's not a nice pre-pro I'm sure it is, 4k can get you a very nice pair of front main speaker's. I say just get a Flagship AVR like a Yamaha A3080. Really how much of a difference in processing would anyone notice? I had a 3k pre-pro found it didn't do any better than the Onkyo AVR it was to replace.

I agree that even a $20K DataSat or Theta Digital (both owned by ATI) Pre-pro won’t sound that much better than a Yamaha A3080 when we are watching some movies.

This $4K HTP-1 and the more expensive ATI ATP-16 and DataSat are for a select few people who just got to have the high-end no matter what, which means NOT us. Haha.

But I would take this $4K HTP-1 or it’s bigger ATI brother any day over the McIntosh, Bryston, Anthem, and other overpriced AVPs.

The $5K Emotiva Pre-pro or AVR has no chance.

Another point which you already said - it would be 100% nice if they could make this thing future proof. When 8K video comes out, they need to be able to just replace the Video Board for $500 and get 8K video.

If Dolby Atmos-Max or Atmos-Pro (or whatever the next sound Tech is called) comes out, they need to be able to replace the Sound Board for $500.

 

[mars2k]

4 k, that'll be outdated in a few years no thank you.

If you keep waiting for one feature or another you'll never have any decent tunes or videos
If you're worried about obsolescence...buy last years model used or refurb and wait for your "crucial" feature. At least then you'll have a pretty good system to listen to while you wait.
I have found really good amps age well and processing is where the movement is. It was flat screen technology for a while but that has settled out somewhat 8k is still a few years out

 

[mars2k]

OK post storm coming ...
So on another site I read a technical discussion pertaining to room correction. My takeaway was that in spite of how much I've spent on very hi res music streaming and processing once I switch on the room correction in the proc all those delightful bits and sample rates and word lengths go out the window and my out put basically defaults to cd quality. The reason has something to do with the chips doing the correction are not up to the job. ' a bit disconcerting.
Also I have understood that the most important correction might be bass (system specific) which sort of points to Dirac live and if that includes the Dirac bass management module.
Further if bass might be the most significant problem wouldn't a solution like DSpeaker Anti Node be the best solution beyond proper placement of bass devices

 

[mars2k]

Here is a rear view of ATI ATP-16 for comparison have not checked for differences.

 

[Verdinut]

Well, it is branded "monolith" on the front.

You really think the Dirac license is that much per unit?

My main concern is that they'll have firmware bugs/issues that may or may not get fixed. I ONLY say that just due to how few of these they'll probably sell.

IIRC, in another thread, @Matthew J Poes mentioned that the addition of Dirac cost about $100.

 

[mars2k]

I agree that even a $20K DataSat or Theta Digital (both owned by ATI) Pre-pro won’t sound that much better than a Yamaha A3080 when we are watching some movies.

This $4K HTP-1 and the more expensive ATI ATP-16 and DataSat are for a select few people who just got to have the high-end no matter what, which means NOT us. Haha.

But I would take this $4K HTP-1 or it’s bigger ATI brother any day over the McIntosh, Bryston, Anthem, and other overpriced AVPs.

The $5K Emotiva Pre-pro or AVR has no chance.

Another point which you already said - it would be 100% nice if they could make this thing future proof. When 8K video comes out, they need to be able to just replace the Video Board for $500 and get 8K video.

If Dolby Atmos-Max or Atmos-Pro (or whatever the next sound Tech is called) comes out, they need to be able to replace the Sound Board for $500.

Well Thetas Procs (Casablanca) are future proof, with them you can take an old chassis and upgrade with any number of new circuit boards several of which cost more than this unit alone. ....so there you have it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

IIRC, in another thread, @Matthew J Poes mentioned that the addition of Dirac cost about $100.

Maybe @M Code can confirm the cost of DIRAC.

It may be true, but the $100 cost of Dirac seems really low.