23 replies to this topic

[Mitcon]

Hi all,

just thought I'd share my early thoughts on these units for those interested. This isn't a full on review as I'm no expert and not real good at that sort of thing but just my first impressions of these units so far as some have expressed interest in them.

Now for those that don't know the name Emotiva it's a US based company that sells Audio/Video gear direct via Internet with their own forums where users can talk, share and get support.

My Thoughts:

Well I've only had the UMC-1 AV Processor and XPA-5 multi-channels amp for a couple of weeks so far and to compare I was using prior to that a Pioneer VSX-AX2ASS for processing/AV switching with a couple of Pro type amps for power. The Speakers are differeing models of the Timberwolf range from local speaker maker Adelaide Speakers, the mains are a full range 4 driver 3 way design of 300wpc with the centre being a 2 way, 3 speaker of around 200wpc and the rears a 3 way with a 165-200wpc handing with all being floor standing sizes in the 8ohm range. The subwoofer is a dual 10" Peerless xxls unit with a 600w Regum bashplate amp.

Source equipment is fairly basic entry level equipment, CA 640c-V2 for CD, Sony BDP-S350 for Blu Ray, CA DVD99 universal player for DVD and SACD, Foxtel IQ2. With analog connection for the CD, HDMI for both the Blu Ray and DVD players (except I also have analong output for SACD from DVD) and HDMI for video and toslink for audio of the Foxtel IQ2 (IQ2 5.1 sound never seems to work through HDMI for me though nothing to do with the UMC-1).

Now the bit that counts more, how things sound and look.

Firstly the aesthetics and build quality seem very good and give the feeing of quality and class though this may be a personal taste thing. The weight of the UMC-1 is pretty hefty for a AV processor as it has no internal amplification and I think is around the 10kg mark. The stock supplied remote is a little ordinary in looks and build being a standard small plastic unit though for those that what a higher class of remote they do have a optional milled aluminium remote. The XPA-5 is a 5 channel amplifier that looks and feels just as good and come in at a heavy 40ish-Kg, so not a light-weight unit at all.

Now down to use, sound and picture quality.

When I first got the UMC-1 it had a few bugs, the unit while for public sale seems to be pre-production in it's firmware and has suffered differing problems depending upon set-up, use and connected equipment. I didn't have many problems with my personal unit though I wasn't a early adopter and I don;t see much point going into the small issues I had as Emotiva have released new firmware (you can download and self-install so no fear of having to send equipment back to the USofA) that I loaded and seems to have made my unit pretty stable and without real issue.

The only annoying thing I have found is that on a rare occasion I get audio drop out or loss of a channel when watching Foxtel IQ2 if I pause a show or recording when I resume. This while a slight annoyance is easy resolved normally by either pausing/cueing or just switching sound mode, it doesn't seem to have been a issue at all when just watching anything play through though.

Music is a much better sounding (even in the processing modes) with a feeling of increased depth to the soundstage in stereo and no sense of struggling, it all feels rather airy and free through all the ranges. The top end doesn't seem forward (IMO Pioneer gear tends to be a little forward/bright in it's processing) while the mids appear quite neutral though I wouldn't say veiled as they still seem quite clear. Much to my personal liking anyway and seems a big improvment overall in sound to most AVR's I have heard for the musical side, certainly lends itself more in this regard to my old Pioneer AVR.

Movies I feel too there is a improvement in sound, the LFE and lower frequencies when watching Blu Rays seem to have much more impact, and the sound stage seems deeper with slightly better separation and my wife's comment was "it had much more feeling, emotion and depth" and has found herself much more engauged with the movie and found more realisim. She actually feels tense and excited when the movie sound tracks had such sections making her feel more a part of what was happening than just watching.

Video processing seems quite good to very good also as I'm using it to upscale everyting to 1080p with a very clean image, the only let down is that the video pass-trough isn't a true pass-trough and the upscaling option is global only. The picture quality is vivid and as good or better than the direct or upscaling in any of my other devices, very clean.

Well thats about it, all I can think of saying. For me I think it has been quite a step up from my Pioneer AVR in the processing side for sound on both music and movies as well as for video processing. The audio drop out issue seems rare and random in my case and while annoying is a small quirk I can live with. Emotiva will hopefully address this issue and any others that pop up with future firmware upgrades as they seem to give quite good support.

Purchasing from them even though I'm in Australia went without a hitch and they were smiple and a pleasure to deal with. Very fast and efficient with items taking about 6-8 working days to arrive, well packed in double boxing and the price was the best part as even with the high cost of shipping and exchange rates at the time of purchase both units together only cost $2k which is about the same as upper mid level AVR's cost. Which leaves futre upgrades being cheaper needing only to upgrade the AV processor and with that in mind I also think Emotiva have some sort of on-going upgrade deal for it's customers. The other good news is no need for stepping transformers as this gear is fine and auto selects our voltage and power here, just need a Aussie IEC standard power cord as the supplied cord has a US type plug on it.

These units may not be to everyones liking or needs as we're all different but so far I'm very pleased and they do seem to be a value for money option, certainly in this kind of gear. It's still early days for me and I'd like to have more listening so these are just first impressions I guess. I'm still waiting to set up room equalization but the supplied mic was failty so am waiting on replacement. Just one guys take and if your in SA your welcome to come have a look/listen for yourself.

Couple of pics

UMC-1







XPA-5

[Mitcon]

Thanks Drizzt,
I'm certainly happy with it, the sound quality is what pleases us most about it. Well that and the price lol, it's alot better since the latest firmware as alot of folks had issues with early versions. I can't really give a better review as I've not heard alot of the current gear out there on offer so can only pit it against what I have heard/owned. I was very keen to see what the XMC-1 is like when it come sout as I'd like something with a Phono input but looks like they may be dropping that so we jsut went with the UMC for now and I'm glad I did. Was only about $900 to my door for a decent pre/pro-AVP with a good build, I think thats pretty cheap myself and for the money the sound quality with music is surprising for a HT processor.

I can't wait to see how it will sound once I get the working mic and try the EQ as my room isn;t set-up well and I haven't done any room treatments (trying to keep in good with SWMBO lol)

[tephra]

nice honest review...

how do the controls feel? svelt and tactile or cheap and nasty?

[Mitcon]

They have a very good quality "tactile" feel with a "click" felt & heard when pressed on the front panel and the alloy remote is the same. All the buttons on the unit/alloy remote are metal, it's all very well bult with a real feeling of quality and decent weight to everything. The build quality and finish is quite surprising for the cheap price, it in-stills a feeling of high end quality; least thats what I think. I thought my upper mid level Pioneer AVR was good quality but the Emotiva gear is a different league. I will say the basic remote is a very small plastic one and it does the job fine but it's the only thing that seems the odd one out as it's a normal basic build quality like most standard remotes. It works well enough, no issue there but I got the alloy one as well which normally costs a little more.

That said I use a universal remote for controling everything day to day so it doesn't matter to me either way personally, and if folks use logitech remotes the Emotiva gear is already in the database. If you ask around there is prolly a few other Emotiva owners here on teh forums and I know theres several over on DTV Forums as well, you could ask their thoughts also if your interested in going down this path.

[Paul Spencer]

I don't think you can beat these for value. Thanks for sharing. What really surprises me is that they don't have a Blu-ray player.

Cheapest local AV processor I know of is around $3.5k ... that's a big gap.

[chip.man]

Hi Guys, my first post, but this seemed to be worth posting about.

I also own a UMC-1 and have had it for about 2 - 3 weeks now and am really impressed so far.

I'm still running it in it's basic out of the box configuration and haven't done any room EQ or the like yet, but at $900.00AUD delivered (only took a week), I think it's great value.

Emotiva also offer an upgrade discount of something ridiculous like 30 or 40% (I found it on their forum somewhere once) for future AV processor purchases e.g. if HT standards change again and they have to build a new processor model to accommodate. This discount doesn't apply if they just choose to build a better quality unit such as the XMC-1 Mitcon mentioned in his post (because it is basically just a hot-rodded UMC-1), but I still think this is a great value-add idea regardless.

It is also really surprising on stereo playback.

I replaced my lightspeed attenuator in my stereo rig with the UMC-1 operating as a pre-amp and the UMC-1 is better. This is not to say that the lightspeed is a bad product - quite the opposite I'm sure - but I think the UMC-1 is at the very least a better match for my components.

I am running it into class D power amps and I lost no detail but gained much smoother music delivery after the swap. Previously tracks that would make my ears bleed (most of my CD collection it was starting to appear) and me walk out of the room from the harsh delivery of high frequencies are now much better. I am enjoying listening to music again. It's caused me to further delay the purchase of new speakers as a result (although who knows how long I'll stick to that plan).

As Paul said above, the cheapest AV pro I could find locally available was about $3.5k also.

Cheers

[Paul Spencer]

Just one thing I'd watch. If you put the mic in the listening position and run Emo Q (it's inbuilt EQ system) ... I suspect that you are using full range EQ in a way that isn't ideal. The correct way to do it above 200 Hz is with gated measurements @ 1m. Often you won't be able to do it even down to 200 Hz. If your speakers are designed flat on axis, then you really don't need the full range EQ. Now if you look at their videos on the website, you will see that they suggest reducing the treble a bit, not giving as much boost as the system indicates. This is to manually compensate for the fact that this kind of EQ isn't really the right way to do it. I suggest you are better to use EQ on that system above 200ish only as tone controls - to adjust the balance of mid and high frequencies, so you should see a smooth transition adjusting to taste, not each EQ up and down.

In other words, I'm suggesting that you don't use Emo Q to "correct" midrange. What you are doing is correcting the wrong thing. You get the direct response of the speakers, as well as the room response. The result will usually be to make things too bright. Measure on axis direct response gated and you get flat. Measure in the listening position ungated (no time window applied to avoid reflections), and you will see response drooping to high frequencies. I believe Emo Q tries to make it flat at the listening position without gating. The way they have done it is simpler, but really only valid for bass. To get it done the "correct" way would be the kind of thing you expect from a dedicated room EQ system. So it's not really a complaint, just something to keep in mind.

I've found that in my room, flat on axis @ 1m equates to 1db/octave low pass in the listening position @ 3m.

So the idea behind all this is ... have the speakers flat @ 1m so they do their thing and are balanced, then let the room do what it does in adding it's own signature. It's only in the bass that you want to EQ both direct and reflected sounds together - that's where the ear can't separate them.

[Itsmoi]

Nice review, thanks Mitcon.
I myself own the UMC-1 as well, plus the USP-1 analog pre amp with 3 UPA-1 monoblocks for the front stage and a UPA-2 for the 2 surrounds and am very pleased with the sound of it all.
Am still waiting on the aluminium milled new remote to be sent out to me though, taking a while and am in need of the rotten thing as the remote signal for UMC and USP overlap and the new remote addresses that issue.

[Vladimir Freddie]

Thanks for the review Mitcon. I think you've got yourself a bargain there.

[Mitcon]

Wow Emotiva still surprises me, their customer service and busniess plan make it hard for a end user to lose lol.

I'm sure those with any real interest in Emotiva's products have heard of some of the issues and annyances the UMC-1 owners have gone through, well Emotiva have just sent UMC-1 owners a $100 gift voucher as a token of their thanks. Blow me away, customer service and satisfaction is a very important thing for me these days and something not often seen anymore. This company truely sticks by it's product and customers it seems, not only do they seem to produce a good product at a great price but they give a 30 day no questions asked period (for some folks this ended up 8 months and still got a full refund) a HUGE (40% I think it is reported to be) discount on furture processor upgrades and now just because things haven't been as smooth and faultless as hoped a $100 voucher just as a thank you...

How many business do you know these days that do so much to keep the end user happy? Most places just wanna sell you something and see the back of your head, thats it. If a product is really buggy you may get firmware updates (if your lucky) and if it's truely mind boggling crapy and you kick up enough of a stink you get a refund after they make you jump through hoops.

I think they are on a winning ticket with their business plan, good old customer service goes a very long way with me.

[proftournesol]

How many business do you know these days that do so much to keep the end user happy? Most places just wanna sell you something and see the back of your head, thats it. If a product is really buggy you may get firmware updates (if your lucky) and if it's truely mind boggling crapy and you kick up enough of a stink you get a refund after they make you jump through hoops.

I think they are on a winning ticket with their business plan, good old customer service goes a very long way with me.

there's nothing worse than paying full price (even if it's a good price) to find that you've unknowingly enrolled as a beta tester. Good product support, I don't expect every complex product to be 100% faultless 100% of the time but I do expect problems to be fixed. this sort of support helps build brand loyalty.

[Drew]

Wow Emotiva still surprises me, their customer service and busniess plan make it hard for a end user to lose lol.

I'm sure those with any real interest in Emotiva's products have heard of some of the issues and annyances the UMC-1 owners have gone through, well Emotiva have just sent UMC-1 owners a $100 gift voucher as a token of their thanks. Blow me away, customer service and satisfaction is a very important thing for me these days and something not often seen anymore. This company truely sticks by it's product and customers it seems, not only do they seem to produce a good product at a great price but they give a 30 day no questions asked period (for some folks this ended up 8 months and still got a full refund) a HUGE (40% I think it is reported to be) discount on furture processor upgrades and now just because things haven't been as smooth and faultless as hoped a $100 voucher just as a thank you...

How many business do you know these days that do so much to keep the end user happy? Most places just wanna sell you something and see the back of your head, thats it. If a product is really buggy you may get firmware updates (if your lucky) and if it's truely mind boggling crapy and you kick up enough of a stink you get a refund after they make you jump through hoops.

I think they are on a winning ticket with their business plan, good old customer service goes a very long way with me.

Not to sound overly cynical but is this really good customer service?? Or is it more good marketing...... Looking at their website I can see that unless you need some interconnects there is very little that you could get without having to pay additional money. It occurs to me that many of these vouchers will be either not used at all, or used as a discount voucher on other purchases.

IMHO if Emo were really as customer focussed as what you are suggesting, then they wouldn't have released a bug riddled pre-pro to the market to begin with. If my Integra exhibited all the problems that some owners of these units are complaining about and then sent me a $100.......I'd still be pretty annoyed I think.

[Mitcon]

I guess it depends how you feel or look at things and yes the UMC-1 has had it's issues for alot of people for sure. And while I do feel Emotiva gives great customer service it would also serve as good marketing for sure, no-one can deny that can they? I fail to see why everyone jumps in and lays it on Emotiva, they are a small company trying to offer what I feel are very good products for a quite low price. People all act like they are blind beta testers, the issues people are or have had with the UMC-1 are well documented and openly discussed so buyers should be able to see what they are getting into. I have had some small issues of late with my UMC-1, that said I had the same problem sometimes with my last Pioneer AVR.

Good customer service is about pre-sale and after sale support, doing what you can to help you customer be happy and enjoy the purchase you have made. It's about trying to fix and resolve issues and failures if people have them as well and Emotiva does exactly that and hell yes thats a good business plan or marketing as people soon know that even if they buy somethng if it does turn out to have issues that they will be fixed. And the $100 gift voucher well sure it has limitations and may not be used by all, same as when companies here offer rewards via redemption etc.

And if someone buys from them and finds the unit to be buggy or a problem for them Emotiva will refund simple as that, some people have had their units for months and have still had the option to get a refund if they so choose. But yep I'd be annoyed if I bought something and had a heap of issues, wouldnt; we all but I feel comfortable with the fact I know Emotiva will either fix it or give me my money back. Simple as that, no harm no foul. But yes end of the day it would be nice if the UMC-1 just worked for everyone, thats for sure. From what I have read it's had quite a bit of teething issues though not everyone seems to have problems but alot have, but I expect Emotiva will sort all this out and stand by the product.

Anyways, I shouldn't need to defend Emotiva or what they do. I don't wish to be a "fanboy" or whatever, I'm happy with my purchase and thats all that really matters to me. If people are interested in buying their products or any other item from anywhere they should look into all the info of avail and make their own choices as they are the ones paying.

[Paul Spencer]

I fail to see why everyone jumps in and lays it on Emotiva

I don't see that happening here, but where it does happen it seems to come as a reaction to fanboys.

[Vitruvian]

I am in the process of organising a UMC-1 and XPA-5 (+ the alloy remote and some of their splitters so I can bi-amp my Centre and see if it makes an appreciable difference). I am also trying to see if they will apply the $100emo available on their website to the purchase. If all goes to plan, I will probably be ordering the package in the next fortnight - after my next pay. The strong AUD makes things a little too tempting and besides, a dear friend needs an HDMI switching AVR with Pre-outs so I can use his need to justify an upgrade....

I look forward to undertaking a direct comparison between my Yamaha RXV-3900, RXV-1900B (which I am selling to a mate) and the Emotiva pre-power combo. I will post the results in due course. There seems to a dearth of comparisons out with the Emo gear and higher level AVR's. As Mr. Spencer noted, there seems to be a lot of doting lovers of Emo gear and their respondents out in the ether of cyber space.

Edited by Vitruvian, 18 October 2010 - 11:44 AM.

[Paul Spencer]

... and I think the haters are a reaction to the lovers. After a while, people get annoyed with the fanboys.

Look forward to hearing the comparisons.

[ronfishes]

I am in the process of organising a UMC-1 and XPA-5 (+ the alloy remote and some of their splitters so I can bi-amp my Centre and see if it makes an appreciable difference). I am also trying to see if they will apply the $100emo available on their website to the purchase. If all goes to plan, I will probably be ordering the package in the next fortnight - after my next pay. The strong AUD makes things a little too tempting and besides, a dear friend needs an HDMI switching AVR with Pre-outs so I can use his need to justify an upgrade....

I look forward to undertaking a direct comparison between my Yamaha RXV-3900, RXV-1900B (which I am selling to a mate) and the Emotiva pre-power combo. I will post the results in due course. There seems to a dearth of comparisons out with the Emo gear and higher level AVR's. As Mr. Spencer noted, there seems to be a lot of doting lovers of Emo gear and their respondents out in the ether of cyber space.

I eagerly await your findings!! This is also an attractive path for myself over the next 12 months, possibly the three channel and two monoblocks as another thought

[Vitruvian]

I eagerly await your findings!! This is also an attractive path for myself over the next 12 months, possibly the three channel and two monoblocks as another thought

I agree. My only concern are the reports of hit-and-miss reliability for the UMC-1. Although all the good people that have posted here seem to have had a generally good experience.

I figure that if the Emotiva sounds better than my 3900 then I will use the UMC-1/ XPA-5 for surrounds and centre channels and Bel Cantos Ref 1000's for the mains in the lounge. If the 3900 sounds better then the Emotiva stuff will go into my bedroom and I will bi-amp my mains and run the centre with the XPA-5.

I also look forward to comparing the SQ of the XPA-5 to my Cambridge Audio 840A.

Interesting days ahead....

Edited by Vitruvian, 19 October 2010 - 10:44 PM.

[Vitruvian]

My updated quote:

1 x UMC-1
1 x XPA-5
1 x pair RCA splitters
1 x pair XLR splitters
Alloy remote

$1677 delivered. They credited the discount coupon to the order itself. I will pull the trigger next week.

[Vitruvian]

The final order:

UMC-1 Pre/ Pro
XPA-5 Power Amp
Alloy remote, 4 x 3m lengths of speaker cable
RCA and XLR splitters

Cost in AUD before duty and refund (see below): $1,789.00

Just a quick note before work – my gear arrived yesterday evening and I could not wait until the weekend...

Unpacking:

My stuff all arrived, 7 days after payment and with $257 in customs duty. Everything was well packaged and in good working order. Emotiva have just announced a sale, and credited me with $113 US back even though I completed my purchase a week before the sale commenced. It just took an email. It should also be said that the email service was as good as any of the SNA sponsors that I have purchased or made inquiries from – in short, more than satisfactory. Also, Emo have announced the 40% discount on future processors earned with the purchase of the UMC-1 will apply to the XMC-1, to be released in March 2011. The expected price of the XMC is $999US. This means that with the list price of $599 US, there is $100 US Emo credit and then a further $400 in the offing if the UMC is not a long term solution for you – all in all not too bad.

It has already been said but it should be reiterated, the amp is a heavy bugger, best to use two people to move an XPA-5, if possible. Also, I am giving these impressions right out of the box – no burn in and no EQ. Just a childlike desire to hear my new toys....

Set Up:

Connections were straight forward HDMI from the Bluray player into the UMC-1. No problems with the handshake.
GUI is logical, clear and fairly straight forward.
Connected UMC and XPA via RCA’s.
Observations: Speaker terminals have much more space than the Yammie 3900.

Movies:

DVD: Iron Man
Bluray: Iron Man 2

Emo noise floor is lower than the Yammie. Centre channel needed to be a +6db to have clear dialogue – although I always set my centre a louder, so this is not a terribly objective comment. Plenty of headroom ,that is immediately apparent and makes for a dynamic presentation – although I am not too sure about the sonic colouration (SC) for music; more on that under the 2-ch section below. The SC was only really audible when using the UMC to decode 2-ch using a PCM stream. In fact the SC for movies is cinematic - in a good way.

Only one HDMI issue, after an extended pause – about 7 min (I am deliberately trying to recreate all the issues I have been able to discern through online searches), failure for audio to lock on. Fixed with a reset of the amp and bluray player.

My display is 720P 50inch Sony rear pro and the upscaling of the Emo (for the DVD) seemed better to my eyes than the Yammie, I also like the tonal qualities imparted by the visual processor in the Emo.

2-ch:

CD’s:

Ott – Hallucinogen in Dub (track 6)
Third Ear Audio – Third Ear Audio (first and last track)

Two quick tests, using the bluray source and UMC DAC’s and pre. Not terribly impressive, muddy in the mid highs and mid lows, however beautifully detailed in the highs and authoritative and controlled bottom end with plenty of ‘grip’ and ‘slam’.

I changed the source to my CA 840C -> Havana DAC -> BC Pre3 -> XPA-5 . I used balanced cables for the connection between the Pre3 and XPA-5. Much better sounding – beautiful detailed highs without any harshness and a deep, controlled bass. Note: although there does appear to be a small dip in the levels from about 200 – 800/ 1000Hz. This is by ear, listening to reference tracks – not measured. A back-to-back comparison to follow, but I suspect that that there is better bass from the Emo and better highs from the Yammie. If I am right about the scalloped response then I can correct this with EQ. I prefer to manually measure and eq.

Initial conclusions:

The Yammie 3900 appears more stable and consistent in performance, call it 8.5’s across the board. The things Emo gear does well, it does very well (9’s), however there are things that it does not do so well (think 7’s). Given that I will be using Ref 1000mk 2’s for my mains I am more than happy with the Emo gear as a HT. The Emo gear could be a part of a brilliant system, if you match components and have a more complex set up. The Yammie appears to be a great system in box. I will do more direct comparisons over the weekend and these are very early findings, but at this stage I am thinking of the Yammie 3900 as a brand new Lexus (everything works and it is fully loaded) and the Emo gear as a 2 yr-old Merc (solidly built, tactile, wonderfully engaging but potentially a little patchy). Sure there may be the odd indiosyncracy, but the Emo gear has personality and a beguiling air when working fully. That said, I have had no serious issue at all.

In respect of the all important WAF, my girlfriend thinks the Emo alloy remote is the coolest remote that she has ever seen, and that the Emo gear creams the Yammie for looks – especially the funky blue lights when powered up. More detailed info to be collated over the weekend, however, so far I am pleasantly surprised by the Emo gear. It is delivering more than I anticipated.

Edited by Vitruvian, 20 November 2010 - 10:31 AM.

[Vitruvian]

Comparing the XPA-5 to a Cambridge Audio 840A and some other misc observations:

To conduct the test I used the DAC's in the UMC-1 Pre/ pro for front end duties.
Music: 'Skylon' by Ott. Twisted Records.

Sound:

There is a softness that does not detract from the accuracy to the presentation of the CA that enters into the listening experience (in the topend) which is absent from the Emotiva. That is to say, the Emotiva is a more forward sounding amp, whilst the CA is more laid back. This allows the Emotiva to sound better than it otherwise would on the leading edge of transients (e.g. more accurate). That difference chacterises the sonic signature of the two - to my ears.

The sound stage of the Emotiva is both flatter and not as wide as the CA. Imaging is comparable between the two, with good separation between channels. However, the Emotiva does not quite have the same ability as the CA to resolve some fine detail in complex recordings, but this is splitting hairs.

The Emotiva really does have plenty of grunt, and exerts considerable control over the bottom end. I have already mentioned this in the previous post. The scalloped response that I was referring to has gotten a little better, it is not as apparent as it was when the amp was fired up - something I attribute to some burn in although others more learned may be able to shed more light on why this could be the case.

All in all, I am really happy with the value for money offered by the Emotiva stuff. The XPA-5 was under $1000AUD for a five channel 200W amp, the 840A cost over $2k and is 120w x two channel. The Emotiva is far from embarassed in this test.

I have no problem recommending the Emotiva equipment. If anyone in Canberra wants to check it out, feel free to get in touch.

Edited by Vitruvian, 18 November 2010 - 04:02 PM.

[Vitruvian]

The new 7.4 firmware update for the UMC-1 improves picture and sound quality: lower noise floor, more dynamic presentation and improves operational stability and reduces HDMI lock on time to about 6seconds. I have found it a perceptable improvement. Well worth the effort.