# Life after XMC-1, or what to choose instead of an XMC-1



## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

I will probably not be purchasing an Emotiva XMC-1. I have been suffering through 2+ years of UMC-1, and want to replace that, while keeping my existing 7 channels of XPA amplification.

So what is someone with a limited budget to do? I have about $1,200 to play with plus whatever I can sell my 40% discount card for. I am not opposed to buying a receiver and using the preamp-outs to power my XPAs. I have used MCCAC and YPAO at different times in various systems, and think I like MCCAC better. I helped a friend set up a version of Audyssey, and that seemed OK, though hard to tell with the room, and speakers he had.

Has anyone had any experience with the XMC-1 vs other products? I know that is tough since they just released it in July/August, and very recently released the Dirac.


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## LCSeminole (Mar 28, 2010)

You don't mention if you are entertaining Dolby Atmos in the future, if so then you would be mostly looking at Denon, Marantz & Onkyo. As for suffering through the UMC-1 for 2+ years, you do realize the XMC-1 is a completely different platform than past Emotiva processors, a solely owned from the ground up TI based processor platform compared to the Cirrus based platform from before. Not to mention that Momentum Data Systems and DIRAC were part of the development team of the XMC-1. It is good to have alternatives, so good luck in your search.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I am a huge fan of Audyssey XT32, mainly due to the excellent subwoofer equalization. This makes one of the largest impacts of any feature for me. It usually needs a little tweaking as far as the speaker configuration (size/crossover), but otherwise it does a superb job of equalization. MCACC did add subwoofer equalization to some of their receivers earlier this year, but it isn't as robust as XT32. Therefore I believe Denon, Marantz and last year Onkyo models are excellent choices.


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## fbczar (Apr 2, 2010)

aceinc said:


> I will probably not be purchasing an Emotiva XMC-1. I have been suffering through 2+ years of UMC-1, and want to replace that, while keeping my existing 7 channels of XPA amplification. So what is someone with a limited budget to do? I have about $1,200 to play with plus whatever I can sell my 40% discount card for. I am not opposed to buying a receiver and using the preamp-outs to power my XPAs. I have used MCCAC and YPAO at different times in various systems, and think I like MCCAC better. I helped a friend set up a version of Audyssey, and that seemed OK, though hard to tell with the room, and speakers he had. Has anyone had any experience with the XMC-1 vs other products? I know that is tough since they just released it in July/August, and very recently released the Dirac.


So what exactly is the reason you have decided not to purchase an XMC-1? Is it your dissatisfaction with the UMC-1? I can understand that you might not trust Emotiva, which is a valid reason given your experience, but if you look at the parts in the XMC-1 and Dirac's software it is difficult to find something in the same price performance class.


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Well I have to first of all say that I've never been a fan of Audyssey XT32 and honestly I always thought I just liked using a PEQ and my UMIK-1 mic with REW and do everything myself. But recently when I took my new speakers to a fellow local AVS members place I got my first taste of Anthem's Arc room correction.

I was so impressed with it that I went out and bought a new MRX-710, so far I love it.


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## dmanzuthe (Dec 8, 2014)

good info,so impressed with it that I went out and bought a new MRX-710, so far I love it.


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

fbczar, At present I have a difference of opinion with the business practices of Emotiva. That may change, and if it does I may once again consider purchasing their products.

LCSeminole, I am fairly aware of the technological differences between the UMC-1 and the XMC-1, having watched & waited, reading all of their PR and watching their videos.

Having said that, it is probably not a bad idea to see what else is available. I have been focused so long on the release of the XMC-1 that I have not been keeping up with what is available in the rest of the world.

Why should I want Dirac vs MCCAC vs YPAO vs Audyssey?

I see that Dolby has released Atmos, which based on my understanding delivers discrete channels for upper (above the listener) speakers. I believe that Audyssey does the same thing synthetically, or maybe it is just the 9 and 11 channel Audyssey enabled processors that I have been looking at.

I believe that Emotiva's marketing niche is sound quality, where as Marantz, Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer tend to focus on bells & whistles such as network connectivity and the like. The question that I have is, "How 'weak' are the other's in regards to sound quality at their respective price points?"

It used to be that one of Emotiva's selling points was they were inexpensive, but the XMC-1 MSRP seems to be at the same price point as the street price of its competitors. Since it has fewer bells & whistles, why should I buy it? And if not the XMC-1, what should I buy?

Paul


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## fbczar (Apr 2, 2010)

aceinc said:


> fbczar, At present I have a difference of opinion with the business practices of Emotiva. That may change, and if it does I may once again consider purchasing their products.
> 
> LCSeminole, I am fairly aware of the technological differences between the UMC-1 and the XMC-1, having watched & waited, reading all of their PR and watching their videos.
> 
> ...


Based on the DAC, volume control and analog section in general the XMC-1 would seem to be capable of exceptional performance sonically. Dirac should add to that performance significantly.The Marantz AV7702 is probably the best sounding Marantz processor to date, but will likely be surpassed, at least slightly, by the upcoming Marantz AV8802. Marantz added extra DSP processing to allow it to use Audyssey XT32 with AtMOS. The AV7702 allows the user to turn off Audyssey XT32 for the front L&R speakers so it has more flexibility than most Audyssey applications. If you are considering just a 7.1 system I believe the XMC-1 would have the advantage because of Dirac's superiority and what I see as better parts. It also has an asynchronous USB input which can be a big advantage for those using computers as a source. If you are interested in ATMOS the AV7702 is clearly the best option right now.


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

I guess that Anthem's marketing niche is the same as Emotiva's. Sound quality first, and if we can squeeze in other stuff we will.

I like Anthem's concept of off loading the analysis to a PC, as I have one in my system already but I like some of the bells & whistles offered by the other folks. I liken it to buying a sports sedan rather than a sports car. You are not going to be able to get from traffic light A to traffic light B in 3.2 seconds, but your rear end won't hurt when you get there.


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