Emotiva MC-1 Review (Home Theater Processor)

[amirm]

Amirm - might you be able to retest this unit with the subsonic filter turned off to determine if this makes a difference??

I really like to ship this unit to its owner and move on folks. I am so far behind in reviews given the stuff I still have to do around the house.

 

[Srrndhound]

I suspect the bass management uses analog filters.

The bass management is digital. That's a universal truth in all ATMOS processors. I have not seen analog bass management since Pro Logic days, or the Outlaw Audio ICBM.

 

[PeteL]

None. You will notice no change. Twenty-four bit depth is useful for mixing and mastering, but not for playback, as humans have a dynamic range envelope spanning ~80dB at any given time. Sixteen bit is capable of 97dB. You cannot hear everything a redbook CD is capable of holding. And, the loudness wars have compressed recordings into ever lower dynamic range envelopes.

@amirm has produced some nice videos exploring the contents of these files to demonstrate whether they are worth the cost (they are not).

Also, if you study the test results on this site, you will soon discover a great many consumer products, especially amps, cannot reproduce even 16 bits dynamic range. Why feed it 24 bits, when it can only play 14?

Maybe, maybe not, likely if you ask me, but no, over and over, 16 bits of dynamic range, or distortion consisting of harmonic at about that level below signal is considered a failed product in these pages by our host. If he did demonstrate on video that it's not worth (the cost) it does not come across in the reviews.

 

[MerlinGS]

That's really bad if it is the case. No way a center speaker creates the same modal response as the left or right. And certainly not the ceiling.

I was a little unclear. There are basically 3 groupings if I remember correctly. The base layers consists of two: 1. LCR. and 2. S RS. The third grouping is the ceiling (not sure how it works if one goes 9.3.4). However, you are right. Even if the room is geometric and the user has the freedom to place the speakers correctly, the center will not share the same modal response as the the L & R. Also, it is highly unlikely the surrounds and rear surrounds match. The only grouping that might work is the ceiling. That being said, the user can bypass the poor software design by starting with auto eq, and then proceeding to eq each speaker according to their preference (hopefully based on measurements such as those provided by REW or the like).

 

[KMO]

The bass management is digital. That's a universal truth in all ATMOS processors. I have not seen analog bass management since Pro Logic days, or the Outlaw Audio ICBM.

Yep. Seems unlikely. Particularly if it's actually offering a control.

My Denon AVR-4308 (from 2007) does have an analogue LPF for the subwoofer (not a full crossover) it can activate in Direct mode, but it's a separate control ("Subwoofer On/Off") that appears in Direct mode only. And it's fixed frequency (80Hz, IIRC).

I just tested this today. You are correct. Bass management is on in both Direct and Pure Direct modes in my Denon X4700H.

Well, it's not correct that bass management has always worked. Because there is an analogue pass through in Direct, and that can't do it. (And that passthrough still seems to be there from Amir's tests).

Is bass management on for digital sources only in current ones? If bass management can now be done at all sampling rates, then there's no particular reason for digital Direct to shut off bass management, except UI consistency. It makes sense for Direct to mean "disable all the things you couldn't do on the analogue pass-through path".

Back in the AVR-4308 days, I believe bass management and Pro Logic operated at 96kHz (and Audyssey at 48kHz), so Direct presumably permitted 192kHz signals through unscathed by disabling the bass management.

It seems likely modern receivers can do bass management at 192kHz, so enabling bass management in Direct for digital sources doesn't "cost" anything, except a slightly weird UI experience if Direct can mean different things.

 

[moonlight rainbow dream]

Directly from the webpage:

Manual Room Correction (EQ):

Three Separate Manual Speaker Presets - Each Of Which Offers...

• 11 Bands of Full Parametric EQ: Left Front and Right Front.
• 11 Bands of Full Parametric EQ: Center Channel.
• 7 Bands of Full Parametric EQ: Surround Channels.
• 7 Bands of Full Parametric EQ: Top Channels.
• 5 Bands of Full Parametric EQ: Subwoofers.

So yah.. they seem to be grouped. Not ideal.

 

[voodooless]

So yah.. they seem to be grouped. Not ideal.

It's indeed just a checkbox feature. Like with most AVR's that don't license a room correction technology like Dirac or Audyssey, it's just a simple bunch of PEQ's that are automatically guestimated. One can probably do much better by hand.

Seeing the influence of the subsonic filter, one may only guess what the influence on noise and distortion these have...

 

[restorer-john]

It is not like the remote need to be waterproof or anything.

Perfect for your house Amir!

 

[raindance]

The bass management is digital. That's a universal truth in all ATMOS processors. I have not seen analog bass management since Pro Logic days, or the Outlaw Audio ICBM.

That would fly in the face of Amir's assumption when he's testing them then.

 

[PeteL]

it's just a simple bunch of PEQ's that are automatically guestimated.

It comes with a measurment microphone. What do you mean by guestimated? Normally the corrections are measured, not just guessed, no?

 

[voodooless]

Normally the corrections are measured, not just guessed, no?

Same thing

 

[KMO]

That would fly in the face of Amir's assumption when he's testing them then.

How so? Amir's assumptions, as far as I can tell, are that the "direct" mode has an analogue passthrough allowing pretty much raw amplifier testing, and it doesn't process digital inputs allowing pretty much raw DAC testing.

I've never seen Amir directly test the bass management.

 

[Kegemusha]

Same thing

It is guesstimated

 

[voodooless]

It is guesstimated

It's complicated apparently

 

[DACs_Lover]

Waiting for Topping to release its home theater processor.

 

[Steve Dallas]

It comes with a measurment microphone. What do you mean by guestimated? Normally the corrections are measured, not just guessed, no?

It probably has similar functionality to REW's EQ window, wherein PEQ filters can be automatically generated to move a measured curve toward the direction of a target curve with some level of accuracy. This is pure speculation on my part, therefore totally worthy of being on the Internet.

 

[garbulky]

Unfortunately they make lofty claims about MC-1:

"Like every product in the BasX series, the MC1 includes two critical features that you will not find in most other components in its price range: outstanding audio and video performance with excellent build quality. The BasX MC1 is a true audiophile component, designed and built by professionals to deliver the outstanding performance that both audiophiles and casual listeners can appreciate."

They definitely are not advertising "good enough."

Thanks for pointing that out Amir. I mention that on their forums as well that their ads speak of reference grade and audio performance when sometimes the (measured) audio performance is not all that special.

 

[peanuts]

Waiting for Topping to release its home theater processor.

and just imagin what a buggy mess that will be

 

[mdsimon2]

and just imagin what a buggy mess that will be

Yeah, the company that cannot produce a DAC with reliable SPDIF/TOSLINK input is not the first one I would trust with an AVR.

Michael

 

[mga2009]

Waiting for Topping to release its home theater processor.

Me too, although I think it just would be cheaper/simpler just an 8 channel DAC with USB and HDMI input with just PCM processing (these days every source can decode Dolby and DTS). A DSP for all channels would be awesome too.

Thanks for the review AMIR.

"Poor" measurements aside, this processor has a TON of features for it's price! Maybe some of this problems can be solved at firmware level.