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Monoprice HTP-1 Home Theater Processor Review

A.West

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I read elsewhere that this product is now capable of running Dirac bass management. With fixes implemented (I think) to some of the problems that bothered Amir, this would appear to be the highest performing processor with that feature. And at a semi-reasonable price. Am I wrong?
I just wish it was capable of on screen display.
 

Vasr

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I read elsewhere that this product is now capable of running Dirac bass management. With fixes implemented (I think) to some of the problems that bothered Amir, this would appear to be the highest performing processor with that feature. And at a semi-reasonable price. Am I wrong?
I just wish it was capable of on screen display.

No, you are not wrong.

It has got everything going for it except the one measurement in the review. Setting off on the wrong-foot in the reviews here or a pimple on the face here can mar a product forever. Even if that is the best one going.

A responsive OEM for updates and improvements (far better than Emotiva), a decent price (over any other pre/pro) out there, and full functionality of the latest codecs, DSP and connectivity. If I was looking for one that is the one I would buy.

Anyone know who builds these for Monoprice? The company ATI bought - Datasat Digital or ATI itself?
 
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Xyrium

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No, you are not wrong.

It has got everything going for it except the one measurement in the review. Setting off on the wrong-foot in the reviews here or a pimple on the face here can mar a product forever. Even if that is the best one going.

A responsive OEM for updates and improvements (far better than Emotiva), a decent price (over any other pre/pro) out there, and full functionality of the latest codecs, DSP and connectivity. If I was looking for one that is the one I would buy.

Anyone know who builds these for Monoprice? The company ATI bought - Datasat Digital or ATI itself?

I'm pretty sure it was the price:performance ratio which really hurt it. It does indeed have a lot going for it though. Man, look at all of those features and connections!
 

Vasr

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I'm pretty sure it was the price:performance ratio which really hurt it. It does indeed have a lot going for it though. Man, look at all of those features and connections!

Yes, the price is a little above good value (unlike the ATI made Monoprice amps). And then there is a lot of nickel-and-diming getting Dirac working - calibrated mic, Dirac Live licenses for Bass Management to be purchased direct from Dirac, etc.

But this is the problem with a contemporary Pre/Pro, the number of suppliers with their hands out for licensing costs to provide the Pre/Pro functionality is way too many. It is strangling the Pre/Pro market to stay above a minimum of $4k. They don't have the high-margin amplifiers to bundle into a "value meal" pricing.

Even Monoprice with their thin margins is unable to squeeze it down enough.
 

A.West

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To get xlr connections and multi-sub home theater processing, there's this Monoprice or the Marantz 8805 or several more expensive items which don't seem to work very well. The big question is whether extended Dirac licensing outperforms Audyssey. Audyssey seems easier to use than Dirac.
 

Dherrmann717

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I read elsewhere that this product is now capable of running Dirac bass management. With fixes implemented (I think) to some of the problems that bothered Amir, this would appear to be the highest performing processor with that feature. And at a semi-reasonable price. Am I wrong?
I just wish it was capable of on screen display.
You’re not wrong, in my opinion.
PS. I don’t miss the OSD at all.
 

krizvi786

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You’re not wrong, in my opinion.
PS. I don’t miss the OSD at all.

You guys are forgetting the Anthem AVM 60. I have it and love it. Has XLR output and ARC.

BTW, does the monoprice not even have on-screen display for set up options? or just no volume control on screen? thanks
 

TimoJ

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BTW, does the monoprice not even have on-screen display for set up options? or just no volume control on screen? thanks
No OSD at all. Setup is so much easier to do with a web browser instead of remote control and OSD.
 

Vasr

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OSD setup is a relic inside a contemporary pre/pro - Need unnecessary video processing just to display limited by the firmware capabilities.

With network connectivity becoming standard, there is absolutely no need to have the set up come up on a TV anymore with their VGA graphics and menu systems from the 1980s.

Configuration via a smartphone or tablet (or a PC/Mac) will be the norm now.
 

amira

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No OSD at all. Setup is so much easier to do with a web browser instead of remote control and OSD.

OSD setup is a relic inside a contemporary pre/pro - Need unnecessary video processing just to display limited by the firmware capabilities.

With network connectivity becoming standard, there is absolutely no need to have the set up come up on a TV anymore with their VGA graphics and menu systems from the 1980s.

Configuration via a smartphone or tablet (or a PC/Mac) will be the norm now.

It's not just about setup and configuration, it's about seeing the volume or stream and config info without needing to look at a phone/tablet/computer during a movie.

Storm Audio is adding back an OSD with their new card and Trinnov is supposedly going to use the same chip and vendor.

Couple that with the recent 8k + OSD products, it's very clear it's not going anywhere. If you don't need or like it, just turn it off.

NAD, Acurus, Lyngdorf, Monoprice/ATI/Datasat will pretty much be the only ones left that don't offer an OSD.
 

krizvi786

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It's not just about setup and configuration, it's about seeing the volume or stream and config info without needing to look at a phone/tablet/computer during a movie.

Storm Audio is adding back an OSD with their new card and Trinnov is supposedly going to use the same chip and vendor.

Couple that with the recent 8k + OSD products, it's very clear it's not going anywhere. If you don't need or like it, just turn it off.

NAD, Acurus, Lyngdorf, Monoprice/ATI/Datasat will pretty much be the only ones left that don't offer an OSD.

Yes i dont like to have to use my phone if possible
 

Vasr

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It's not just about setup and configuration, it's about seeing the volume or stream and config info without needing to look at a phone/tablet/computer during a movie.

Storm Audio is adding back an OSD with their new card and Trinnov is supposedly going to use the same chip and vendor.

Couple that with the recent 8k + OSD products, it's very clear it's not going anywhere. If you don't need or like it, just turn it off.

NAD, Acurus, Lyngdorf, Monoprice/ATI/Datasat will pretty much be the only ones left that don't offer an OSD.

If you want the OSD to be overlaid on top of ongoing video instead of as a separate blanked out screen, we are now talking about video graphics processing in the pre/pro (typically in the scaler chip if they have scaling capabilities which is also a legacy issue - they don't do any better than the scaling within the display monitor itself) to mix with the ongoing 4k or 8k video which adds to heat and cost not to mention complicate the noise handling within the chassis for audio chain. And then people complain about not having the SINAD of a dongle.

Not saying OSD has no use cases, but the amount of work needed inside the pre/pro to provide that functionality is way out of proportion of having it implemented (and duplicating all the configuration that can be done via phone/tablet).

The tablet/phone is not the right interface for status, that I agree with.

Part of the original motivation for the OSD display (in addition to the configuration) was the small displays on the device itself. Even so, I have never needed or used OSD do make volume changes or to figure out the current volume or to mute it. The device display is good enough for that. Anything else is an "off-line" activity easily done with a phone/tablet or the device interface itself.

The units now with bigger built-in screens should make the OSD even more moot. When I am listening to music, I don't have the TV on. OSD wouldn't help there at all for the same use cases. So you need a device interface alternative anyway.

People used to OSDs from legacy aren't going to like not having it but there will be a generational transition, that I am sure of.
 

krizvi786

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If you want the OSD to be overlaid on top of ongoing video instead of as a separate blanked out screen, we are now talking about video graphics processing in the pre/pro (typically in the scaler chip if they have scaling capabilities which is also a legacy issue - they don't do any better than the scaling within the display monitor itself) to mix with the ongoing 4k or 8k video which adds to heat and cost not to mention complicate the noise handling within the chassis for audio chain. And then people complain about not having the SINAD of a dongle.

Not saying OSD has no use cases, but the amount of work needed inside the pre/pro to provide that functionality is way out of proportion of having it implemented (and duplicating all the configuration that can be done via phone/tablet).

The tablet/phone is not the right interface for status, that I agree with.

Part of the original motivation for the OSD display (in addition to the configuration) was the small displays on the device itself. Even so, I have never needed or used OSD do make volume changes or to figure out the current volume or to mute it. The device display is good enough for that. Anything else is an "off-line" activity easily done with a phone/tablet or the device interface itself.

The units now with bigger built-in screens should make the OSD even more moot. When I am listening to music, I don't have the TV on. OSD wouldn't help there at all for the same use cases. So you need a device interface alternative anyway.

People used to OSDs from legacy aren't going to like not having it but there will be a generational transition, that I am sure of.


Thing is my AV rack is located in a closet in another room, so i cannot view the device display while watching.
 

RichB

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If you want the OSD to be overlaid on top of ongoing video instead of as a separate blanked out screen, we are now talking about video graphics processing in the pre/pro (typically in the scaler chip if they have scaling capabilities which is also a legacy issue - they don't do any better than the scaling within the display monitor itself) to mix with the ongoing 4k or 8k video which adds to heat and cost not to mention complicate the noise handling within the chassis for audio chain. And then people complain about not having the SINAD of a dongle.

Not saying OSD has no use cases, but the amount of work needed inside the pre/pro to provide that functionality is way out of proportion of having it implemented (and duplicating all the configuration that can be done via phone/tablet).

The tablet/phone is not the right interface for status, that I agree with.

Part of the original motivation for the OSD display (in addition to the configuration) was the small displays on the device itself. Even so, I have never needed or used OSD do make volume changes or to figure out the current volume or to mute it. The device display is good enough for that. Anything else is an "off-line" activity easily done with a phone/tablet or the device interface itself.

The units now with bigger built-in screens should make the OSD even more moot. When I am listening to music, I don't have the TV on. OSD wouldn't help there at all for the same use cases. So you need a device interface alternative anyway.

People used to OSDs from legacy aren't going to like not having it but there will be a generational transition, that I am sure of.

All Denon/Marantz AVRs/Processors have OSDs (and I expect others as well), so the vast majority of the population will not have to pickup a smart device to check the volume. The AVR-X3700H has the option to bypass the video which also removes the OSD.

- Rich
 

Vasr

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These arguments for keeping OSD sound like the people who complained about the flip phones being replaced by smartphones with open screens... over my dead body, will never happen, etc.... :)

At some point, some manufacturer will put a cool status screen on the remote (there are already isolated examples of these) and enable universal remotes to do so that reviewers will rave about and then everyone will jump to copy and no one will remember why they had OSD before...
 

amira

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These arguments for keeping OSD sound like the people who complained about the flip phones being replaced by smartphones with open screens... over my dead body, will never happen, etc.... :)

At some point, some manufacturer will put a cool status screen on the remote (there are already isolated examples of these) and enable universal remotes to do so that reviewers will rave about and then everyone will jump to copy and no one will remember why they had OSD before...

Not even close to the transition from flip to touchscreen phones. OSD on a TV is such a basic feature it would be more aptly compared to seeing the volume level on your phone when you press the volume button, instead of having to open the settings and then click "Speaker". Taking away the ability to see the volume level on the screen is like putting the speedometer of a car somewhere other than the dashboard. Not everyone has the receiver in their theater room.

The fact that probably 99% of receivers sold have an OSD should tell you something. The only real replacement in the foreseeable future is a much better integration and compatibility of eARC showing the volume and source info on the TV.

Again, companies are adding OSD back to their products, not removing them. Think about that.

So yea, you might not see it as useful, but millions of people use products with OSDs.
 
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krizvi786

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These arguments for keeping OSD sound like the people who complained about the flip phones being replaced by smartphones with open screens... over my dead body, will never happen, etc.... :)

At some point, some manufacturer will put a cool status screen on the remote (there are already isolated examples of these) and enable universal remotes to do so that reviewers will rave about and then everyone will jump to copy and no one will remember why they had OSD before...

Not sure about that man. Seems like a pretty basic thing to me
 

HighImpactAV

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Am I reading this right? 4 volts coming from the XLR output equals a volume of 9db above reference level?
No. Even with the volume control at 0 dBfs, volume is dependent on peak levels of the content measured in dbTP, crest factor of the content, bass management, EQ, room correction, amplifier input sensitivity, amplifier gain, speaker impedance, speaker sensitivity and distance of listener from the speaker.
 
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