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AudioControl Maestro X9

Krobar

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Biggest thing with that processor is Dante. I ended up buying a Trinnov Altitude 16. The sticker shock is serious, but I'm anxious to see what it brings to the table.
If you've got over the sticker shock I'm sure you'll be happy with it. :)
 

hwest

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Based on all the back and forth I think I'll take my chances with the Emotiva RMC 1
 

hmt

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It has a high SINAD but is ridden with bugs. A prime example why nobody should just look at SINAD league tables.
 

hwest

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It doesn't look like Integra makes a preprocessor with balanced connections, otherwise I would jump to the Integra/High end Onkyo.
 

Jbrunwa

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It has a high SINAD but is ridden with bugs. A prime example why nobody should just look at SINAD league tables.
I wouldn’t count on the RMC-1 test results either. It originally tested worse, then tested better after firmware bug fix. Later the XMC-2 was tested and did not have high SINAD and Emotiva claimed that the RMC-1 and XMC-2 have the perform identically for the channels that were tested, and pretty much confirmed the SINAD measurement with their own testing. So the RMC-1 and XMC-2 either have best-in-class or worst-in-class performance.
 
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hwest

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I wouldn’t count on the RMC-1 test results either. It originally tested worse, then tested better after firmware bug fix. Later the XMC-2 was tested and did not have high SINAD and Emotiva claimed that the RMC-1 and XMC-2 have the perform identically for the channels that were tested, and pretty much confirmed the SINAD measurement with their own testing. So the RMC-1 and XMC-2 either have best-in-class or worst-in-class performance.
Amir presented some independent testing on one of them In there I thought and his testing showed good results from what I remember but I just looked at his review of the XMC 2 and it's a headless panther. I have to go back and look at his other articles. I have two Emotiva AMP's and I can tell you they not only work flawlessly but the sound and power is of amazing quality 'to my ears'. All I'm saying at this point is I'm impressed with their Amplifiers for sure.
 

Jbrunwa

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Amir presented some independent testing on one of them In there I thought and his testing showed good results from what I remember but I just looked at his review of the XMC 2 and it's a headless panther. I have to go back and look at his other articles. I have two Emotiva AMP's and I can tell you they not only work flawlessly but the sound and power is of amazing quality 'to my ears'. All I'm saying at this point is I'm impressed with their Amplifiers for sure.
Some of the amplifiers are a good value for sure. The AVRs seem to have presented a bigger challenge for them. So as to not take this thread off topic, I suggest reading both the ASR RMC-1 and XMC-2 reviews and the threads on them as well as Dirac in the Emotiva Lounge which is their official forum to inform decisions. Of course, return periods allow buyers to test and return if not satisfied so there is always some protection there.
 

hwest

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Some of the amplifiers are a good value for sure. The AVRs seem to have presented a bigger challenge for them. So as to not take this thread off topic, I suggest reading both the ASR RMC-1 and XMC-2 reviews and the threads on them as well as Dirac in the Emotiva Lounge which is their official forum to inform decisions. Of course, return periods allow buyers to test and return if not satisfied so there is always some protection there.
Some of the amplifiers are a good value for sure. The AVRs seem to have presented a bigger challenge for them. So as to not take this thread off topic, I suggest reading both the ASR RMC-1 and XMC-2 reviews and the threads on them as well as Dirac in the Emotiva Lounge which is their official forum to inform decisions. Of course, return periods allow buyers to test and return if not satisfied so there is always some protection there.
I may just try to hold on to my great sounding PRSC-5530 until Onkyo release another pre-processor, I'm hearing the RZ90 will be that machine. The problem with most of these other systems to me is the sound seems to be all mashed together without distinct separation. I haven't really heard anything with the kind of separation of sound that occurs on the Onkyo but perhaps I'm looking for something that doesn't exist. Outside of measurements I can tell when sound is just overlapping and sounding like garbage vs clear separation of sounds and clarity, I'm looking for that same type of sound. I haven't heard anything with an AKM DAC implementation that does it to date, regardless of ratings and measurements we all have ears when we pay close attention to them we understand clarity, separation and range.
 
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hwest

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I may just try to hold on to my great sounding PRSC-5530 until Onkyo release another pre-processor, I'm hearing the RZ90 will be that machine. The problem with most of these other systems still to me is the sound is just all mashed together without separation. I haven't really heard anything with the kind of separation of sound that occurs on the Onkyo but perhaps I'm looking for something that doesn't exist. Outside of measurements I can tell when sound is just overlapping and sounding like garbage vs clear separation of sounds and clarity, I'm looking for that same type of sound. I haven't heard anything with an AKM DAC implementation that does it to date regardless of ratings and measurements.
It looks like Integra (Just a better quality Onkyo) has a system similar to my PRSC-5530 but it's very similar possibly the same unit but they use the AK4458 384 kHz / 32-bit DAC instead of the old Burr Browns. It still doesn't seem to support passing Dolby Vision through a device to your television currently it's the best choice available but we must wait for HDMI 2.1 support in my opinion no need to move to this unit.
 

hwest

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Biggest thing with that processor is Dante. I ended up buying a Trinnov Altitude 16. The sticker shock is serious, but I'm anxious to see what it brings to the table.
Can you share what type of DAC the Trinnov Altitude 16 has?
 

hwest

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Biggest thing with that processor is Dante. I ended up buying a Trinnov Altitude 16. The sticker shock is serious, but I'm anxious to see what it brings to the table.
I'm seriously considering the Trinnov now. I think it has the Sabre 32 DAC. But it just seems to be an all around great unit. Does it come with the MIC and their La Remote?
 
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Blackdevil77

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Can you share what type of DAC the Trinnov Altitude 16 has?
I'm seriously considering the Trinnov now. I think it has the Sabre 32 DAC. But it just seems to be an all around great unit. Does it come with the MIC and their La Remote?

I believe it is the Sabre 32. It does not come with the 3D mic, that has to be bought separately. It does come with a remote but it’s a very basic remote.
 

hwest

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TI PCM1796; these seem to be well implemented.
Very interesting as we always say folks can't tell the difference yet the TI PCM 1796 is the exact DAC in my Onkyo Pre Processor PRSC-5530 and it is also very well implemented. With that said it doesn't surprise me that Trinnov chose this DAC for it's clean conversion as a base for great sound. It all makes sense now, when classic Burr Browns are done right not much can compete, or certainly not the big box names.
THD & Noise0.08 % (20 Hz - 20 kHz, half power)

Yesterday I received an email from Trinnov indicating that they do in fact use the TI DAC's & stated the very reasons above.
 
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Krobar

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Very interesting as we always say folks can't tell the difference yet the TI PCM 1796 is the exact DAC in my Onkyo Pre Processor PRSC-5530 and it is also very well implemented. With that said it doesn't surprise me that Trinnov chose this DAC for it's clean power conversion as a base for great sound. It all makes sense now, when classic Burr Browns are done right not much can compete, or certainly not the big box names.

Yesterday I received an email from Trinnov indicating that they do in fact use the TI DAC's & stated the very reasons above.
The Denon AVP-A1 used the same DACs in a much higher end dual differential / mono config, would still love to see this old unit reviewed on ASR just out of curiosity as the noise floor on the AVP-A1 was exceptional.
 

Krobar

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Is there a source to this?

They share the DSP, HDMI section and 99.9% of the firmware. X9 has different DAC board, different PSU setup, different analogue output board / opamps and adds XLR analogue inputs. So they are related but I don't think many people would call it a rebadge.
 
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