Emotiva BasX MC1 13.2 Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Processor

[flyzipper]

Received an email from Emotiva today announcing this.

BasX MC1 13.2 Channel Dolby Atmos® & DTS:X™ Cinema Processor

Welcome to Emotiva Audio Corporation. Home Audio Systems, Speakers & Accessories and more. We use science to evoke the true emotion behind every note.

emotiva.com

Apparently it's a re-packaged Tonewinner AT-300 (not entirely sure about that).

Its lack of HDMI 2.1 support makes it a hard pass for my video gaming use case, but I do rather like the concept of a small form factor and relatively inexpensive AV processor.

Perhaps it will interest others.

 

[dwkdnvr]

Looks potentially interesting, but that page freaks out under Chrome for me and goes into a reload loop. Amazing that we've come to the point where an almost $1500 HT proc is 'entry level'

Edit: ok, OP linked to the en-ca page, not en-us. Emotiva appears to have been confused by my location not being in Canada. $1k USD for a 13.2 Atmos pre-pro is in fact pretty interesting.

 

[buzwork]

Here's the non-regional link to the new MC1. $999 USD. Cannot be purchased using Emobucks but purchasers will earn Emobucks through the 20% Emobucks promotion period.

BasX MC1 13.2 Channel Dolby Atmos® & DTS:X™ Cinema Processor

The BasX MC1 is a high performance cinema surround sound processor that supports 4k UHD video, including HDR and Dolby Vision, enhanced ARC (eARC), and the latest Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive surround sound formats.

emotiva.com

 

[maverickronin]

Amazing that we've come to the point where an almost $1500 HT proc is 'entry level'

I wonder how many more channels Dolby can add before the entire market collapses in on itself like a self indulgent singularity.

 

[buzwork]

Link to the AT-300 thread on AVSF:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/tonewinner-at-300-16-channel-preamp-processor.3202735/page-79

Certainly doesn't look like a straight rebadge. Completely different layout, no balanced outputs, different USB interface, etc. It's possible it shares some of the same guts but this definitely isn't a clone.

 

[dwkdnvr]

I wonder how many more channels Dolby can add before the entire market collapses in on itself like a self indulgent singularity.

Looks like this is capable of doing 7.2.6. I'd be very curious as to how many installations this would provide tangible advantage over 5.2.4. My guess - uneducated though it may be - is that if you've set up a theater in which 7.2.6 is significantly better, you're not buying this pre-pro.

Still, $1k is pretty inexpensive for a pre-pro. Emo-q is the big question.

 

[Soundmixer]

Its lack of HDMI 2.1 support makes it a hard pass for my video gaming use case, but I do rather like the concept of a small form factor and relatively inexpensive AV processor.

According to new news from HDMI, if the processor has eARC, it can be considered HDMI 2.1 regardless of the chip and receiver input speed, lack of VRR, ALLM, QFT, or QMS. They are apparently phasing out HDMI 2.0b and folding it into 2.1.

When HDMI 2.1 Isn't HDMI 2.1 - The Confusing World of the Standard, "Fake HDMI 2.1" and Likely Future Abuse - TFTCentral

When HDMI 2.1 Isn't HDMI 2.1 - The Confusing World of the Standard, "Fake HDMI 2.1" and Likely Future Abuse

tftcentral.co.uk

 

[Soundmixer]

Still, $1k is pretty inexpensive for a pre-pro. Emo-q is the big question.

This stops me dead in my tracks as well.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Well unlike previous pre/pros they've made they do list some rudimentary specs. Of course they are rather pedestrian numbers and the specs are still skimpy. I like all those parametric EQ's that are available. Having had a previous Emotiva pre/pro wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole until you see it measured somewhere like say ASR.

 

[dwkdnvr]

. I like all those parametric EQ's that are available.

Yes. I'd be willing to use REW to dial things in if needed. Still, they invert the priority - lots of biquads available for the high-passed channels, but a limited number available for the subs which typically need more to deal with modes. I suppose 5 per sub is 'adequate', but 'wasting' 11 for each main L/R seems really odd.

Having had a previous Emotiva pre/pro wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole until you see it measured somewhere like say ASR.

For me personally, HT is a less critical application than music and so I'm ok with 'adequate' performance. I'm more concerned with operability and reliability. My experience with Emotiva gear has been spotty on the reliability front.

 

[flyzipper]

According to new news from HDMI, if the processor has eARC, it can be considered HDMI 2.1 regardless of the cable speed, lack of VRR, ALLM, QFT, or QMS. They are apparently phasing out HDMI 2.0b and folding it into 2.1.

Point taken about this confusion -- there is an unfortunate need to dig deeper into how that standard is implemented before making a purchase.

 

[nerdoldnerdith]

Assuming it doesn't sh*t the bed with measurements (a big assumption, I know) it'd pretty hard to beat as a 15 channel Atmos decoder for 7.1.6. It's a fraction of the price of the next cheapest thing that can do that.

 

[rccarguy]

I've got a at-300. I'm happy with it, for the price. It's basis but it does the job.

The auto room eq makes it sounds worse though. Also boosts way too much +11db

 

[aarons915]

According to new news from HDMI, if the processor has eARC, it can be considered HDMI 2.1 regardless of the chip and receiver input speed, lack of VRR, ALLM, QFT, or QMS. They are apparently phasing out HDMI 2.0b and folding it into 2.1.

When HDMI 2.1 Isn't HDMI 2.1 - The Confusing World of the Standard, "Fake HDMI 2.1" and Likely Future Abuse - TFTCentral

When HDMI 2.1 Isn't HDMI 2.1 - The Confusing World of the Standard, "Fake HDMI 2.1" and Likely Future Abuse

tftcentral.co.uk

This stops me dead in my tracks as well.

I don't know about that, if you're using a PC as a source like some of us it needs the bandwidth to pass through the signal you want. Using Earc can work but some TV's do weird things with the signal so it won't always work. My vizio for example doesn't pass through a 5.1 signal but rather just passes through the Left and Right cutting everything else out. It will pass an HD bitstreamed signal but I do my processing in windows and need to pass through a multi channel PCM signal. It's just much simpler to me to use my receiver as the main switching hub, you also lose the on screen display running everything to the TV and using Earc.

I love Emotiva for their EQ, they are one of the very few brands that allow 2nd and 4th order slopes to be applied on the high pass and also have good PEQ for every channel, I never tried EMO Q, I prefer manually measuring and adding filters. I had to switch to a receiver after my 4k TV died and my UMC 200 was HDMI 1.4 I believe, only passing a 1080P signal. I wouldn't let EmoQ stop anyone from buying this, I personally think being able to apply filters in the bass using in-room response and then above the transition frequency using CTA-2034 style measurements sounds much better than any room correction that uses the in-room response to EQ from.

 

[abdo123]

AVRs are 99% their room correction algorithm. Tread carefully.

 

[flyzipper]

AVRs are 99% their room correction algorithm. Tread carefully.

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum where the room correction isn't something I even consider.

Bass management is handled using REW with a MiniDSP 2x4HD, while speaker levels and distances are set manually -- that's it for me.

 

[abdo123]

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum where the room correction isn't something I even consider.

Bass management is handled using REW with a MiniDSP 2x4HD, while speaker levels and distances are set manually -- that's it for me.

The thing is all processors and AVRs decode and all of them perform similarily on the analogue level. There is no point in buying this over a Denon X3700H if you don’t care about room correction, it doesn’t even support all the features of HDMI 2.1

 

[flyzipper]

Agree that its lack of HDMI 2.1 is a dealbreaker for me, but that's entirely separate from comments about room correction.

If you're going to compare it to the Denon x3700H, you should also recognize it's half the price and comes with 13 channels of processing versus 9 for the Denon

 

[Shazb0t]

The thing is all processors and AVRs decode and all of them perform similarily on the analogue level. There is no point in buying this over a Denon X3700H if you don’t care about room correction, it doesn’t even support all the features of HDMI 2.1

If you're going to compare it to the Denon x3700H, you should also recognize it's half the price and comes with 13 channels of processing versus 9 for the Denon

Agree, the pricing and increased channel count is a big enough difference for it not to be a fair comparison.

 

[Soundmixer]

If you're going to compare it to the Denon x3700H, you should also recognize it's half the price and comes with 13 channels of processing versus 9 for the Denon

Much like Emotiva's other processors, it will also come with a host of bugs the Denon X3700 likely does not have. The Denon has 9 channels of amplification, and 13 channels of processing through the pre-outs.

It remains to be seen whether half the price will have equal performance. Not having an HDMI 2.1 chipset is a major drawback.