Emotiva RMC-1+ AV Processor Review

[NicS]

My neighbor was in love-hate relationship with his Emotiva processor. He gave up some time ago and has gone Marantz route and he says, that only now he realizes, how broken Emotiva design was. [in terms of stability, small nagging issues, weird choices]. Now he and his family can just turn the gear on and enjoy without anxiety that something will or will not work this time.

Now with Dirac ART available on D&M processors - I think Emotiva is just left behind technologically and offers inferior user experience. I would cut the losses and enjoy the content, instead of having to focus on the gear.

Yep. That about sums it up.

Emotiva is less of a consumer product than a hobbyist one. Reading its user forum, it has a core group of devoted followers who defend the brand with cult like devotion. All the while, their AV products can’t even live up to their own specifications.

I’d like to jump ship to Matantz too, though I can’t justify the expense in this economy. Sadly I’ll just limp along with my unpredictable and buggy processor, hoping that a future firmware update gives me back some sanity.

 

[Lsc]

My neighbor was in love-hate relationship with his Emotiva processor. He gave up some time ago and has gone Marantz route and he says, that only now he realizes, how broken Emotiva design was. [in terms of stability, small nagging issues, weird choices]. Now he and his family can just turn the gear on and enjoy without anxiety that something will or will not work this time.

Now with Dirac ART available on D&M processors - I think Emotiva is just left behind technologically and offers inferior user experience. I would cut the losses and enjoy the content, instead of having to focus on the gear.

per Emotiva they have fixed a lot of those issues with the latest firmware release.

Yep. That about sums it up.

Emotiva is less of a consumer product than a hobbyist one. Reading its user forum, it has a core group of devoted followers who defend the brand with cult like devotion. All the while, their AV products can’t even live up to their own specifications.

I’d like to jump ship to Matantz too, though I can’t justify the expense in this economy. Sadly I’ll just limp along with my unpredictable and buggy processor, hoping that a future firmware update gives me back some sanity.

yes definitely not for other family members at least in my case. No one turns on my stuff though. My wife waits for me and my boys use the my man cave (video game room) unless they use their phones.

You gotta find the right work around. In my case it was using lowest power. The switching inputs was my only issue so now I have nothing to worry about. I don’t think it’s worth it to buy anything else either. The improved surround sound with fw v5.5 - I doubt I’d gain much from Marantz. The bass in my room is excellent- I don’t crave better bass.

 

[NicS]

per Emotiva they have fixed a lot of those issues with the latest firmware release.

yes definitely not for other family members at least in my case. No one turns on my stuff though. My wife waits for me and my boys use the my man cave (video game room) unless they use their phones.

You gotta find the right work around. In my case it was using lowest power. The switching inputs was my only issue so now I have nothing to worry about. I don’t think it’s worth it to buy anything else either. The improved surround sound with fw v5.5 - I doubt I’d gain much from Marantz. The bass in my room is excellent- I don’t crave better bass.

My work around is this:
Unplug the HDMI output and ethernet cables from the RMC-1L.
Power up RMC-1L from the rear switch.
Wait for software to load (around 2 minutes).
Once loaded, it opens in Tuner mode. If not, I have to restart again.
Power on Amps (I think dirty power comes down the trigger cable which stops the processor starting properly)
Plug HDMI output back in (again, I think having the HDMI plugged in introduces dirty power)
Power on Projector
Change input to HDMI 1 (Apple TV) from the remote (so I don't have to cycle through any other inputs)
Check to see it's all working
Avoid changing inputs.

As long as I follow this process, it works 75% of the time.

Hardly a glowing review, is it?

v5.5 undoubtedly improved Surround decoding from Atmos. It made no difference to multichannel from DSD sources, as far as I can see.

 

[Lsc]

My work around is this:
Unplug the HDMI output and ethernet cables from the RMC-1L.
Power up RMC-1L from the rear switch.
Wait for software to load (around 2 minutes).
Once loaded, it opens in Tuner mode. If not, I have to restart again.
Power on Amps (I think dirty power comes down the trigger cable which stops the processor starting properly)
Plug HDMI output back in (again, I think having the HDMI plugged in introduces dirty power)
Power on Projector
Change input to HDMI 1 (Apple TV) from the remote (so I don't have to cycle through any other inputs)
Check to see it's all working
Avoid changing inputs.

As long as I follow this process, it works 75% of the time.

Hardly a glowing review, is it?

v5.5 undoubtedly improved Surround decoding from Atmos. It made no difference to multichannel from DSD sources, as far as I can see.

Have you tried setting it in “Lowest power” and not unplugging your cables? Also do you have something like the Logitech harmony to turn all these devices on?

The way you are turning things on…geez…I’d throw my XMC2 out the window.

My turn on input is set to “Last used” btw.

 

[NicS]

Have you tried setting it in “Lowest power” and not unplugging your cables? Also do you have something like the Logitech harmony to turn all these devices on?

The way you are turning things on…geez…I’d throw my XMC2 out the window.

My turn on input is set to “Last used” btw.

Yep.

My suspicion is that the RMC-1L is affected by dirty power that enters via ethernet & HDMI. Starting with them unplugged increases the chance of a clean start.

I've tried every possible combination of this. Including trying Low Power Mode and Video Stays On. None of these make any difference.

I tried Last Used too. Though I have a better indication if things are OK, if I can hear the Tuner kick in.

 

[RichB]

Yep.

My suspicion is that the RMC-1L is affected by dirty power that enters via ethernet & HDMI. Starting with them unplugged increases the chance of a clean start.

I've tried every possible combination of this. Including trying Low Power Mode and Video Stays On. None of these make any difference.

I tried Last Used too. Though I have a better indication if things are OK, if I can hear the Tuner kick in.

If it works with the ethernet unplugged, then you could isolate it using two of these and a short SFP connector.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYC341LQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FJL3M5Q?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

I used this type because I have POE on one end. Other options may be cheaper.
It's Amazon so returnable if it does not work.

- Rich

 

[jim80z]

I must admit I didn't have a lot of issues with the RMC-1 (sure in the early fw versions there was some strange stuff going on but that was years ago)........In the end the only issues I had with the RMC-1 post v3.xx of FW were 1. some click and pops once in a while when codecs changed (not often but nerve racking to be honest.....so we trained ourselves to just make sure volume was down before changes) 2. bass management had some weirdness but in the end I dialled it in via a mindsp (which I needed anyway to handle 4 SW) and 3. most importantly the XLR out channel expansion never came and its the one thing I really needed to fulfil my original room design (24ch) sooo finally gave up waiting earlier this year and moved to Storm.

Otherwise once the RMC-1 was dialled in.......it just worked for me BUT my use would naturally be different to some eg. RMC was plugged into ethernet, entire rack is powered via 2 furman filters, it had 8 HDMI sources plugged into it from new (PC+5090gpu, Apple TV, etc) to old gear (HDDVD, older non HDMI Lumagen for laserdisc etc), output is connected to a JVC projector, I power down to low power mode not high power video standby (yes takes a little longer to boot but no biggie), dirac enabled, no ARC or any other black magic HDMI complexity......and I'm not seeing any noise issues from a power pov......and in the end if the RMC-1 had the extra channels I wanted it would still be in the rack with a pending CR8 upgrade at some point (I tend to agree with previous comment re keeping the old unit and going CR8 rather than a new plus unit......I have been very happy with the sound of the RMC-1 for multi channel audio!)

As far as family member ease of use.......it's pretty much automated anyway "hey s!r! start home theatre" and by the time we get to the room its all booted up and the rest is trivial ie via harmony hub with an iPad (no complaints from wife, except for the bottomless money pit that is that room in total )........so like I said the RMC-1 was mainly well behaved in the last ~3 years with FW V3.xx.

I do hope the noise around the RMC-1+ is cleared up and have said the same in the emo forum for what it's worth.

 

[Lsc]

I must admit I didn't have a lot of issues with the RMC-1 (sure in the early fw versions there was some strange stuff going on but that was years ago)........In the end the only issues I had with the RMC-1 post v3.xx of FW were 1. some click and pops once in a while when codecs changed (not often but nerve racking to be honest.....so we trained ourselves to just make sure volume was down before changes) 2. bass management had some weirdness but in the end I dialled it in via a mindsp (which I needed anyway to handle 4 SW) and 3. most importantly the XLR out channel expansion never came and its the one thing I really needed to fulfil my original room design (24ch) sooo finally gave up waiting earlier this year and moved to Storm.

Otherwise once the RMC-1 was dialled in.......it just worked for me BUT my use would naturally be different to some eg. RMC was plugged into ethernet, entire rack is powered via 2 furman filters, it had 8 HDMI sources plugged into it from new (PC+5090gpu, Apple TV, etc) to old gear (HDDVD, older non HDMI Lumagen for laserdisc etc), output is connected to a JVC projector, I power down to low power mode not high power video standby (yes takes a little longer to boot but no biggie), dirac enabled, no ARC or any other black magic HDMI complexity......and I'm not seeing any noise issues from a power pov......and in the end if the RMC-1 had the extra channels I wanted it would still be in the rack with a pending CR8 upgrade at some point (I tend to agree with previous comment re keeping the old unit and going CR8 rather than a new plus unit......I have been very happy with the sound of the RMC-1 for multi channel audio!)

As far as family member ease of use.......it's pretty much automated anyway "hey s!r! start home theatre" and by the time we get to the room its all booted up and the rest is trivial ie via harmony hub with an iPad (no complaints from wife, except for the bottomless money pit that is that room in total )........so like I said the RMC-1 was mainly well behaved in the last ~3 years with FW V3.xx.

I do hope the noise around the RMC-1+ is cleared up and have said the same in the emo forum for what it's worth.

Do you have the eARC hdmi board or the original one that you can’t update to fw 5.5?

It’s good to hear that your unit works similar to mine. I just turn it on (takes a little time which is annoying) but then it just works. With 5.5, the surround sound feels more immersive even though I only have 5.1. with 3 subs.

 

[jim80z]

Do you have the eARC hdmi board or the original one that you can’t update to fw 5.5?

It’s good to hear that your unit works similar to mine. I just turn it on (takes a little time which is annoying) but then it just works. With 5.5, the surround sound feels more immersive even though I only have 5.1. with 3 subs.

No I dont have the eARC board as I purchased my processor late 2019 and hadn't updated the board.......if I was to keep it as mentioned I would CR8 it.....btw thx for mentioning this as I hadn't read the V5.5 release notes and the fact that 5.5 won't stick on a processor without eARC (mines now boxed and put away).

I have read from other users they are also getting better immersion from 5.5, so that's great news for owners!

 

[Lsc]

No I dont have the eARC board as I purchased my processor late 2019 and hadn't updated the board.......if I was to keep it as mentioned I would CR8 it.....btw thx for mentioning this as I hadn't read the V5.5 release notes and the fact that 5.5 won't stick on a processor without eARC (mines now boxed and put away).

I have read from other users they are also getting better immersion from 5.5, so that's great news for owners!

No problem. It’s some scary release notes with users bricking their unit because they have the non-eARC board.

Yes, I am rewatching some movie scenes because the surround sound is so much better. This is probably also due to re-running Dirac (something I hate doing) when I figured out my network issue (subnet mask).

I keep putting off replacing my XMC2 and buying other things instead. I don’t know what it is but I hate spending money on processors.