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Monoprice HTP-1 Home Theater Processor Review

MakeMineVinyl

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Only the Home Theater Industry could so complicate something which should be so straightforward as voltage levels out of a preamp into a power amp, which people previously never gave much thought to with stereo gear. :rolleyes:
 

TimoJ

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Why should Dirac not reduce trim levels? Dirac will always do this unless you have the same speakers at the same distances and amplifiers with adjustable gain. In my case it uses the most quiet speaker which is the center channel as trim 0 and the reduces the levels of all other speakers around that. Nothing weird about that imo.
But that causes the volume drop you complained about earlier. Where does it adjust your main L/R channel trims?
 

RichB

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Only the Home Theater Industry could so complicate something which should be so straightforward as voltage levels out of a preamp into a power amp, which people previously never gave much thought to with stereo gear. :rolleyes:
But that causes the volume drop you complained about earlier. Where does it adjust your main L/R channel trims?

Why not just have settings for voltage out and default to 2 volts or 1.6 or whatever the lower number is. That seems simple to me.

- Rich
 

audioBliss

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But that causes the volume drop you complained about earlier. Where does it adjust your main L/R channel trims?

I'm not sure what you mean where? In the HTP-1 Calibration tab in the interface. -3.6dB for L/R. I don't mind a volume drop but I do expect to be able to change the output voltage in a reliable manner where it outputs that voltage at 0dB on the main volume. That is not happening. To be honest though even with Dirac disabled I don't believe it's outputting the voltage that I specify at 0dB but at a higher volume. And as we know it seems to not be good to go to +5dB or whatever.

To be clear I can still reach a suitable volume level when watching content but I would like to be able to set the output voltage on the HTP-1 in a way where I guarantee that I don't clip the amp inputs but also reach that voltage at 0dB. As it is now I'm just not really sure what I'm getting.
 

stunta

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Probably not but why not set speakers and HTP-1 to 4dBu = 1.228Vrms and be on the safe side?

Can't get enough volume below 2V.

Also, I am not sure what to do about my subwoofers and the surround channel amps (need to check, but what if they have a very different input sensitivity - should there be output voltage setting per channel in the HTP-1 then?). The subwoofer specs don't show the input sensitivity. http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FM8_specs.html
 

TimoJ

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I'm not sure what you mean where? In the HTP-1 Calibration tab in the interface. -3.6dB for L/R. I don't mind a volume drop but I do expect to be able to change the output voltage in a reliable manner where it outputs that voltage at 0dB on the main volume. That is not happening. To be honest though even with Dirac disabled I don't believe it's outputting the voltage that I specify at 0dB but at a higher volume. And as we know it seems to not be good to go to +5dB or whatever.

To be clear I can still reach a suitable volume level when watching content but I would like to be able to set the output voltage on the HTP-1 in a way where I guarantee that I don't clip the amp inputs but also reach that voltage at 0dB. As it is now I'm just not really sure what I'm getting.
Where = to what level. Ok, so not too much drop. In my system, before amplifier changes, Dirac adjusted mains to -20dB to get them to the same output level as heights and surrounds.
Input signal level of course effects output. With 0dBFS input signal, PEQ/Tone/Loudness/Dirac all OFF, volume at 0dB, output voltage is correct.
 

audioBliss

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Where = to what level. Ok, so not too much drop. In my system, before amplifier changes, Dirac adjusted mains to -20dB to get them to the same output level as heights and surrounds.
Input signal level of course effects output. With 0dBFS input signal, PEQ/Tone/Loudness/Dirac all OFF, volume at 0dB, output voltage is correct.

I will have to check with a dB meter. It could be that it's reserving 10dB or so for Dirac.

Edit:
My dB meter is a cheap one and the these are approximate figures.

With Dirac OFF at 2.2V I get ~72.5dB with the THX signal with the built in signal generator i.e. ~102.5dBFS at 0dB MV.
With Dirac ON at 2.2V I get ~66.5dB with the THX signal with the built in signal generator i.e. ~96,5dBFS at 0dB MV.

The same test with 2.9V I get 73.5dB and 68dB.
At 4.0V with Dirac OFF I get ~76dB. This is with an amp that should require 2.2V for max power. I don't really get it.
 
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TimoJ

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I will have to check with a dB meter. It could be that it's reserving 10dB or so for Dirac.

Edit:
My dB meter is a cheap one and the these are approximate figures.

With Dirac OFF at 2.2V I get ~72.5dB with the THX signal with the built in signal generator i.e. ~102.5dBFS at 0dB MV.
With Dirac ON at 2.2V I get ~66.5dB with the THX signal with the built in signal generator i.e. ~96,5dBFS at 0dB MV.

The same test with 2.9V I get 73.5dB and 68dB.
At 4.0V with Dirac OFF I get ~76dB. This is with an amp that should require 2.2V for max power. I don't really get it.
Speakers also have a major effect to this. Do you have UMIK-1? Use REW's SPL meter to test.
In my system with Purifi EVAL-1 (modified to 2.4V sensitivity) using internal thx -30dB signal I get 76dB with HTP-1's 1.9V output setting at -3dB MV. That is with Dirac off, with Dirac on -2dB MV gives 76dB.
 

RichB

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I will have to check with a dB meter. It could be that it's reserving 10dB or so for Dirac.

Edit:
My dB meter is a cheap one and the these are approximate figures.

With Dirac OFF at 2.2V I get ~72.5dB with the THX signal with the built in signal generator i.e. ~102.5dBFS at 0dB MV.
With Dirac ON at 2.2V I get ~66.5dB with the THX signal with the built in signal generator i.e. ~96,5dBFS at 0dB MV.

The same test with 2.9V I get 73.5dB and 68dB.
At 4.0V with Dirac OFF I get ~76dB. This is with an amp that should require 2.2V for max power. I don't really get it.

It seems that Dirac and bass management with large channel counts require more attenuation in the digital domain. If this is the case, then processors need good baseline performance for headroom.

- Rich
 

Sal1950

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I'm keeping my eye on the market for a replacement of my Marantz AV7703. At this time, unless you have the bucks for one of the $15,000 jobs, this Monoprice looks like the one to get. No hurry at all and for sure would not buy until it is compatible with Dirac Bass Management so it can handle multiple subs.
 

audioBliss

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I'm keeping my eye on the market for a replacement of my Marantz AV7703. At this time, unless you have the bucks for one of the $15,000 jobs, this Monoprice looks like the one to get. No hurry at all and for sure would not buy until it is compatible with Dirac Bass Management so it can handle multiple subs.

I've been running Dirac Bass Management with multiple subs since I first got the HTP-1 and it works great.
 

stunta

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I've been running Dirac Bass Management with multiple subs since I first got the HTP-1 and it works great.

Same here. DLBC works great (I have 3 subs) and is simple to use. This unit was very easy to set up and everything has just worked for me which is quite rare in my experience with HT stuff.

With 1.8 beta, USB audio support was added and I no longer use an external DAC. Roon certification is in progress which is an added bonus (no need for a tethered Roon core).

The Web UI is not very refined but functional. No OSD even for volume control which is very annoying since my unit is in a rack out of sight.

At $4K USD + $500 USD for DLBC, it gets quite expensive. I was torn between this and the Anthem units, but I feel like Dirac is a better long-term bet than ARC.
 

audioBliss

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Same here. DLBC works great (I have 3 subs) and is simple to use. This unit was very easy to set up and everything has just worked for me which is quite rare in my experience with HT stuff.

With 1.8 beta, USB audio support was added and I no longer use an external DAC. Roon certification is in progress which is an added bonus (no need for a tethered Roon core).

The Web UI is not very refined but functional. No OSD even for volume control which is very annoying since my unit is in a rack out of sight.

At $4K USD + $500 USD for DLBC, it gets quite expensive. I was torn between this and the Anthem units, but I feel like Dirac is a better long-term bet than ARC.

It does get expensive but relatively speaking it's a bargain. I've heard this a lot that it's expensive but in my mind it's the cheapest of anything in it's class even with the DLBC addon. Most of the competition is way more expensive and measures worse on the test bench in many ways as well. The key feature with the HTP-1 though is the software. Yes it could be more polished and so on but it works and I'm sure that it will be more polished in time. Since it's a pure web interface I'm guessing it'll be a lot easier to expand than something with an OSD or those strange VNC solutions.

The way I keep track of volume is I have a web link on my iPhone home screen that takes me right into the HTP-1 interface so I just use my phone, which I always keep on me, to keep track of that sort of stuff.

I'm betting on Dirac as well, seems to have a lot more momentum than the competition and the software is constantly being improved. The fact that it's not tied to one AVR manufacturer is key and I think is the reason why it will probably do good in the long run. These sort of things are becoming so complex now that you almost need a dedicated company to keep it up to date with the times.
 

Sal1950

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I've been running Dirac Bass Management with multiple subs since I first got the HTP-1 and it works great.
Good to hear, I did some homework last night and couldn't determine if it was available yet. So does it then adjust the level and timing of each sub individually before then addressing FR as a pair?
 

stunta

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The other interesting and nice feature is that you can set Dirac to "bypass" mode which retains the level trims & delays and only turns off the DRC - so you can quickly A/B compare the filters with no filters. You can also turn off Dirac completely.
 

Vasr

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The fact that it's not tied to one AVR manufacturer is key and I think is the reason why it will probably do good in the long run.

Unless they price themselves out of the market. It is close to being so with DLBC pricing. But the option to have it as an add-on only when one needs it is a good one.

I agree that right now, HTP-1 is the one to get in this price range +/- $1k.

We will see if and when the Anthem AVM70 comes out and is measured as a lower priced alternative.
 

audioBliss

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Good to hear, I did some homework last night and couldn't determine if it was available yet. So does it then adjust the level and timing of each sub individually before then addressing FR as a pair?

Yes and you can have up to 5 subwoofers but at the cost of those channels being used up. Not sure what the combination limitations are but I guess you could run something like a 5.5.6 system.
 

audioBliss

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Unless they price themselves out of the market. It is close to being so with DLBC pricing. But the option to have it as an add-on only when one needs it is a good one.

I agree that right now, HTP-1 is the one to get in this price range +/- $1k.

We will see if and when the Anthem AVM70 comes out and is measured as a lower priced alternative.

The AVM70 is interesting for sure.
 

Sal1950

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Yes and you can have up to 5 subwoofers but at the cost of those channels being used up. Not sure what the combination limitations are but I guess you could run something like a 5.5.6 system.
Great, now is this how they come out of the box or is the bass management software extra charge? And if so how much?
TIA
 

Sal1950

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Great, now is this how they come out of the box or is the bass management software extra charge? And if so how much?
TIA
Never mind, I found the answer. The Dirac Live Multisub upgrade for the HTP1 is $499. So now we have a $4500 AVP, still not to bad in the face of the competition.
https://live.dirac.com/home-audio/
 
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