Ritz you are exactly correct. The only way to be sure to miss any bugs/issues with either unit is to wait a year or so after release. It is certain that both units will have some type of issues when released and it will take at least a year to iron them out.

Owning processors and amps from both companies I feel those who refer to the problems with Emo products are being a bit hypocritical.

Look back at the beginning of Outlaws days with the 950. By comparison to today's processors the 950 is simple in its implementation. Raise your hand if you remember hiss issues, blue dot, red dot, stopping production for a few months to resolve problems then finally an E-PROM swap that you did on your kitchen table to fix DTS.

How about the 990 which began shipping in 5/05 and had multiple firmware revisions through 5/08. That's 3 years to resolve some issues. I applaud them for continuing to work on issues but it's another example of how things can drag on.

Lets not forget the 970/1070...

Outlaw has not had the pleasure of releasing a product as "modern" as the UMC-1 so we really don't know how they will handle the more complex issues of HDMI and advanced room correction. Time will tell and I think they will do better.

Every processor/receiver from both companies has had multiple software updates to resolve issues and that will continue with each new model. At least both companies have a generous return policy if you are not satisfied.

Well, I had an early 950 too. And I certainly don't remember other equipment being damaged by it, or any deceit from anyone at Outlaw concerning what was going on at that time. And I don't remember anyone ever being kicked out of Outlaw's forum.

But that seems to be what happened with Emotiva.

Hardware and software bugs are one thing, and Outlaw isn't immune to those, just like any other SSP/AVR manufacturer. But an SSP or amplifier damaging other equipment hooked up to it? Safety issues? That is a whole other kettle of fish.

I had heard rumors of how bad the Emotiva SSP was, but I didn't know the facts were as bad as S. Sharkey portrays.

Kevin I was going to write a response about hearsay and other issues but decided that the crux of what is being said is summed up in your last sentence.

heard rumors...

There's rumors and then there's damned rumors!

But these many problems and more were all played out on their forum and on the AVS forum thread for the UMC. If you're bored one day you can look it up. Another problem with their amps arose with the 12 volt triggers going faulty and ending in a smoke show.

To be fair to Emotiva, many customers have had nothing bad to say about their experience, and one of the three products of theirs I own has been trouble free for 2 1/2 yrs now. But that UMC was not ready for prime time and they had to have known it. How could you not know something that obvious? UMC pre-bug fix Here is the AVS thread on it.
People can feel free to pre-order the XMC-1 and buy it based on Emotiva's giddy superlatives. I dare you.

You MUST wait for the early adopters to buy the new EMO if you plan to buy it. I don't trust them on this thing to be bug free. Look at the painstaking effort Outlaw is undergoing to get the 978 out with little or no bugs and that is not fully guaranteed.

The EMO may be a world beater, but just because they advertise is well doesn't make it perfect. As far as I know there is no one who owns one yet and the only test review I saw was based on its advertized feature set. If it is a great machine, it will still be great next year when we know what the issues were.

You don't want to be an early adopter of ANY new processor. Based purely on advertised features, the Emo appears to be the better product, but I'm not going to be one of the guinea pigs. I'll wait a few months to see how those daring "I gotta have it now" types are faring.

In the meantime, I'll "slum it" with an AVR. I've gotta say that the Apple Airplay thing and the ability to control the AVR with an Ipad/Iphone/Android device is proving to be a lot more useful than I thought. <blush>

Best,

Ritz, what advertized features lead you to believe that the Emo appears to be the better product. Can you please elaborate?

Best regards

Was it an actual "hands on review", which implies that someone actually had a unit, or simply a report of whatever Emotiva put in their press release or product announcement. I strongly suspect it was the latter.

Your suspicion is correct, it was the latter. You can read it here on the Audioholics website. If you go to Emotiva's website, it says that it's "Coming Soon". We all know how relative this statement can be. After all, Outlaw's products page has been showing the 978 with the same mention for quite some time now.