Originally Posted By: mdanderson
Originally Posted By: Jimmy Harmon
Originally Posted By: KOYAAN
At first glance, the UMC1 was tempting, if used in conjunction with the 990 it could be the best of all possible worlds for the price of an SMS-1 , right ? WRONG!
From all accounts the EMO equalization doesn't amount to much.
The video processing is inferior to what you would get straight from an Oppo BD-83.
There are a lot of inputs, it will process most formats ( less DSD) and it will process everything to HDMI. If that's all that you want, $699.00 is a sweet deal. Go for it.
This ain't no 997, or at least what I anticipate the 997 being.


I don't have a UMC-1, but don't think your summary is very accurate. All the reports of the video processing have been quite good. Whether it's better or worse than the Oppo I can't say, but the Oppo is very good. Many people would say there's no need to perform any processing from an excellent source like the Oppo.

I do agree that the Emo-Q auto calibration program doesn't sound ready for prime time yet. Emo needs to work on that, toss auto setup altogether, or license Audyssey or something similar (this option gets my vote).

After the firmware update, all the reports I have seen have been pretty positive (except for the Emo-Q issues). Notably and most importantly, reports of sound quality (and video quality) have been excellent.

My summary would be if auto-calibration is critical to you look elsewhere (at least for now), but otherwise the UMC-1 appears to offer lots of bang (and good SQ) for your buck.

Perhaps the 997 will be better, but it's really impossible to compare the two since the 997 doesn't exist yet


I agree with you Jimmy about the UMC-1. I have had mine for a few weeks now and I am very pleased with the video performance but the main thing I got it for was hdmi capability. Movies in bluray look and sound great and the analog performance is good too.

I am using 2 channel stereo outs on my Oppo 83 and they sound very good with the UMC-1 for 2 channel music. SACD and DVD Audio sound fantastic also. I am on the original wait list for the Outlaw 997 but I thought I would try the UMC-1 for now.


MD,

Glad to hear the UMC is working well for you. I hope Outlaw can get the 997 to market soon. Competition is good for the consumer and will make each company's products better.

P.S. - Before someone says the 997 & UMC-1 are not competing products because of the price difference, case in point here: MDAnderson who was going to buy a 997 but purchased a UMC-1 instead, but sounds like he will still consider the 997 when it's released. The very definition of competing products.

P.S. #2 - Sorry to get the topic off track from the 997 to the UMC-1. This is Outlaw's forum/home, and I respect that. Just trying to correct what I perceived as partially inaccurate information regarding the UMC-1. Here's to hoping for more information on the 997. Like Outlaw, Emotiva also had lengthy news blackouts prior to the UMC-1's release, and it was very frustrating to their customers. Seems like strange behavior for an ID company.
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