What's the latest word on the Emotiva UMC-1?

I've followed the threads on this unit on a variety of sites - as I was initially very enthusiastic about it's potential - my conclusion was that I wouldn't touch with a 40 ft. pole. The reality is that they use their customers as beta testers & charge them full price for the privilege of owning a malfunctioning buggy unit. Not a company I want to business with.

Just received the UMC 1. I absolutely love it. Features I look for, top rate sound quality & no glitches so far(crossing fingers). As of now I am loving this Emo gear.

XPA 5 & UMC 1 is a super deal!

Its obvious the truth is somewhere in the middle of some extremes told here, it was and still is a flawed product with a poor release and questionable R&D that allowed this ever delayed product to STILL be released with bugs and flaws. There is no debating that.
But on the other hand some are appearing to go to extremes on slamming this company, that perhaps has learned a valuable lesson and has cleaned up its act.
So lets not suggest it was anything other than a flawed release, lets also not suggest that its some giant killing revolutionary product that slays anything in its path. But lets also find time to champion a company who atleast has attempted to make a reasonable product at a reasonable price and hope they will avoid troublsome issues in the future.

I agree with Chadnliz. As a result of the extreme positions, after two pages of responses, I still don't have a good feel for the two most important questions: (1) is the current product bug-free enough to be worth considering; and (2) how good is the sound?

Chadnliz,

That's a reasonable way to look at it. All I can say is what I experienced after owning Bot the Onkyo & Marantz processors. It's fair to say that THEY are not giant killers. ALL had bugs. NONE had as many bugs as the UMC-1 when it was released. I've never paid more than 2700.00 (give or take a few bucks) for a new processor.

And with all of that said I can honestly report that in my system using Comcast HD cable, PS3, Oppo DVD BD, Apple TV I have zero issues. Even the friend who bought my Onkyo agrees the UMC-1 sounds better.

Does that make it a giant killer? Of course not. None of these processors are ever going to be as good as my Manley or Rogue preamps. But I am a guy who actually OWNS the gear. I toss out what doesn't meet my demands and cry loudly if I think a product is flawed.

So....my statement is this: Anyone looking at the current Onkyo or Marantz processors should try to find someone with the UMC-1 so they can hear it for themselves. If you want to spend 4-7K then I expect you'd be getting a far better pre-amp section in the bargain and that's a different animal.

Thanks for the measured reply.

Rob