@Elevick, I had the 105 too and sold it B4 the 30 days. I think it sounds too extended to the point of loss of midrange body and low end. Midrange is really thin and bass is lacking. I traded it for the 103 just for video/USB/HDMI. I presently want to go with the top marantz ud7007 with burr brown 1795. The UMC-200's dac smoked the 105 but I wanted the emotion that none of these processors posess. Now I have an Audiozen Noah, Lustro tube pre, & Aedo tube dac all with seperate power supplies. Now I have the emotion but I know replacing the oppo 103 with the marantz it will only get better. I just don't know if the XMC-1 or a multichannel pre-amp will ever better these seperates.
Emotiva UMC-200 vs XMC-1 processor.......
I used to own a UMC-200 home theatre processor and it was the best I'd owned. I scaled my system down to 2 channel with an Audiozen 2 channel amp, tube pre and dac all with seperate power supplies. I don't think it can get better than that. But movies are only two channel with lots of front end information. I am trying to decide wether to wait for the new Dolby Atmos and DTS-X processors later this year or try an Emotiva XMC-1. It seems to have all the connections I would need. Not sure about the Dirac Live if it is stable enough or not. Can anyone tell my the quality difference to the UMC-200 to the XMC-1 for 5 times the price tag. Please explain in any details possible. Thx in advance!!