Emotiva has lousy customer service. All the reviews about the software issues this piece of equipment has had are true. I bought one of these used. Not only didn't the surround modes not work, the analog amplifier section didn't work, all due to software issues. When I bought this I reset the default and started from scratch and I couldn't get it to work, so I called Emotiva and mailed it to them, And I sent them $100 to evaluate it, in case it had an electrical issue as well as a software issue. It took them over a week to start bench testing it after they received it. When I called them they told me that when it was evaluated I'd get an email detailing what they found and any additional cost to fix it. On a Friday I got an email from them saying it was on it's way back and would arrive on Tuesday, no diagnosis like they said, so I Thought my $100 had covered the charges and shipping. On Monday I called to find out about the diagnosis and they said it had only been a firmware issue. Tuesday comes and I get a call from Emotiva saying sorry the unit was not shipped on Friday and that there was an additional charge of $70 for the work they'd done! I was thinking about buying one of their Basx A500 power amps to use with this the preamp/processor, but if this is an example of their customer service, I don't need the aggravation and I'll buy something else. A word to the wise should be sufficient, but do what you want. If I could have I would have given them zero stars.

Owned mine since May '10, yes there were some initial firmware based issues but the company has been working hard on updates and revisions to correct any and all issues. I don't think that there is anything in this price range to compare for both video processing and audio, in fact I believe that one would have to double and triple what you pay for the UMC-1 to get the same quality. Now in November with the latest update and it just keeps getting better. I would definately buy again and recommend to family and friends. Emotiva's customer service is 2nd to none, the even sent us out new upgraded remotes for free.

I am one of the first few to receive this unit. I have only had it for a week. But so far it's performing beautifully. There are a few minor firmware problems for which the revisions are due to be shipped next week. You may wish to read more of my experiences with this product and see the progress here:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62205

For the money I don't think there will be anything else on the market that can touch this.