Set-up

In this review, I used the DMC-1 and MPS-1 in a 7.1 speaker configuration. As with other home theater equipment, configuring everything carefully is crucial in achieving the best results. Fortunately, the DMC-1 is relatively easy to set up with a menu system that is sufficiently user friendly. Every set-up command can be delivered using the remote control with the help of the on-screen display feature. If you have some experience in setting up a receiver or a surround processor in the past, you should be able to do it with the DMC-1 in a breeze. Even if this is your first SSP, its user’s guide is quite easy to follow and explains everything in sufficient details. Overall, the menu system of the DMC-1 is quite logical to follow. The DMC-1 doesn’t have an auto-calibration feature, so to achieve the best result, an SPL meter is needed.

Below are photos of the MPS-1 module. You can see that each module is totally independent of the others, having its own toroidal transformer and power supply capacitors. There are four 50 volt 12,000 µF capacitors, providing 60 joules of energy storage. For the seven channels, that's 420 joules, which is a lot of energy.

There is also a fan for each module, which keeps it cool during those Stallone movies.

The operation of the DMC-1 was quite smooth overall. I found the remote to be pleasant to use and relatively easy to program. The pre-programmed mode allowed me to operate most of my equipment except for the non-mainstream ones. But even if the pre-programmed mode failed, I could still program it by using its learning function. Hence, the included remote control was quite capable of replacing my other equipment’s remotes, and I’m sure it would be the case with most users’ setups.

The only minor quirk I found with the DMC-1 was the occasional glitches on the OSD menu when it was passed through my Infocus SP-110 projector. These glitches didn’t appear with my regular television, so my guess was there was a mismatch in frequency between the DMC-1 video output and my projector. Hence, it might just be specific to the equipment combination.

The Performance

In short, the SSP and amplifier performance exceeded my expectations. Even the tuner and component video switching functions worked better than I anticipated. The tuner was slightly better in pulling off signals from stations that normally were full of static noise using the tuners from other processors in this price range that I have tried. Its video switching, especially using the component video connection, didn’t cause any noticeable signal degradation.

In terms of sound, the DMC-1 was one very smooth natural sounding processor. I don't mean that it smoothed the sound coming out of it, but rather that there was no trace of artificial harshness to the sound, which sometimes plagues a few digital surround processors.

In stereo bypass mode, the DMC-1 delivered sound purity that could easily rival much more expensive preamplifiers. This was true as well for the sound produced through its multi-channel analog inputs. But in case you need to use its regular stereo mode, which goes through the digital bass management, for example to make use of the subwoofer to augment small front speakers, you don’t need to worry either. It was slightly less pure in sound - as is generally the case in comparing direct vs. processing - but still very good; and unless you did a careful A-B comparison, the difference was hardly noticeable.

In surround mode, the DMC-1 demonstrated accurate steering that resulted in excellent surround envelopment and precise localization or sound transition when called for. Dialog in movies was delivered in excellent clarity and was very natural, which helped engage me with the movie scenes. The DMC-1 provides dialog normalization (similar to THX normalization), which could be useful for overly bright movie soundtracks. But because of the overall smoothness of the sound characteristics of the DMC-1, I rarely felt the need to turn it on. Some movies, though, were mixed very bright, and for such movies, this was useful.

The MPS-1 amplifier complemented the DMC-1 nicely. The MPS-1 was neutral-sounding, which means it didn’t impose its own sound characteristics to the amplified signals. There was no artificial glare on the high frequencies, and the bass it produced had good articulation, with nicely controlled punch.

The combo always delivered sound effortlessly, indicating plenty of reserve power. Never for once, even when playing the system at a rather insane level, did I feel that the MPS-1 ran out of steam.

Also, the MPS-1 in general ran cool. Even when pushed rather hard, at the end of a two hour movie, its top cover was only warm and never became too hot to touch. The presence of cooling fans in its amplifier modules would make some people worry due to the potential noise they might produce. However, during my evaluation, as hard as I tried I couldn’t hear when (if) the fans were in operation.

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