Emotiva RMC-1 Preliminary page 13

Welcome to the RMC-1
In order to take full advantage of this new technology, a surround sound processor must both
include the advanced technology necessary to decode it properly, and support enough channels
to deliver a compelling immersive experience. The Emotiva RMC-1 provides support for sixteen
audiophile quality fully balanced audio output channels, which can be configured as fifteen
full-range channels and one subwoofer output, or thirteen full-range channels and up to three
subwoofer outputs. In addition to this, the RMC-1 includes three expansion slots, which can
accommodate up to twelve additional output channels, when and if they are needed, as well as a
variety of additional input options.
The RMC-1 supports all of the standard channel configurations specified by the applicable
licenses for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, as well as continuing to fully support existing high quality
surround sound formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Users familiar with the
previous standards will notice a few changes in how they are decoded. All Dolby Atmos content
will be decoded using the new Dolby Atmos renderer; and Dolby TrueHD and other Dolby Digital
content will de decoded exactly as before; but the older Dolby PLIIx surround synthesizer has
been replaced with the more advanced Dolby Surround Upmixer. Likewise, DTS:X content will be
decoded by the DTS:X decoder; and DTX-HD Master Audio and DTS Digital content will continue
to be decoded as before; but the DTS Neo:6 upmixer has been replaced by the new DTS Neural:X
upmixer. New licensing requirements also mandate that, while stereo content may be upmixed
into surround sound using a variety of different options, each specific type of digitally encoded
content is now associated with a specific upmixer option.
What Is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology which is commonly used in movie theaters and for
the sound tracks on Blu-Ray and 4k UHD movie discs and streaming content. With virtually all
previous surround sound formats, like Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio, the audio content
consists of several tracks, each intended to be played via a specific speaker. With Dolby Atmos, the
audio content is divided into bed channels and objects. The bed channels are each played from a
specific speaker. However, sound objects are defined as having locations in space; when the audio
information is decoded, each object is optimally assigned to one or more speakers, based on
the speaker layout you have. Most previous surround sound formats support either five or seven
speakers plus a subwoofer; Dolby Atmos adds the option to include width and height speakers.
Height channels are used to portray objects above the listener, and are reproduced either by
speakers mounted in the ceiling, or by special speakers mounted on top of certain other main
channel speakers, and positioned to bounce their audio signal off the ceiling, so it reaches the
listener from above.
What Is DTS:X?
DTS:X is an object oriented surround sound technology, and is the main competitor to Dolby
Atmos in the USA. While the current version of DTS:X supports fewer channels and options than
the current version of Dolby Atmos, the basic principle is quite similar, and updates are planned.
We can expect both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to evolve over time, and the RMC-1 has both the
channels and the processing power needed to continue to evolve with them.
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