I will be attending Emofest 2012 over the Labor Day weekend. Check back here for updates, photos and more as Dan Laufman reveals some new and exciting audio/video products that will be coming out soon. I myself, am anxious to see the XMC-1 a/v processor with TacT dynamic room EQ. Bluegrass music, Bar-B-Q and lots of product give-aways await all of those who attend.

Saturday is “tech” day, as Lonnie Vaughn (and others) will give tours and talks about their products and facilities (they have a killer home theater). Sunday is “family” day, with food, fun, music and more for any of us bold enough to bring the entire family along with us.

What better way to end the Summer?
Emofest 2012

Saturday-Sunday

Well, the interesting news is that the XMC-1 is slated to be released in November…w/o TacT. That will be released early in 2013. The UMC 200 is replacing the 1. A streaming device is in the works. The XDA-2 up samples and has a phones jack. Picture to follow in a few days. Here are some pictures of items that you might find interesting;

Nashville: The City of Music

 

I ate at BB King’s place and enjoyed sweet potato puffs and 2 chili spaghetti. Live music played in the background and the walls were covered in painting of famous musicians.

 

This is Mr. Daniels. He appears to be a local hero around these parts…

The keys to the city are guitars. They are everywhere…as are cowboy boots.

On to Emotiva in Franklin, TN:

Did I mention door prizes? Did I mention the grand prize of 2 mono blocks, XSP stereo processor (first of its kind, as it is not available to the public just yet) and ERC CD player and cables?

Between the music, food, t-shirts, posters and door prizes, Dan Laufman and Co. spent some big $$$ to say thank you to their loyal customers. (And we all appreciated it!)

Now on to the products. I was able to listen to the TacT demo which illustrated how it works. Basically, it creates an “anti curve” response of your room which then cancel out the bad areas and provides a “flat curve”. For now TacT is stereo only, but it is being developed for multi-channel and HT environment soon. It will eventually trickle down into other Emo consumer grade processors.

I really liked the big OLED display that tells you everything that is going on with the XMC-1. HDMI switching was fast and smooth, too.

Also got a good look at the UMC-200, which will replace the UMC-1.

Very similar to the UMC-1, but with some upgrades and Bluetooth.

What home theater enthusiast wouldn’t like an XMC-1 demo with Diana Krall, the Rolling Stones, Avatar and Tron? (NOT all at the same time, of course)

Here are some details of the Air Motion Tweeters on the Airmotiv speakers. Notice the translucency of the folded membrane.

A mobile trailer was set up with a HT playing some nonsensical robot/car movie. I liked that it was air-conditioned, though.

This shot of the warehouse should leave you gob smacked when you realize the $$$ sitting here.

And what tour of the facility would not be complete without a peek into Big Dan’s office suite?

Here is a shot of the XDA-2, which should be out for Christmas. It can up-sample to 96kHz and sports a headphone jack (3.5mm)

A few other DACs are also in the works as well as a possible streaming device as seen below.

Well, I had a great time meeting some of the Emo Lounge members from the forum. A special “THANK YOU” to the entire Emotiva staff as this festival must have been exhausting to prepare and pull off during the entire Labor day week-end. They were all very helpful and generous with their time. The food and music were superb! Nashville…you rock, too.

Be sure that SECRETS will be reviewing some of these new products (speakers, amps, processors and DACs) as they become available. Now, back to New England and my real job!