McIntosh MX160: tool or trouble?

[Nakdoc]

I am a service guy. I am not asking to plug or dis the MX160, because I am authorized to repair these big suckers, but I would like to gather some experienced opinions about this particular piece. I encountered this processor during a service event. After a new HDMI board was installed, and a massive firmware update, the customer soon reported an number of issues which all seem related to DSP bugs in the various surround and room eq modes. Of course, being a stupid tech, I am unable to duplicate the results in the shop. I am also unable to run 9.1 in a controlled environment! What I think might help is a discussion about odd aural effects which are not hard electrical faults, but artifacts created in the DSP number crunching. Do the various surround processors possess a personality? Do they have various levels of odd sounds an behaviors? Is this specific model still a work in process, where too much user power and flexibility have created a home theater Frankenstein?

 

[Todd Anderson]

Nakdoc -

Wow.

I'm not familiar with mac gear. But, I'm curious... what kind of problems is your customer reporting?

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Sounds like something a firmware update might fix... after a full factory reset. Of course it might not be that simple. However, if you are unable to dupe any of it, then it may just be a customer smokin' weed when he shouldn't be.

I know Yamaha has a host of DSP modes on their units... they pretty much started the DSP ruckus a long time ago. They mimic various venues, as does Sony, but for the most part, all the Dolby and DTS codecs should create the same results, outside of what the speaker differences might create.