RSP-1098 Firmware updates - any new news?

[sarsi]

Very sad to hear that Rotel is working on new processor and not hardware upgrade to the RSP1098. I like my RSP1098 and I thought the modular upgradeability is very cool, so another design blunder. I will not again pay for another expensive Rotel top end processor just to know that I will have to painfully sell it away to replace with new model two years down the road. It is totally waste of money to pay for those useless modular features which have absolutely no consumer benefits (such as hardware upgrade or addition) but just for ease of Rotel servicing at our expenses.

Good luck to Rotel for such negative consumer sentiment. Maybe time to move on to a brand that I actually pay more for features that I can really use. :M

[Fishy]

Think when it does come around to upgrade time, I wont be looking at the Rotel processor. Why make a modula system and not do anything with it! What a waste of time for the developers.

Just my opinion.

Fish

[sprout]

Think when it does come around to upgrade time, I wont be looking at the Rotel processor. Why make a modula system and not do anything with it! What a waste of time for the developers.

Just my opinion.

Fish

I think the design was more based around easy replacement of faulty boards than a design concept for an upgrade path.
The boards cannot even be put in a different position, the back plane is not universal, each slot is dedicated.
Sad really for our £2400

[EAmin]

Think when it does come around to upgrade time, I wont be looking at the Rotel processor. Why make a modula system and not do anything with it! What a waste of time for the developers.

Just my opinion.

Fish

I’m with Fishy!

When it comes to upgrade time, I’m going to NuForce or some other manufacturer who has a plan for future upgradeability.

[Kevin D]

If you take resale value of older Rotel equipment and then the new price of a new unit, you will probably be equal to or lower than hardware upgrades available to other manufacturers.

Kevin D.

[nikos]

But is it worth the hassle or reselling and buying new?

[Kevin D]

But is it worth the hassle or reselling and buying new?

For what it would take to 'upgrade' a 1098 to what the new one will do, yes. Plus you would get a new warranty too.

Another take on it. The 1098 is over two years old and will be at least three years old when the replacement comes out. In that time the only substantial upgrades (I'm not counting software additions, room-eq, etc.. I'm talking new technologies that that have become standard) were PLIIx and HDMI. Even HDMI has taken a while to become a standard (a changing one at that).

Looking at new technology coming out (DD-HD, DTS-HD, HDMI scaling, etc) just those would require a substantial change to the existing 1098. It does not make any financial sense for Rotel or customers to spend large amounts of time and money designing an update for a 3 year old product to have some of the features a brand new unit would have. You can design a unit as upgradeable all you want, but without knowing what the industry (read: other companies) are going to do in the next 3 years, you can't account for everything. Sometimes it just makes sense to start fresh.

If some of you feel left out, I'm sorry. You can sell your 1098 to some one that isn't on the bleeding edge and they will continue to enjoy it for another 3-5 years. The resale values on the 1066's are still good, as 'outdated' as they are. If the industry does the same thing again (waiting 3 years for any substantial upgrades) your new preamp will be in the same boat.

Kevin D.

[Aussie Geoff]

Kevin,

Well said :banana:

To build on this I know from some "inside contacts" that Rotel looked hard at the option of upgrading their flagship RSP-1098. However it was just too much of a change to be cost effective or practical... Some of the changes required to the RSP-1098 would have been:

• Adding DD-HD and DTS-HD requires a new generation faster DSP processor to deal with the vastly increased quantity of data
• Adding HDMI input requires a new combined video / audio input card (current RSP-1098 video cards and the corresponding backplane slot have no audio)
• Adding HDMI output requires a new combined video / audio output card (ditto re the card and backplane)
• Adding video scaling requires a replacement video processing circuit
• Adding room equalisation requires a special microphone input

All this changes nearly every card on the RSP-1098 and requires substantial changes to the backplane (needing a complete redesign) - making an upgrade technically very challenging and close to the cost of a new unit...

Interestingly, their new top of the range processor (due in the next 12 months) is still quite simular in appearance to the RSP-1098 (or the prototype pictures I saw were).

Believe me as an Aussie where the RSP-1098 sold for $4,999 when I bought it – know one would have liked a cost effective upgrade more than I…. But I understand the reality of the changing technology and still love it’s sound and are likely to for several more years until there is enough stability round the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD technology war to make things like DD-HD a “must have” for me…

Geoff

[Ferry]

Tanks for responding guys.

I am not interested in video switching or scaling.
I am only interested in the audio part of the processor and there are still lots of things to desire.

Upgrading to the next audio formats are maybe nice, but when they become available (next year?), I don’t think it will be an urgent upgrade for me. From the perhaps 100 HD disc there will only be a couple movies I like or want too replace. So I don’t think an early investment is not something for me. And because all these HD discs must has regular and compatible audio formats there is also no direct need.

If the delay in firmware upgrade continues, I also lose my faith in Rotel and the next processor will be from an other brand.

[Olaf]

I will be switching to another brand as well.

[Azeke]

If the delay in firmware upgrade continues, I also lose my faith in Rotel and the next processor will be from an other brand.

I believe Rotel has been very diligent in responding to customers and providing firmware upgrades in response to those needs. Being a Rotel 1098 owner, I've enjoyed what this pre-pro has and continues to provide. I would love for Rotel to continue to provide updates for the 1098 but it doesn't seem economically feasible from a businees standpoint. I was also initially under the impression that the modular boards were present for upgradability, but alas.

So all in all, do I feel I've enjoyed my Rotel 1098 for the money I've spent for it, absolutely. My next upgrade will probably be in a couple of years once HDMI 1.x becomes a standard. It is important to remember the only thing constant is change. Just my humble opinion on this matter.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[sarsi]

No offence to you guys that speak up for Rotel, unfortunately, even I would like to try to believe Rotel have tried very hard to upgrade RSP1098 but I have not seen a single hardware upgrade offered through out the life cycle of the supposing great thought out modular design up till now.

Well, I am just expressing my unhappiness of the manufacturer and I believe we all behave differently toward our expensive investment. Lastly, I does appreciate the other folks whom are happy with Rotel product strategy and feel okay to live with that.

[PewterTA]

I guess when I bought my 1098 I didn't expect them to make new modules for it that would plug right in. That wasn't my understanding of the unit. It was (as said above) that they can be easily replaced (so if I loose my composite card, I can still use the unit until I get another one and plug it in)...

I was told there might be a possibility to upgrade the unit via firmware and new cards if Rotel was going to take that route, but there was no guarantees. I liked the unit's sound and functionality enough to buy it anyways. By the time HDMI becomes standard, I'll probably have almost 3 years on the unit and if I want to sell it, it will still have great resale value (especially if they affordably add the HDMI external piece through the RS232 port). If they can encorporate a way for the receiver to process the DolbyTrueHD and DTS-HD and pass it off to the 1098, I'd be more than extatic...but I won't dis Rotel for not doing it and just creating a new product that would do a better job.

If all I have to do is replace my processor instead of my processor, amps, and anything else... well that's good news to me because even though I'm spending money, it's not as much as I would've spent otherwise...

To me, it's exactly like computers... You have an older video card and are expecting it to be able to do the latest graphics technology... even with firmware updates and driver updates and everything, it just doesn't happen, you have to buy a new card (and sometimes a new motherboard, processor, and memory as well) if you want the latest and greatest... No one can forsee the future and what lies ahead and plan for it...sorry just doesn't happen.

It's the nature of the beast so to say.

Who's to say the processors that are truly modular and they create all these new cards to go in them, won't have problems and won't have the throughput to be able to truly support the next gen stuff?? They might be able to get it to work, but I just don't see it being as good as something truly designed for the next gen of HT.

Just my thinking.

[Clepto]

Even Modular receivers like the Integra, that is almost PC-like with the slots that can be fitted with A/V 'modules' might have some troubles on the backplane side. Technology is progressing faster than a manufacturer can keep up. I mean, 2 years ago, we went from Component, to DVI (multiple flavors), to HDMI (multiple flavors) and HDMI _STILL_ isn't finished.

It's all fine and good to whine about switching to a different company, but you'll go through the same deal. Even modular designed processors cost a significant amount to upgrade hardware at a certain point. Especially because a new design can take advanatage of technology that didn't exist 4 years ago when the initial design work started.

[Kevin D]

FWIW, blue-ray and HD-DVD are going to have decoders built in. So 8 rca's to the 1098 and you have the new DTS and Dolby flavors.

Kevin D.

[Aussie Geoff]

Oh,

And Rotel are selling the RVE-1070 (I think that's the number) which is a totally separate HDMI switcher and video scaler up to 1080p that integrates with the RSP-1098 and 1068 using the RS-232 ports... So you can get 99% of the features as an upgrade if you need them...

Geoff

[Clepto]

Oh,

And Rotel are selling the RVE-1070 (I think that's the number) which is a totally separate HDMI switcher and video scaler up to 1080p that integrates with the RSP-1098 and 1068 using the RS-232 ports... So you can get 99% of the features as an upgrade if you need them...

Geoff

Problem is, the 1070 does nothing for audio, which is half of what HDMI is for, well, maybe 1/3 (;

Unfortunately, there isn't even a player announced yet that does all the new decoding, and most don't have more than 6 analog outs. So anything coming out in the next few months is just asking to be replaced later.

My hope is that the next version of the 1098 will do HD Radio, have numerous HDMI ports onboard, and NO composite ports at all (well, maybe one set).