McIntosh MX123 A/V-Prozessor 8K Ultra HD Upgrade

The McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor was already an outstanding AV solution, which is now being brought up to date. As of September 2021, McIntosh Laboratory Inc. plans to equip the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor for content in 8K Ultra HD.

McIntosh Laboratory Inc. is convinced that the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor is one of the most outstanding solutions of its kind on the market. According to the US company, it is an indispensable audio and video processor for many home cinema enthusiasts.

As befits a solution in this class, the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor has of course already been launched with 4K/60Hz compatibility in 2019. Even if this would ultimately still represent state-of-the-art equipment in terms of the content actually available, development is advancing inexorably, especially in the home cinema sector. This means that these days, at least on paper, 8K Ultra HD represents the state of the art.

McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor Now Ready for 8K Ultra HD

Pleasingly, solutions such as the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor are designed to be ready for any upgrades or updates, so McIntosh Laboratory Inc. can now announce that this AV solution is no longer solely equipped for content in 4K, but rather for 8K Ultra HD, starting in September 2021.

All systems that leave the US-American factory from now on will be able to play back content at 8K at 60 Hz as well as 4K at 120 Hz. What’s more, the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor will also be able to upscale lower resolution content to full 8K Ultra HD resolution, the company promises.

Of its 10 HDMI inputs and outputs, one of the inputs and two of the outputs will support 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz, he said. All 10 will still support 4K/60Hz, of course. The three HDMI ports compatible with 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz also offer many other advanced features, the company notes, citing such things as Quick Media Switching (QMS), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Quick Frame Transport (QFT) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR).

All HDMI ports support HDCP 2.3, Rec. 2020, 4:4:4 color spacing, Dynamic Lip-sync and 3D video passthrough. And likewise, all HDMI ports now support a variety of High Dynamic Range formats including HDR (static HDR), Dynamic HDR, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision including low latency.

Proven is still enough for reference status

In addition to these new features, it is of course still true that the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor has a truly impressive list of other features ready, such as signal processing up to 13.2-channel, support for Dolby Atmos including Dolby Atmos Height Virtualizer, as well as DTS:X Pro, Auro-3D and Sony 360 Reality Audio, MPEG-H Audio and IMAX Enhanced are supported and, of course, the processor offers HDMI ports in front of it, which have an eARC.

The signal processing relies on algorithms from the specialist Audyssey, specifically Audyssey MultEQ XT32, and when it comes to audio streaming in the classic sense, Apple AirPlay 2 is offered via the network and Spotify including Spotify Connect is directly supported.

If you don’t want to rely on the network alone, you can also connect mobile devices via Bluetooth, which is also mentioned for the sake of completeness.

The signal processing around audio is done with outstanding 32-bit D/A converters, which should not be inferior in quality regarding pure stereo solutions.

Essential in this class is that the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor can be easily integrated into various control solutions and has all the necessary interfaces. The manufacturer explicitly emphasizes the Control4 certification from Control4 and the Works with Crestron Home certification from Crestron.

Getting to the point

The McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor was already a real heavyweight for home cinema enthusiasts, leaving nothing to be desired. However, even if corresponding content is still rare, the market is hungry for 8K, accordingly McIntosh Laboratory Inc. now delivers the McIntosh MX123 AV Processor 8K Ultra HD upgrade.