Does the Behringer add audible noise noise?
Is it balanced?

I like your suggestion a lot.. hope they do it for the 990 Ver 2

Hey how do you like your Klipsch speakers with the 990 pre? I have a friend who has older Klipsch Chorus II's. and they rock very nicely. How do the newer ones like yours sound? Klipsch is very detailed from what i understand.. is it to much though?
thanks

nfaguys,
Yes the Behringer is balanced in and out, and 24/96 processing. Very clean, no artifacts that I can hear.
I do hate the fact that the signal gets converted so many times, I wish the 990 had a digital out processor loop, process it in digital, then go back into the 990 and finally converted to analog. I also have a DEQ2496 which I can use all in the digital domain and its great, but I have to use that for other duties no related to HT.

At any rate the behringer does not add any noise, but is susceptible to ground loops, and the dreaded 60 hz hum can show up. But with good grounding and ground lifting if necessary, it can be eliminated. So far I really like it. i plan on using it with RoomEQ wizard this weekend to teek my system some more.

High End pre-pro with sound as good as at least ARCAM.

4 to 6 HDMI version 1.3 (or better) inputs, 2 HDMI 1.3 (or better) outputs

Full, no loss 24 bit/192 kHz processing, even for DSP and surround decoding modes (that could mean a 32 bit engine.

8 channel Dolby TrueHD at full Blu-Ray & HD-DVD specs.

8 channel DTS-HD Master Audio lossless at full Blu-Ray and HD-DVD specs.

8 channel Dolby Digital Plus at full Blu-Ray and HD-DVD specs.

Direct 8 channel LPCM processing at full Blu-Ray and HD-DVD specs.

Plus all the other standard surround codec support.

The ability to apply matrixed back surround decoding to ANY 5.0 or 5.1 channel track, whether it be PCM or any flavor of Dolby or DTS codecs. A Logic7 like mode that can also do a quality simulation of stereo back surround channels too for 5.0 or 5.1 channel sources.

You can lock in 8 channel surround decoding for any appropriate 2 channel or mult-channel surround track until the user specifies it be turned off. Denon receivers have this ability and it's a good, logical feature, so you don't have to keep manually forcing back surround decoding every time the data stream changes on a movie or music disc (even if it's not specifically flagged).

Pure DSD decoding (no conversion to PCM) for SA-CD bitstreams sent via HDMI. DAC's must also comply to full DSD specifications with no down conversion.

LPCM master clock (Apogee is a good brand) for all pure LPCM streams or decoded or de-compressed codecs after regular conversion to appropriate LPCM streams. Minimize or eliminate jitter (clocking errors) thoughout the system.

On screen display that can be adjusted to any and all Blu-Ray and HD-DVD resolutions so there is no loss of synch with HDMI displays.

Full HDMI Group compliance.

Full balanced topography and 8 channel balanced outputs. Or even better, 13 channel outputs with support for four separate subwoofers (stereo front-- with center bass split between the two), and stereo surrounds for sides and rear), and one for the dedicated LFE channel (or for basic systems, summed main channel bass + LFE).

Separate and fully adjustable tactile transducer output.

Slope and crossover settings for each individual channel.

Delay settings for each channel and all subwoofer outputs.

To save on back panel space, eliminate the multi-channel analog inputs. This is primarily an HDMI input product.

No internal radio to cut down on possible interference.

Separate power supplies for video, digital and analog sections. True balanced power topography.

Ultra low noise circuitry and power supplies.

Detachable (third party replaceable), heavy duty three prong power cord.

Firmware/software upgradeable by user.

If possible, audiophile-grade modular design for easy hardware upgrading and customizing.

I’m glad that at least Dan the Hitchman isn't asking for too much. Some people get on here and want their cake and to eat it too. While Dan's at it, why not throw in a full configurable mp3 (or what ever the latest and greatest music compression codec is at the time) system. Heck if we're going that far, let's just include a fully upgradeable CPU (Floating Point of Inline) and have the Outlaws write a full media centered operating system. And have them do the operating system being open source for user programming, so we can all post our own code we have edited.

Seriously, Dan, don't take this the wrong way, but it becomes too easy to simply request whatever the latest and greatest tech is, and then when you get that, a later and greater one comes out, that you're upset it wasn't included.

Dan, perhaps you don't use your radio at all, but some of us just want some background noise that we don't have to manage what's coming out, and to be informed of some of the current news of the time. That's easily accomplished by tuning in to a radio station. I'm sure the Outlaws can accomplish some decent magnetic field shielding to prevent unwanted noise. So, they can keep the tuner in there.

Anyway, I just feel some people are being unrealistic on their requirements, and more than that, their price expectations are outlandish. I wouldn't be surprised if Dan and others want all he asked for and to pay what the 990's price currently is. I'm sorry, but that's unreasonable and inconceivable.

Outlaws, keep up the good work, for most of us believe and appreciate you considering what we would like, but hopefully we won’t expect that our ‘demands’ are met in the next gen 990.

That's a might impressive list. There are some good suggestions in there, as well as some features that already exist in Outlaw's line and need to be retained. Some of it I really like, but to get the whole list would drive the price up beyond what most of us could hope to afford - making the features that do appeal to me inaccessible. A few thoughts...

I like the input quantity - certainly 4, maybe 6. Two outputs would be good for folks with a projector and a second HD display, which may be a decent sized markets as HDTV's drop in price. But is there even going to be an "or better" beyond v1.3 any time in the forseeable future? We knew that v1.3 was coming a couple years in advance, and there's no specific discussion of anything to follow it.

I agree. It would seem that Pro Logic IIx would suffice for this, though, and Outlaw already supports PLIIx with DTS 5.1 on both the 990 and the 1070/970, even though it's not a required capability for PLIIx processors.

If I understand your request, this has been possible with every Outlaw processors since (and including) the 950. I think the 1050 even did it, actually, although the processing options weren't as complex then. If I have a processor that can't remember that I prefer PLIIx on top of Dolby 2.0 and PCM for my cable and DVd sources but want straight stereo for them on my CD input, I'm not going to be a happy camper.

This is an interesting idea, but you are talking about greatly limiting the options for DAC's (or even requiring an extra set, perhaps) for a single format when there are strong arguments made suggesting that DSD-to-PCM conversion isn't really detrimental. This is one that I think starts pushing the price away from Outlaw's main customer base.

What's wrong with simply using a blank screen and a standard resolution for providing OSD via HDMI? Maybe 480p since all DVI and HDMI displays will accept it and it'd be easier to generate. Unless there's a high-end scaler with a chip like Gennum or Realta behind it, I'd rather my digital video sources (DVI/HDMI) simply get passed through without any alteration, and if I can get my OSD setup menu by replacing that signal with a blank screen I'd be content.

Those four extra sub outputs seem like pure overkill to me. An option for stereo subs would be cool and would see a fair bit of use, but anything beyond that is pushing the price tag up rapidly while adding features that users will never even touch.

A totally new output with special controls? For a device that most owners will never use and some have never even heard of? Seems like overkill. Maybe a standalone module could be offered that tied into an extra subwoofer output (or even went inline with the subwoofer output, like the SMS-1 does). That way, the folks who wanted this adjustment could have it and the rest of us didn't have to pay for it.

I don't think there's any point going beyond the quad crossovers of the 990 and 1070/970. If you need different crossovers for your left and right channels, then there are big problems somewhere in the system.

I am excited about the idea of not needing multichannel analog in my next processor (what with players like OPPO's 981HD offering HDMI support for both DVD-A and SACD), but I think Outlaw should wait another generation before retiring multichannel analog inputs. The new HD-DVD and Blu-ray players will all work just fine with HDMI, but folks still have some very nice DVD-A/SACD players that need those multichannel analog inputs. Eventually, yes, but not yet.

Eh... I like having a radio, and my 990's tuner hasn't given me any grief so somebody has clearly found a way to deal with the possible interference. They could even simply yank power away from the tuner entirely when it wasn't in use by either the main or second zone if they wanted to really play it safe.

Nice idea - but this is one of those features that starts to do unpleasant things to the price point. Outlaw's primary customer base can't (or can but doesn't want to) afford this level of over-engineering.

Historically, a true modular design tends to lead to price tags starting upward of $4000 (often well). That's nearly four times the price of the 990, without even considering some of the fairly extreme options already proposed (five independent sub outputs, tactile transducer output, DSD DAC's, ...).

gonk wrote:

but folks still have some very nice DVD-A/SACD players that need those multichannel analog inputs.

Gonk is write about that. Furthermore some of us use the 7.1 analog inputs for other formats. For example I use them for SACD and also for my 4 channel in-line (call it super stereo if you wish ) recordings.

I'd take te defense of the 7.1 input a little further and sugest adding a second one. those of us who are SACD/DVD-A fans have no means of utilizing new 7.1 formats touted for HDDVD and Blue Ray.
I know a few years back Sony made a device that allowed 2 sets of multi-channel ins to be switched
but I don't know of anything like thet on the market today (anyone else know of such a critter?)
i would think there could be a reasonable niche market for such a product with the new DVD formats competing for the multi-channel input.

This may have been suggested already, but here is my (current) hair-brained idea:
I have been reading stories such as this one and dreaming of possibilities.
How about a removable LCD panel faceplate for the 970/990? I can't see the darn thing from 8 feet away and it would be nice to have a little more information. The 990 already has USB, so an external dongle with a bluetooth adapter is not too big a leap. Add a battery powered portable "faceplate" that could be stuck on a wall (or the back of the 990's remote), now that would be pretty cool.

Make it smaller.