I don't know what DAC's and processors the 1068 uses. The 990 is using one of Cirrus's newest DSP chips (the 49400), for what that's worth. The 1068 is a well-built unit, and while very few folks have even seen a 990 yet the impression I get is that it is on par with the 1068. Sadly, I think that it's just too soon to reach any conclusions that can be considered "definitive." Give us another month, by which point there will be a bunch of 990's in people's hands, and we'll be in a better position to say. Heck, I'll drag our VP over to the house at lunch one day (he owns a 1068 and 1075) and let him take a listen to it once I have mine settled in to the system.

Whether or not a stack of M200's (or a single 755) will make a difference compared to the Rotel amp depends at least in part on the speakers used. More efficient speakers may never need the extra 75W of power, while hungrier speakers (such as some of Polks bigger, low efficiency speakers) may benefit from it. Forum member wingnut recently bought an Outlaw 770 to drive a set of Polks because the 7100 didn't have enough power to completely satisfy them.

The USB port allows for stereo audio from a computer. The USB and RS-232 ports both can be used to install firmware updates.

The Rotel RSP-1068 uses:

- Crystal 24Bit/192kHz CS43122 DACs
- 24Bit/96kHz AKM5383 ADCs.

The 1066 used the Cirrus 493xx, but the Rotel 1068 uses the Cirrus 494xx. Same series that the 990 uses.

I'm kind of in the same boat here. I posted this a bit further down. I can get a brand new 1068 for the price of the 990 and I just can't decide between the two.

I know they will both sound good...but it's still a tough call even though the 990 is feature rich over the 1068.

The 1068 is a solid piece of gear. The problems I had with it were the documentation, remote, and somewhat harsher sound than I'd like. An experienced home theater enthusiast will probably not have a problem with the 1068's interface, especially if he doesn't rely too much on the manual. A novice will have a very hard time with the 1068, whereas the 990's interface is probably somewhat easier to get familiar with and is (I think) quite a bit better documented. The 1068 owner I know ended up wishing he'd bought an Outlaw 950 once we got it set up last year - the store he bought the 1068 from (along with a 1075 amp, a B&W center channel, and some cables) gave him absolutely no help with figuring the unit out even though he'd been a customer of theirs for over 20 years, leaving him high and dry until I stopped by and sorted through the setup with him. Rotel's end-user support will depend on the store you buy from, which can range from great to abysmal. Outlaw's support is quite consistently excellent and is augmented by this forum.

Well, I'm not worried about the set up. Afterall I have a Denon and as some of you may know Denon makes the WORST manuals ever. They need a decoder to figure everything out.

I'm mainly concerend with overall sound quality for HT use. That is the bottom line for me...and that takes front seat over DVI/HDMI/balanced inputs etc etc. It all comes down to the sound.

Overall sound quality may be somewhat subjective, but I can at least offer my experience. It's a little roundabout and of course my preferences may not be the same as yours, but...

While helping out my previously-mentioned co-worker last summer, I had the opportunity to compare a 1068 with 1075 amp driving B&W Nautilus 805's and I believe an LCR600 center. The source components used were a Sony DVD player and an older Meridian CD player. Both my wife and I came away feeling that the overall sound was somewhat harsh and fatiguing compared to our system. At the time of that demonstration, we had a Model 950 as pre/pro along with Outlaw amps and Paradigm Reference Studio speakers. Based on that, I felt that the 950 seemed to be a bit more neutral than the 1068, although the 1068 did offer some additional features. Since then, of course, we've replaced the 950 with a 990, and we've both found it to be a very satisfying upgrade. Based on that series of events, I would come down in favor of the 990 over the 1068. For what it's worth...

gonk, thanks for the info. If you were running Paradigm Ref. Studios with your 950 and didn't think they sounded harsh...I think I may like the Outlaw sound.

I have heard Paradigm Studio 20's, 40's and 100's on Rotel gear and I felt they all sounded a bit too harsh on the high end for my liking. I always thought it was the speaker....maybe it's the gear.

I'm pretty sure based upon everything I've read and info from various forum members that I'll be going with the 990.

The 1068 manual is extremely easy and user-friendly to read, and covers everything very well. The remote is no problem either, in fact it is one of the best remotes I've ever used, it controls all other Rotel equipment as well and can learn commands and macros for everything you have too.

The 1068 is not responsible for any harshness you might have heard, but I would definitely recommend pairing it with high-quality amplification. I've recently tried the M200 mono's with my 1068 and found the sound quality immediately improved over my Rotel 1075 amp - much more powerful, refined, and sweet sounding, especially in the highs, and a much lower noise floor. I will be replacing my 1075 amp with a Bryston.

Hey gonk, no hard feelings - I know that you ALWAYS end up answering in favor of Outlaw in any gear comparison questions, but I just had to speak up in this case! The 1068 sounds as good as the $3000 Rotel 1098 and represents one of the very best pre-pro deals in home audio today. It looks great in the rack and has some of the most user-friendly and convenient software that I've seen on any pre-pro or receiver. I've also found it to not have even a single problem or issue, something that I cannot say to be true for other receivers and pre-pros that we tried.

I downloaded the Rotel manual and it's pretty straight forward to me. Nothing stuck out as hard to follow. I've looked over both the 1068 and the 990 manuals and they are both well written and user friendly.

Again, it will come down to sound quality for me. I'm trying to stay around $1,000 and my Parasound amp will do just fine for now. The processor is my next "upgrade". I will eventually move into a more powerful amp later on....but I think my $$$ will show a better jump in HT quality by getting rid of my older Denon and moving to a dedicated processor.

To be honest I would hardly think either choice would be "bad". I'm sure both are great products...it might just come down to a "gut feeling".

Something to add here.....a really good selling point for the Outlaw would be a forum like this. Support from REAL users. It's not like there is a dedicted 1068 forum, or at least I haven't run across one.