Although it looks like Outlaw has a huge hit on their hands with the 990, I thought we could use a thread to help the Outlaw's improve upon its already rich feature set. To take the idea from the "anything negative" thread but to make it, well, less negative I thought we could all list what we would like to see addressed/improved with the 990. I realize some of it may not be possible, but having everything in one thread should make it easier for them to find it.

In order to make it easier I am just going to periodically edit this post to bring all of the requests to the top. That way the Outlaws won't have to filter through some of the non related posts. The order will simply be in the order they were posted, not in order of importance.

UPDATED May 24th 2006

QUESTION FOR ALL: Does #11 qualify for the bass management update? I couldn't tell if I should cross that off the list or not.

1. Setup through the 990's front panel display like the 950.
2. Allow for the 7.1 direct input to not have to be assigned to a video output.
3. Allow renaming of Audio inputs. DONE 5/06
4. Leave the S-Video input active when the selected source is DVI or Component.
5. Have a surround setting for Dolby Digital 2/0 so that the unit will stay in either Dolby 5.1 or 2.0 as the input switches and will not go off to prologic.
6. Trim options available for multiple inputs, not just a global setting.
7. Allow a "bypass" to the 7.1 Inputs so analog audio doesn't get digitized and bass managed by the 990 without having to set speakers to large.
8. Disable the toggle on the 7.1 command. Make it only a discrete on command.
9. Make the OSD progressive scan so it can be displayed while viewing a component video progressive source. Currently the OSD is interlaced-only.
10. Second sub delay and trim.
11. Bass management enhancement: Add equivalent of ICBM L/R Recombine feature. This would allow routing of bass from center and surround channels to large front speakers, even if a subwoofer is in use.
12. Provide external vidio display information similar to 950, ie: current volume, current processing mode (as well as show if I am in Bybass mode, and wether I'm in 7.1 or stereo bypass), signal input type. DONE 5/06
13. Please make the items display with a a key press, and second key press or hold down causes actual function to happen.
14. Have a setup item that allows user to disable specific pop-ups (for people who don't know what uncompressed PCM 96k is) and allow/stop "first press display/second press action" (for those who really don't want it).
15. Provide a means to access 7.1 analog from frount panel input action. DONE 5/06
16. Allow pre-selection of decoding mode before appropiate signal arrives; for instance, I would like to select DTS+PL2 BEFORE I start the DVD, as we don't want to miss the opening score in proper mode. Mute and provide message stating "No DTS signal present" till data stream starts. Have this function menu selectable "allow/disallow pre-selection".
17. Add the ability to lock out certain modes according to source, ie no cinema mode on the CD input.
18. In auto setup, provide a section for low efficency speakers like maganpans (86db 1 watt/1 meter) and perhaps a means to ignore 1st reflections for di/bipoles.
19. Provide a phase check, or at least polarity during autosetup, or better yet as a second step.
20. A little auto EQ on the low end.
21. A setup selection for absolute level limiter (to prevent fragile driver damage).
22. Make the DVI not look like the end device, just a signal transfer port.
23. Maybe a "vertual extra side" mode that helps the side image that suffers from side speakers not being dead on the side (staggered rearward for better resuls on SACD).
24. A "Rear=Side" mode for 7.1 direct input, with rear trims available just for this special mode.
25. a means to direct the height info on channel 6 to the rears/and/or 2nd sub out(which would be connected to a dedicated height driver) when needed.
26. Provide capability to adjust lip sync via front panel display instead of OSD only, as is currently the case. DONE 5/06
27. Allow 2 channel D/A converter upsample mode line level out via record out.
28. Allow support of just one rear surround speaker like the 950 does.
29. Discrete mute on and off
30. UPSAMPLE Soundfield applied to ALL (Rear and Back as well as Front) Speakers.
31. Discrete back speakers on and off.
32. Discrete selection of each Dolby soundfield.
33. Discrete selection of each DTS soundfield.
34. Inclusion of THX soundfield.
35. Room EQ auto-adjustment.
36. A "lock out" key sequence so the 990 can't be adjusted/harmed by children or visitors. DONE 5/06
37. The ability to route digital inputs to Zone 2 analog outputs.
38. The ability to designate one of the digital outputs as Zone 2.

4. I want Rack Mount Ears.

Second that, on the OSD.
If you use DVI you won't see anything of the setup.

I am not sure how rack mount ears are a software upgrade, but I do agree on the ears..

Perhaps a firmware update to make it smaller?

How about a master volume control like the 950?

1) Leave the S-Video input active when the selected source is DVI or Component.
2) Have a surround setting for Dolby Digital 2/0 so that the unit will stay in either Dolby 5.1 or 2.0 as the input switches and will not go off to prologic. This is an issue with HD-TV inputs when every channel has a different format and the unit keep overriding your selection. This would allow the 990 to be compatiable with the 950 in this regard.

HDTV Terrestrial & HD Radio Tuning

I just got my 990 but from what I can tell, trim levels are global and it's a one for all setting. This needs to be fixed! I love being able to trim channels for different inputs and having the pre remember my settings.

I echo many of the sentiments listed above, and also add:

1. Allow a "bypass" to the 7.1 Inputs so analog audio doesn't get digitized and bass managed by the 990. The only way to do this now is to set the 990's speaker size to LARGE, which one might not want for other inputs in their setup.

2. If I press 7.1 Input once, it goes to my 7.1 input setup. If I press it again, it reverts to the previous input that was active. I don't like this. It should only try to select whatever I have configured for 7.1 Input whenever that button is pressed, not revert to the previous input used.

3. Make the OSD progressive scan so it can be displayed while viewing a component video progressive source. Currently the OSD is interlaced-only.

Rick

Second sub delay and trim

Bass management enhancement: Add equivalent of ICBM L/R Recombine feature. This would allow routing of bass from center and surround channels to large front speakers, even if a subwoofer is in use.

1: Provide external vidio display information similar to 950, ie: current volume, current processing mode (as well as show if I am in Bybass mode, and wether I'm in 7.1 or stereo bypass), signal input type (DD 2.0, 4.0, 5.1, DTS, DTSex, PCM 44.1k, 48k, 96k)
2:Please make the items display with a a key press, and second key press or hold down causes actual function to happen.
3:Have a setup item that allows user to disable specific pop-ups (for people who don't know what uncompressed PCM 96k is) and allow/stop "first press display/second press action" (for those who really don't want it)
4: Provide a means to access 7.1 analog from frount panel input action, currently doesn't come up as a choice (loading a SACD is one of the few times I am at the frount panel, and I would like switch to this input then so the start of the music isn't lost)
5: Allow pre-selection of decoding mode before appropiate signal arrives; for instance, I would like to select DTS+PL2 BEFORE I start the DVD, as we don't want to miss the opening score in proper mode. Mute and provide message stating "No DTS signal present" till data stream starts. Have this function menu selectable "allow/disallow pre-selection" (for those who's users need full auto in the event they make a mistake, auto being the default)
6: Add the ability to lock out certain modes according to source (I don't want cinima mode on my CD, Maybe I don't wan't 5 Stereo availible for the SAT (PCM48k) and CD, but I do want 7 for both; however, I never want either of these for DVD. I NEVER want DD vertual speaker as my speakers are correctly oriented. This saves menu choices protecting what's left of my sanity. However, some guys only want DD VS and prefer Cinama mode...please allow all choices as default
7: In auto setup, provide a section for low efficency speakers like maganpans (86db 1 watt/1 meter) and perhaps a means to ignore 1st reflections for di/bipoles (I realize this might be too much, currently I cover the rear to do checks)
8: Provide a phase check, or at least polarity during autosetup, or better yet as a second step. (I have 11 amplifier channels, 2 are front/rear subs, bi amped mains; soon 14 amp chan when I go tri-amped mains, stereo subs+rear sub, a lot to keep track of for most)Even with 7 channels and 1 sub polarity check would help a lot of systems.
9: A little auto EQ on the low end
10: A setup selection for absolute level limiter (to prevent fragile driver damage)
11: Make the DVI not look like the end device, just a signal transfer port (I could be wrong about this)
12: Maybe a "vertual extra side" mode that helps the side image that suffers from side speakers not being dead on the side (staggered rearward for better resuls on SACD)
13: A "Rear=Side" mode for 7.1 direct input, with rear trims available just for this special mode. Currently when playing 5.1 SACD, I can only copy to rear with a "Y" cable and a fixed atteuator
14: while we are at it, perhaps a means to direct the height info on channel 6 to the rears/and/or 2nd sub out(which would be connected to a dedicated height driver) when needed
15: Reassign one ot the keys on the remote and and front panel to enable the new "spherical holgraph magic" mode that creats a virtual height that extends below the floor and above the ceiling, as well as true 360 degree imaging...

Jed, what I was referring to was the fact that my 950 remote could be set to lock the volume control to the 950, as opposed to any other component one might be controlling via the remote. So, if I were using the remote to TV channel surf and wanted to turn up the volume on a particular channel, I could use the volume control on the remote, have it adjust the volume on the 950, and not have to switch inputs on the remote from "TV" to "TNR" or however that remote was labeled.

Might be more of a remote issue than a 990 issue, not sure. Then again, might be a "break down and read the manual" issue more than anything else...

on the 990 remote press and hold SETUP until the LED blinks twice, then release SETUP.
enter 993.
press the TNR key on the 990 remote.
the LED will blink twice...

Volume Control Punch-Through (page 42).

Provide capability to adjust lip sync via front panel display instead of OSD only, as is currently the case.

Allow 2 channel D/A converter upsample mode line level out via record out

Allow support of just one rear surround speaker like the 950 does. At least I was told the 950 does.

Add the ability to dim the front panel display like when the sleep timer is active.

Support for single surround back channel.

Ditto! I have a Maggie 6.1 setup, and I just can't see spending another $1K on an additional speaker just to accommodate the 990. I don't understand why the 990 can't provide a matrix for a single surround back channel. Aren't other processors capable of this?

Thanks Relentless - I swear I'm gonna dig that manual out of the box and give it another look...

The Sherwood Newcastle P-965 does, so the 990 should also or at least it could be added to the firmware.

Firmware Update ADDITIONAL Suggestions:

Discrete Mute On, and Mute Off

UPSAMPLE Soundfield applied to ALL (Rear and Back as well as Front) Speakers

Discrete Back Speakers On
Discrete Back Speakers Off

Discrete Selection of each Dolby Soundfield

Discrete Selection of each DTS Soundfield

Inclusion of THX Soundfield

Inclusion of Logic 7 Soundfield

Room EQ Autoadjustment

I like some of those ideas - additional discrete codes could be handy, although they would have to be provided solely for third-party remotes (Pronto, Home Theater Master, possibly Harmony, and maybe even JP1 family remotes) since the included remote doesn't have any more room for additional commands.

THX is unlikely due to the licensing costs involved - it would most likely require an increase in price, with little or no actual benefit for the end user. Logic 7 is impossible because it is a proprietary processing package that is not available for licensing. At one time it was only available from Lexicon, but after Harman International bought Lexicon they began offering it on some HK products.

Gonk, I assumed as much, but it didn't hurt to ask ;-)

Re the discretes for back speakers, dts, dolby, and mute: indeed, it would prove to be VERY helpful to all of the users who use programmable remotes such as the ones you mentioned.

Perhaps the related ir codes could be posted in the somewhat universal Pronto Hex format, or in several different ir formats.

And, of course, the inclusion of upsample for ALL speakers may not require any ir changes...

IMO, the above inclusions, along with many of suggestions by others above, would make the 990 an even more useable product.

The upsample only works for PCM (Like 44.1 from CD) it seems the SP/dif only carries stereo information. The CD standard is 16 bit depth; as I understand it, we now use 24 bit depth, and "smooth" the word, as well as sample at 192k which raises the high freqecy artifacts far outside of the hearing range, as so less detrimental filters can be used (as opposed to the lower sample rates "brick wall filters")
Anyway, I guess you could use upsample before appling processing like DPL2 or NEO6 or stereo 5/7...

Exactly....

Thus one would get the benefit of the higher quality processing with all of the speakers vs. just the front two....

For those of us with small children, a "lock out" key sequence would be nice. I find that my (small) children occasionally pass the 990 and change my -20db volume setting to 0db. My wife seemed to think that razor wire was too extreme.... 8-)

The ability to route digital inputs to Zone 2 analog outputs.
- Ken

Or, designate one of the digital outputs as Zone 2.

Along with that, why not have the digitized analog inputs appear on the digital outputs. (Wouldn't work in bypass, of course).

Many users wouldn't want to lose ANY digital inputs on zone one, (many installs require all of the ones on the 990), so permanently designating one of the digital inputs to z2 would, IMO, be a bad idea.

Not digital inputs, digital output. And optional, of course.

From the Sherwood P-965 manual, which dedicates the coax digital out to Room 2:

For ROOM 2 playback, the COAXIAL DIGITAL OUT can be connected to the amplifier, etc. installed in another room.(For details, refer to “ROOM 2 connections” on page 11.)

They suggest disabling Room 2 if you need the coax digital output locally.

Sorry... point made and well taken!

Does anyone even know if there is a developer on the Outlaw payroll to update the software?

The "Upgradeable" statement is only of value if there is, and I for one would like to know if there is.

Having to turn on the TV to adjust the receiver is BS in my book.

I don't know that there is a developer on Outlaw's payroll, but there is at least one (or more) on the payroll at Etronics who is responsible for implementing changes requested by Outlaw. From what I've heard from Outlaw, I feel completely comfortable saying that there will be software updates. I also believe that they are looking at this list and other avenues of feedback to find opportunities for refining the software in addition to fixing any bugs.

It would be nice if outlaw would add their response to this thread. Anything we can do?

The "Upgradeable" statement is of value as long as the the upgrade is delivered. Why should it make any difference who pushes the code or whose payroll that person (those people) are on? They could be employees, they could be outside contractors/consultants, they could be on the staff of an Outlaw vendor such as Etronics, or any and all of the above.

The recent thread about auto-EQ on the P-965 includes a post from Scott about their priorities on the 990 - specifically, making some bug fixes and user-requested tweaks before prusuing the EQ options. That post may help reassure folks that work is in progress on a software update.

Since receiving our 990, I’ve been busy designing the entertainment center to accommodate the monster. (Requires 21” interior cabinet shelf depth allowing 1/2” cable radius of supplied power cord, to the front of volume adjust knob.) Looks like a great unit, … so far its only use is as a tuner in the office.

Following are software recommendations to correct some nits & surprising shortcomings I’ve found.

1. FM Mode tuning steps should be on odd 200 kHz frequencies for the US customer base. It’s quite a pain to advance through the spectrum using 0.1 kHz steps. If the unit is marketed to off shore countries with 120-volt power and 100 kHz station spacing, then provide a user selectable frequency step option, (as provided in many $100 CD/AM/FM sound boxes in Wal-Mart).

2. The FM frequency readout presently gives frequency resolution to 10 kHz. Why the extra zero? It is non-sense in the US. How about losing the zero, which will give some visual spacing between the numerals and the MHz letters.

3. AM frequency display, same general nit. How about leaving the letters AM & kHz in place and shifting the frequency numerals one space to the left. That would give a more balanced appearance.

4. I have seen my 990 scan the FM spectrum for stations to store in memory. Is there any way to later “deselect” stations you will never listen too? (to tighten the loop when cycling through your presets)

5. My P.SCAN remote button doesn’t act like the manual states. After a quick push the tuner jumps to the next higher preset, and then after a couple of seconds, merrily continues to cycle through all the rest of the presets. Truly needs to be corrected.

6. After cycling from FM to AM, my 990 will not always accept CH up or down commands to tune to the next 10 kHz AM frequency.

7. When trying to manually preset an AM frequency, the tuner’s front panel display will not always follow the button pushes on the remote. This is a repeatable error. My 990 will not accept a DIRECT four-digit AM frequency “punch in”, but will skip decimal places, and never show all four digits. Nor will it SET the new frequency.


Thanks for having updateable firmware.

Regards ,

Frank Brasington
Melbourne, FL

I'm surprised that this thread has gone to sleep.

Maybe folks don't dig back to see "active" topics.

Sure would like to know if/when there will be a 990 patch. And whether it will be a download which will require dragging a PC to the 990, (or visa versa), or if the 990's USB port is smart enough to read a dongle.

Sure sounds like Outlaw may be having to come up with a major upgrade, like a UVPROM swap out for willing users.

Regards,

Frank Brasington
Melbourne, FL

I suspect that we'll see a firmware update at some point in the coming months - Outlaw's openly said they're working on some programming for a firmware update, so I can't imagine them simply doing nothing.

What sort of dongle are you thinking of? The 990's USB port is a type B, which is not compatible with the flash memory devices that use the type A connector. I'd figured on using the old laptop to do any necessary updating (not much to drag) since there's likely going to be some software to run to push the update over to the 990 (similar to the firmware update program available for the first batch of 1070's that fixed a remote control issue). I actually tucked a USB cable in place for that very purpose when installing the 990, since it gave me the ability to tinker with the USB port as an audio input and left me able to do a firmware update with only minimal rear panel reaching (just have to flip the SVC/OPR switch).

I updated this to reflect the current upgrade. I have a question about if #11 was included in the upgrade or not. I am not sure, but if somebody says it was I will cross it off the list, or anything else I may have missed under the minor upgrades.

I need to double check but I believe number 15 is included in the update.

If you press a surround mode button on the remote, the current surround mode scrolls across the front panel. Pressing additional times cycles through other modes.
I just confirmed obie_fl - it's fixed.
Does the "System Lock" under "System Config" count?

Oh yeah, this will be cool. The lack of this was an irritant and will be nice to have.

Yeah, I hadn't been overwhelmed by the need for this feature (not as much as others), but I'd agreed that it needed to exist in some form and it's already looking like a handy trick to have up my sleeve. The sync control on the front panel display is also slick - that had bugged me in the past.

OK, thanks for the input guys. I will update the list tomorrow morning. I need to go to sleep now.

This whole idea of large/small, sub on/off seems to work for me but it is somewhat cumbersome. A better solution would be to have "presets" which would contain a video and/or audio connection, and all of the preamp/speaker settings for that preset.

The large/small/sub combinations should really be (for each speaker):
crossover: no/yes with freq setting
sub: mix crossover/ no mix/ full range

For the sub it should be: LFE only/off/mix (defined by the speakers).

This way, you have the best of both worlds, and can save these settings under a "preset" along with volume levels and calibration. Then, when you pop up what preset you want, the saved settings apply. Default sound processing mode should also be stored in the preset.

This could be done with the current remote using the dvd/video1/video2 nomenclature that is currently used.

I still wish the volume would be constantly on the display instead of the input type(OPT1).

Is there really any need to have the input type displayed constantly? Why would you need to see OPT1 on the screen all the time? The only time you should need to see that is at setup.

I would also rather see the volume level, or even the surround mode in that spot.

But the main thing I'd love to see...and this should be easily doable I would think...would be to allow different speaker configurations for different inputs. Or at least one setting for DD/DTS and one for 2 channel. I watch movies with fronts=small sub=on, but listen to music with fronts=large sub=off.

Those are the two biggest wishes on my list too D.T.