I got my 990 late last week, I've gotten it mostly setup & love it. But due to another dealer not shipping all the parts for a new rack, I haven't got the unit in its final resting place yet. All my speaker wire (for a 7.1 system) is in the walls and unfortunately I cannot yet plug my sub into the unit until the new parts come in (next day or so). So until then I can't really give an objective review of the music playing capabilities of the unit.

I've been reading other posts on bypass or bass management - I'd be curious: What mode to you listen to music (CDs) to? Any consensus?

Thanks,
Bob

bypass is the way to go

Loud is the way to go..

Everyway possible . Direct, loud , 7 ch. and all the dsp modes . I try them all and like certain ones for certain types of artists and music .

Bobby - You didn't mention what CD player you have. If it's a nice model with good DACs you probably want to stick to bypass mode. Otherwise give the digital modes a whirl.

We'll that's an unknown (whether the player has good DACs). It's a Pioneer Elite DV-37 DVD player, a few years and I have no clue as to their quality.

As I said, I'm not all hooked up and haven't run AVIA (hope to this weekend). For the first time last night I threw in a CD in the Pioneer & played it through the 990, I wasn't too impressed with the sound. BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING - again, my sub wasn't hooked up, etc. Plus I have high expectations, my 2 channel system is a Goldmund/Dynaudio system, I doubt the Outlaw will ever replace any reference listening.

How did you hook up the DV-37? Analog or digital? The Elites are usually pretty good transports but the DV-37 is a DVD player first and a CD player second.

For what it is worth, my wife with the golden ears thinks Stereo is better than Upsample or bypass when using a digital input.

She likes it better than the 950. More presence. Sounds like the recording is in the room and not as much like a recording.

Classe amp
Thiel 3.6 speakers
Marantz CD changer
(all about 10 years old)

Thanks for the reponses. Obie - my DV-37 is hooked up through a digital optical cable. I haven't tried analog as of yet.

Anyhow - an update. My hardware for my rack came in yesterday so last night I finished off the rack. This let me hook everything up properly - including my sub. Anyhow the CD from the Pioneer is much, much better. It was getting late so I didn't do too much critical listening. I ended up listening unsampled, but again, that wasn't a choice based on careful listening. I hope to do that tonight or over the weekend....