I have bought a 755, and the 950. I have liked these products aas well as the 2 ICBM's I bought (1 is a magnapan edition)and fine cables.
I am really disapointed with the interface of the 990. For one, the old 950 would output everything you do on the vidio screen (I can't see the 950/990 from the listener position), also it would tell me what the input type is (such as 44.1/pcm, or 48k/pcm, or DD 2/3 or DD2/0 and so on)I liked that I could just tap a volume buttom and see the current mode, volume, and input type. Now, I can't tell anything! Why would this be a step down? The front panel display is not very good either (IF my installation would allow me to see it); when I try to scroll through the modes, I have wait for the long version of the text to scroll... across... before I know what it is. With the 950 I had seperate push buttons for CR processing, and so less choices to select with DD and DTS. That way, I could at a glance see what mode I am in right away BEFORE the movie gets underway to far. Like others here, I can't get the autoset to work properly, I have to set up manually. BUT I really wanted this for distance comp as I have a Digital xover (DEQX) on the main's (maganpan 20r) and this machine adds latency that I myself can't measure. (I wanted the mic to do it) Also, I liked the remote of the 950 much better, with the source/control buttons up top. This thing has The DVD button in a seperate place from the other sources, very strange and dificult to use in the dark (the 950 had a seperate light button, this makes you hit a button to get light, and unlike the 950, it reacts right away, mostly doing something you don't want, the 950 would respond after the 2nd hit, the first would give a display update) I am hoping the outlaws will correct the software soon, And I guess I have to buy a new remote, otherwise I may go back to the 950...Oh, the upsample stereo mode is quite good; I haven't listened to a movie yet, the interface is killing the fun of it, though DTS is next on my tests (eagles: Hell Freezes Over) and some DD stuff...more to come

Useful feedback, blaineh. Maybe I can chip in a couple thoughts, as well.

The 950's on screen display works with composite and s-video inputs, overlaying both the setup menu and the pop-up input/volume data. The 990 behaves much the same way, although the format of the pop-up data (including such information as the input format) is different. The 950 had no on screen display support for the component video input, whereas the 990 will provide a blue-screen setup menu on component inputs and will pass composite and s-video inputs with their OSD data intact. Functionally, this is a significant step up. I'm curious why you are seeing less information in the OSD pop-up now - are you using component inputs where you previously used s-video? As for the issue of what information is included in the OSD pop-up, that's something that I think is worthy of discussion. Unfortunately, all of my inputs except for two (7.1 Direct and Dreamcast) use component or DVI inputs, so I haven't spent much time with the OSD pop-ups.

I agree that there is an opportunity to make more extensive use of the front panel display, although such changes will still not benefit folks such as yourself who have remote equipment racks. When I mentioned one suggestion to Outlaw recently (displaying the AV sync status on the front panel when using the "SYNC" button on the remote, so folks using component or DVI inputs could benefit from this handy button) I was told that it was already on a list of improvements under evaluation. Perhaps the method in which the selected surround mode appears on the front panel display could be truncated (not as far as the 950's potentially-cryptic front panel labels) to speed the process of scrolling through. I'd also love a "status" button that would scroll information such as input format, surround mode, volume level, and what-not, but that would require an extra button on the already-crowded remote so I will live without. The loss of the CR button is a result of the omission of Cirrus Extra Surround processing, since the 990 relies instead on the somewhat superior Pro Logic IIx processing.

The 990's remote is, in my mind, something of a "bare bones" universal. It would have been nice to see an MX-500, but the reasoning behind Outlaw's choice has some merit: no added cost for a more robust remote, thereby saving money for people who don't care to have anything fancier or who have already invested money in a remote equal to or better than the MX-500. (As a curious aside, the 990's Cat48 is actually the same OEM remote used with several other pre/pros, including the Anthem AVM-20, AVM-30, and Statement D1 as well as the Lexicon MC-12.) While the 990's remote lacks some features and strengths of the 950's remote (an SL-9000 clone) - such as learning ability and the combined input/device control buttons (which, inevitably, also generated some ire from 950 users used to remotes like the 990's Cat48 that separate the input and device control functions) - it does at least have transport controls that are independent from the navigation pad, making it better suited to controlling DVD players. As sub-$100 alternatives that are a solid step up from either of these remotes, the Home Theater Master MX-500 and the Harmony H659 remotes (both available from bluedo.com with manufacturer's warranty for less than $85) have been working well for 990 owners.

Keep us informed as you give DTS and Dolby Digital a try...

I think you will find most of us agree about not having the ability to do the setup through the lcd screen is somewhat of a pain. Hopefully that can be changed with an upgrade.

I think Outlaw did a good job with the remote. Most people at this level already have a universal or learning so they are just trying to save their typical consumer some money. What I think would be great would be if they could offer an mx-500 or harmony equivalent at a discounted price when purchasing the 990 for those who need it.

I have a 5" CRT mounted off to the side where I can see it when it turns on (when it's hit with composite vidio) I'd used this with great success with the 950, and have it adjusted so it's dark unless the 950 generates text. For displays I have a 36" CRT HDTV that we use an outboard manual component switcher for (as we sometimes don't turn on the amps in the morning to watch the news, and I was unable to get the 950 to pass component when it's in standby) and a DLP (BenQ 8700+) 720p front projector. I tried using the DVI switching on the 990, but my dish 921 won't allow component output when it is talking to a DVI device. Normally this isn't a problem as the CRT is off when the DLP is on, (I used a Geffren DVI switcher), now, however, The dish thinks the outlaw is a end device, and shuts off the CRT comp outputs even though the DLP isn't on! Anyway, after a few tries at this, I just reconnected my Geffren, and am not using the 990 DVI switching. You can imagine that I am feeling a little let down as I was expecting the 990 to switch DVI along with the sound (we always use the amps/950/990 when using the DLP/DVI)and now I can't get that to work (the little Geffren credit card remote is always getting lost). Question: does the component pass through either output when the 990 is in standby? I could experiment, but it's a tight squeze for me to get back in there for now, I hope someone can help me out.
So, my biggest issue is with the remote display not showing enough information and the inablity to check current processing mode without pulling up the entire setup menu each time. Currently, I've just configured a few different input keys with different modes but the same digital source, but I am running out of keys, and forget what I set them for...

Your dish receiver sounds similar to my cable box - whenever the DVI cable is connected, the component output is inactive. Annoying, but also apparently common.

The component switching on the 990 is similar to the 950 (and I suspect all current receivers and processors) in that it will not pass a signal when the unit is not powered up.

The 950 includes Dolby PL II, whereas the 990 includes PL IIx, what's the difference ? Don't they both take a stereo signals, and turn them into 5.1 ??

Pro Logic II will take a stereo source (analog audio, PCM, or Dolby 2.0) and generate 5.1. Pro Logic IIx is essentially the same as Pro Logic II unless you have surround back speakers. If you have surround backs, Pro Logic IIx will generate 7.1 from stereo sources and will do the same with 5.1 sources such as Dolby 5.1 and DTS. It is comparable to the 950's Cirrus Extra Surround, except that it generates discrete left and right surround back channels - CES (and Dolby EX, DTS ES, and DTS NEO:6) only generates a mono surround back signal.

Gonk, do you know any remote in the market is similar to the remote of 990? I am asking the manufacturer of my dvd player for its programable remote code and they asked me back the remote code of the 990.

Kwok

kwao .. hey it just got in my door .. remote is almost identical to my onkyo 801 reciever .. let me know what dvd you have and i'll give ya codes or the model is RC-511M...

You might tell the DVD player manufacturer that it is a UEI remote, with the UEI code library (which I believe is the same code library as the Radio Shack and One4All remotes). You might also take a look at this list - I don't know if the codes all carry over, but there seem to be a lot of similarities.

Wife just had our new baby girl last night, and like a true audio nut I am pursuing my hobby this morning. (I mean, she is a the hospital playing with bay, so why shouldn't I have fun too?)
Anyway, I suspect I won't have time this weekend to all my swapping around and comparisons, and post them all...however, I have say again: the stereo upsample using a good digital PCM source really sounds good. I am running bi-amped planers (maganpan 20.0) and a phase corrected HSU sub. Hope the information display issue gets resolved soon, I really hate having my remote display dead when I change volume and not being able to check what mode I am in...did I mention that before?
I will be back with more soon...javascript:void(0)
Wink

Congrats on the baby, blaineh! My girl is about 4 months old now, and is on my shoulder at the moment.

The OSD seems to be the focus of most complaints; so here's an idea that would be an answer to most peoples problems.

Outlaw should develop a method to allow the user to program the OSD with any of the available parametric data through the USB or RS-232 ports.

They could for instance provide a web-based tool for selecting the data desired on the OSD, along with a choice of several simple formats. The user would then download the selected program and upload it to the 990.

I've been listening to the complaints about the OSD, and what I thought of doing, since I intend to watch my monitor through a DVI connection, was hook up an old 5" B/W TV to the composite connection and do my setups that way. Does that make sense?

Currently, it appears that the analog monitor outputs (composite, s-video, component) are not active when the DVI switching is in use, which I think is a big part of the trouble blaineh is having.

I agree that having to configure the 990 through the OSD is a supreme pain in the neck.

Here's what I did:

CompUSA had a "High Speed USB Video Grabber" for $49.95. I connected this to my laptop and then "captured" the output so I could see the OSD. Why did I do that? Because I'm in the midst of moving to a new house and my new 37" LCD display hasn't been delivered yet and my kids would shoot me if I stole the existing 30" LCD to bring to the new house to "play with the stereo." 8-)

In any case, I'm a first time Outlaw customer. I bought the following package:

Model 990 Pre
Model 755 amp
2 x LFM-1 subs
1 x Outlaw fiber optic cable for DVD player
2 x Outlaw PCA Sub interconnects

Right now, I'm using my old speakers...a pair of Dahlquist DQ-20i for the mains, and Definitive Technology BP2 and C-1. Eventually, those will all be replaced with Magnepan MMGs.

Here's hoping that everything works! I'm going to be doing the setup tomorrow so I'll have some music while I'm unpacking boxes. As soon as the LDC arrives, I'll test out the theater bits on U-571!

Cheers,