Up until last night, I was running my HT with a Pioneer VSX-74 as pre-pro thru an Outlaw 770. My video connections were all HDMI to a Panasonic projector and my DVD player is a Pioneer DV-59. My audio connection was thru the iLink.

The "74" decided to die and is on the way to be repaired. I have been looking a long time at the 990, but the lack of HDMI and 1394 link was always
a concern. The nice thing about the 74 was that even with HDMI, I was able to view the OSD.

I am at a crossroads here. I thought about using HDMI/DVI adapters, but then I lose the OSD. I thought about switching to composite, but the expense of running new cables..then there is the
loss of the iLink, which I really liked. More cables to buy in order to use the analog inputs for my SACD's, etc.

A couple of questions:

1) Will my DVD player pass all audio out the analog (CD's and DVD) or do I also need the digital as well for DD, etc..?

2) Can I hook up a small "monitor tv" to the compostite monitor output, have my main projector connected to the DVI and run both at the same time OSD for composite, Picture for DVI ???

I was hoping that Outlaw would have the perfect answer for me, but maybe I am overlooking some ideas that would help me move over to the 990. I am still riding the fence, but at the rate things are going, my HT will be down for 4 to 6 weeks.

Any comments ??

Thanks

1) Your player will pass all sources (CD and DVD) out via multichannel analog, but you will lose the ability to apply surround processing modes such as Pro Logic IIx, Dolby EX, or DTS ES along the way. I'd strongly recommend using a coaxial or optical connection for DVD's. I'd only use the analog for DVD-A and SACD. CD could go either way, depending on whether you prefer the 990's DAC's or the DV-59's DAC's for music listening. When trying the 990's DAC's for music, I'd suggest at least checking out the upsample mode.

2) Absolutely, and in fact this is a common approach among projector users. You can use a little 7" TV (CRT's can be had at Radio Shack or Target for very little money, assuming you don't have one lying around already) or even get fancy and get a small LCD. You can connect that to composite or s-video and have access to the menus.

Thanks for the reply.

Another question:

If I am watching a movie ia the DVI and for some reason I want to bring up the OSD on the composite interface, will the DVI switch off until the OSD
display is terminated. Another words, is it possible to have the OSD up all of the time on the composite and not interfere with the movie?

The reason I ask is that I am toying with the idea of adding a small TFT color display to my system. They are cheap enough on ebay (~$60-70). Then, if this works get a video switcher for all my units that use a OSD via composite and have a cheap built in OSD screen..but only of the source material is not affected by the switch...

As far as the using the digital audio for DVD's, that is not a problem. It's just that the iLink was great for me. I can adapt if the move to a 990 is a step up from my 74 (at least the warranty is..hopefully the build quality follows suit)

The composite output and DVI output will operate independently since the DVI switching is independent of the rest of the video switching. With a DVI input, the composite monitor output will have no signal at all. Instead, you'll just get the OSD over a blank screen. The DVI will be uninterrupted.