I almost gave up today as I was putting the new 990 into my system.
4 hrs of trying to figure out how to get my DVD player to put out sound to the 990.I switched Coax cables, switched outlets even tried optical feed. Everything else worked, cd player and sat.I was ready to pack it in and pack up the 990 for return.(I'm to proud to ask questions so soon)
"OK, darn it, I'll try another DVD, Master and Comander".... GEEZ, wished I would have tried it 4 hrs sooner? I had my Marantz DV7600 set up for PCM instead of bitstream. AHHH crap, my mistake !! Everything works now.
Now in goes a DVD-A .I was realy intrested in the Bass Management feature as my Marantz DV7600 DVD Player does not apply BM to SACD and it's rather weak on DVD-A's .Movies are not my major focus, music is. In goes ELP's "Lucky Man". This was to be the defining moment or else.....I never had a complaint the way my HK 635 played this DVD-A ,that was until I listened to it on the 990.Much more open and crisp. Bass is tight, instruments more defined with open spaces between the artists.
I played some AIX records DVD-A's also. They put out the best mixes in hi rez.The 990 only got better with these.
If I have any grips at this realitivly early stage it would be the remote and the rather slim choices one has in set up.I'm trying to figure out, as I change volume, why it doesnt show on my monitor? Also the HK was so easy to access different settings.You could change speaker size, tone controls and individual speaker settings without going into set-up.
I tried the mic set up, not so good. I took out my Rad Shack SPL meter and got everything as I like it. No biggie though, I did the same with the HK635.
I guess for the price there has to be some give.I'll gladly trade the easy set up of the HK for the pristine sound of the 990. Thats what it all about isn't it?
I was also currious about the dac's in the 990 vs the CA 640D.I realy doubted the 990 could match up with the CA 640D.The HK dac'c couldn't. I never, while listening to CD's, used the dac's in the HK, the CA 640d's were that much better.Well, I tried both and the edge goes to .......the 990,......Darn it.I could have bought a much cheaper CD player if only I knew.
I've not had time to realy do an evauluation of DVD movies and such. I doubt I'll get much of a chance for awhile. I'll be busy listening to my DVD-A/SACD's for awhile.It almost like hearing them for the 1st time again.
The 990 is a keeper, I can't say that for some ID audio goods. I have had a little exsperence of listening to the wrong sources.Bought some speakers only to find out they were not any where close to what I perfer.
I can now say that the Outlaw 990 is what people here say they are.Maybee alittle light on menu choices but heavy on performence.
Finaly my upgraditis has been rewarded.It's purchases like this that makes me feel smart for once.I could leave it at this, but hey, I need another amp.

Bill O,

Glad you are enjoying your 990 after such a short period of time. As you experiment I think you will find many things to like. I certainly noticed a huge improvement in the sound (both music and movies) of the 990 over my previous Pioneer Elite receiver.

Volume does not show up on your monitor when you are using component or DVI. Yes, you need to access the setup menu to change the items you listed. I found the auto setup with the mic only partially worked and I reverted to my tried-and-true RS meter to set up my system.

But you are right on the money, its the sound that matters and the 990 delivers! Enjoy your 990.

Glad to hear it's worked out so well for you, Bill O.
The 990 provides on-screen "pop-up" displays of volume, input, surround mode, and the like for composite and s-video inputs. For component video inputs, the 990 does not overlay menu information (that's why it replaces the video signal with a black screen when providing the setup menu with component sources), so it can't provide these "pop-ups" with those inputs. And of course the DVI inputs are pure switching, with no data added by the 990.

Thanks for the info.
Looks like I'll have to buy a cheap small screen monitor of some type for pop ups.
I'm glad to hear that the 990 was a better sounding unit than the Pioneer Elite.I had been considering the Elite myself.
I'll spend the better part of this day running through all the options.I've already became familiar with the remotes function, which was realy a concern. It's pretty simple and straight forward.

I'm not sure if this is correct and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I simply configure one of the inputs on the remote that I'm not using like video 4 so that the s-video is going from the 990 to the tv and then use that for looking at the OSD. In this manner, you don't have to purchase a separate monitor.

Is it just me or does the forum seem extremely slooooooooooooow today?

Aaron

I'm not sure if this is correct and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I simply configure one of the inputs on the remote that I'm not using like video 4 so that the s-video is going from the 990 to the tv and then use that for looking at the OSD. In this manner, you don't have to purchase a separate monitor.

Is it just me or does the forum seem extremely slooooooooooooow today?

Aaron

It is not a big issue to me that I can't see volume settings or other on-screen messages as I can see my 990 and the volume change (and input, etc) is displayed on the 990. I'll bet you find you don't need the extra monitor unless you are running a projector or your 990 is in another room. I recall a couple of Gunslingers with projectors added cheap monitors to view the setup menu in order to save bulb life. I rarely use the 990 setup now that everything is dialed in except in one case.

One of the things I miss (and this comes from my stereo days) is a simple balance control. I listen to a lot of stereo music and depending upon the CD I like to tweak the L or R to get the stereo image so it hits me between the eyes. To make a "balance adjustment" you need to use Setup and change the speaker calibration. However, you don't need to stop the source (in my case a CD) to adjust speaker calibration. I turn on my monitor, press the 990's menu and then adjust the L or R calibration all while the CD is playing. I'm pretty sure I'm able to do this because I assigned my CD's digital audio output to one of the 990's video/audio inputs but this might work for audio only input too. It is a little distracting to go through those steps versus just adjusting a balance control. I imagine there is a way to make a macro for my Harmony 880 to create a balance control, but I've not tried to yet. If anybody has figured out how to make such a macro for the 880/990 I'd appreciate your input.