Just got my 990 today. The only thing Im not too happy with is the fact that I cannot adjust sub level without having my tv on. I know this might be petty. But when I am listening to a cd in 2 channel mode I am constantly adjusting sub level to my liking depending on the song. I guess Im wondering if there would ever be an update that would allow me to see the adjustments on the VFD of the unit. As much as this might sound crazy It might make or break my decision on keeping it. If anyone has any ideas or solutions for this please let me know. The only thing I can think of at this point would be to ad a small lcd display in my rack to allow me to veiw the menu without my monitor on

Adding a direct front-panel interface for sub trim would require at least one extra IR command, so I'm not sure that we're likely to see that added via a firmware update. A small display in the rack is certainly one solution. I'd also suggest a couple things before you go to that extreme. First, try playing with your front crossover setting to see if a lower setting lets the sub integrate better with the mains (this was a problem with my old sub and house, and I had to use a 40Hz crossover to get smooth integration for music). Second, try the two-channel sub offset (which is essentially a separate sub trim for two-channel modes that reduces the sub's output in those modes).

I this a command on the remote?

No, it's a setting in the "Surround Config" menu. It may not solve your problem since you've been tweaking up and down, but when used in conjunction with dialing in the crossover you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

I am just dumbfounded by the fact that they would make lipsync timing available on the VFD and not sub trim. Thanks for the suggestions. I will play with it in the next few days and let ya know how it works out

The AV sync adjustment is available on the front panel display for two reasons: there is a button on the remote to enable adjustment of it (thus granting direct control of the setting), and you need to be able to see the active video source at the same time you are making adjustments (which cannot be done with an OSD when using a component or DVI input, thus creating a significant need for the display). In the original firmware, the sync adjustment was not displayed on the front panel, which meant that you had to adjust in the setup menu and then go back to the video source to see if you'd adjusted enough.

On the platforms that Outlaw has developed from scratch (the old Model 950 and the current 1070/970), they have included a "trim" button that allows the user to scroll through channels and adjust trim without going through the menu structure. The Model 990, however, is based on an existing platform (the Sherwood P-965), and while Outlaw made extensive changes they also ended up hanging on to a some features due to simple necessity. The 965 platform lacks IR commands for direct trim adjustment, so even if Outlaw could have found a spot or two on the 990's remote to include these commands (which I'm not sure could have been done without sacrificing some other useful functionality) they wouldn't have had commands in place to grant direct (non-menu) adjustment of those settings. Personally, I never used this on my Model 950 (preferred to find a setup that precluded the need for it) so I haven't missed it, but we all have our own approaches to system setup and operation. Before you give up on the 990, though, the two things I've mentioned (adjusting the crossover point and trying out the two-channel sub offset) might surprise you. Give it a shot - I've been able to get my system adjusted such that I get excellent bass response with music without needing to adjust sub trim between discs.

""In the original firmware, the sync adjustment was not displayed on the front panel, which meant that you had to adjust in the setup menu and then go back to the video source to see if you'd adjusted enough.""

So humor me on this. If they were able to ad that in a firmware update why cant't sub trim be added. There are plenty of buttons that I will never use on that remote that I would be able to reassign.

There was already a function in place (button on the remote that brought up sync adjustment in an on-screen pop-up) that simply needed to be duplicated on the front panel. I don't know how "simple" the actual programming was, but the infrastructure was in place for it from the beginning.

Adding sub trim would require a command to bring up sub trim adjustment, something that doesn't exist presently - that is the underlying problem we're faced with. Where would that command come from? How would we tell the 990 that we want to adjust the sub trim? If they added a completely new IR command for this, the only way for people to use that command would be for them to have third-party remotes that would allow them to download some new data and upload it to the remote. My MX-700 could do this, as could Prontos and Harmony remotes (by way of some coordination between Outlaw and Harmony), and folks who do JP1 programming of UEI remotes could pull it off too. If you were using the 990's stock remote or a third-party universal that didn't support a computer interface, there'd be no way to use that new command - Outlaw would in effect be saying "here's a neat new feature, but we aren't going to let you use it unless you happen to also own an expensive remote and can configure it to send a new command." The other alternative is to re-assign an existing command, which presents two new problems: the button on the remote doesn't match the function (at which point Outlaw would be saying something equivalent to "Press PRESET SCAN to change DTS surround formats") and we have to give up some other command that people have already gotten used to having available. You may not mind giving up the night mode button, for example, but there are likely to be at least as many users who want that button but have no interest in a sub trim button as there are users who want a sub trim button and could live without the night mode button.