Good to be back and hello to all gunslingers and Deputy Gonk!
It's been quiet on the range until recently. I always looked at my 7.1 direct input and wished I had a player with 7.1 output. Well, I pulled the trigger and purchased the Panasonic DMP-BD10A and all I can say is Wow!!! What a pairing! I'm not plugging, but if you can get this for your 990...try it, you'l like it.
I could go on about it's dvd-a, dts96/24/ blu-ray performance and its all been fantastic for me...the 990 and speakers never sounded better! But the cool thing is you can pass uncompressed pcm 5.1/6.1 and yes Virginia!, 7.1 soundtrack..The player can decode all but dts-ma, and the core track it extracts is mind-numbing...and you don't have to worry about hdmi. As many of you know, the 990 really shines in multi-channel playback(not that the 2-ch. is shabby, it's darn good).
I picked up the "Ultimate Avengers" blu disc, it's a cartoon movie and get this: the track is uncompressed 7.1 pcm! We tried it and listened to the s/b speakers in isolation and yes, there are real seperate discrete sounds from both speakers. Nirvana! I also know that there will be some more movies in the future with 7.1 as well. And the 6.1 pcm is great too! Step right up folks, never mind the hdmi rattlesnake, get yer' 7.1 right here!
So, I guess I'm having fun, huh? I believe if you get blu or Hd, make sure you get at least a unit with 5.1 analog out...and make hay while the sun do shine! The pcm tracks are killer and your 990 will thank you

- Sounds like you're having a good time there, westlee!

Good to hear from ya' Gonk. I sure am having fun. I wanted to stay out of the format wars for a bit longer, but the big price drop on the Panny with its' 7.1 outputs was too hard to resist. BTW. I only recently picked up some dts 96/24 discs(Genesis "Trick of the Tail for example) and I am impressed with the Panny/990 combo..My older Denon 1600 wasn't too shabby, but the Panny certainly beats it out in the SQ department. One thing for sure, I have always preferred the 5.1/7.1 direct inputs over the fiber optical when playing hi-rez audio tracks. I guess I prefer a more straight and pure analog path in this regard. The 990 sure kicks some butt! Now, this may be a old and tired question..but I've forgotten much..Tell me this, when I am using the 7.1 input path..the 990 still invokes "speaker setting" that I've set-up...i.e. those speakers that I've selected as large or small are still in play with the 7.1 input..Is that correct??? And crossover selection is still in play as well, eh? Setting the dvd player to all "large" and letting the 990 do its' thing seems to work best for me...
I know a lot of people worried about the 990 being non-hdmi back when..but I think it was and still is a prescient decision..only now are we seeing some hdmi implementation on products and I beleive it will still be awhile for across-the-board application..But I am here to tell all that the 990 can do at least the hi-def audio part in spades. And the 7.1 direct feature has proved to be a God-send! I'm sure when/if Outlaw does go the hdmi route in a pre-pro or receiver, they will do it right in the quality and bang-for-the-buck department..Since I never have used any receiver or the 990 for video switching, it's going to be a long time before I even think of giving up on the 990. Hail Outlaw!

You've got it all under control, it sounds like. The 990 does apply channel trim, speaker delay, and bass management to the 7.1 Direct input. As a result, my recommendation for multichannel analog sources is to go into the player's setup and set the speakers to large, sub to on, channel trims to 0dB, and speaker distances to zero - the 990 will do its thing just fine.
- HDMI's arrival on the market has been a very sticky mess indeed, and the 990 has done its job nicely for over two years now as the whole HDMI drama has played out around us all.

Cool! Thanks for sharing the fun. I might have to pull the trigger sooner than the 08 CES in Las Vegas. Especially now that at least 2 universal HD DVD player on the market. Have fun Westlee.