I'm considering the Oppo 980 for it's audio capabilities. The video isn't as big a deal for me because I'm using an older rear projection tv (Toshiba 50HX81)that still works fine and does not have HDMI so upconversion isn't that big a deal at this point. I would however, like to have the SACD/DVD-Audio capabilities of the 980. My current DVD player does DVD-Audio (which I love) but doesn't do SACD, and DVD-Audio software is unfortunately becoming very scarce, much to my disappointment .

My question, since both the Oppo 980 and my Outlaw 990 pre/pro can accomodate 7.1 analog, are all outputs/inputs utilized when playing SACD/DVD-Audio which is only 5.1? If so, what are the extra two channels playing, and if not, what's the sense of the extra two outputs on the Oppo? Should I just go with the Oppo 970? Gonk, you might be the go to person on this? Thanks.

The 980H has a rather neat little trick with the 7.1 analog output. Any 5.1 source that isn't Dolby Digital (DD 5.1 being the one source that gets EX processing applied) goes through a fairly simple matrix logic to produce rear surrounds. It's slightly more sophisticated than copying left side to left rear and right side to right rear, but not as sophisticated as something like Pro Logic IIx or Logic7. Bottom line: DVD-Audio and SACD sources can be output in full 7.1. I couldn't get the current production firmware to do this, but a closed beta firmware that I got a couple weeks ago did it and the beta firmware posted on OPPO's site Monday also does it.

Bottom line: get the 980H, download and install that firmware, and set the Downmix to 7.1, and you'll have 7.1 with DVD-A and SACD. It also works with two-channel sources expanded to 5.1 using the 980H's Pro Logic II processing, and it should work with DTS 5.1 (although I don't think I've tried that specific combination).

Gonk, thank you for your typically thorough and patient response. It sounds like the 980H is the way to go. Do you think that Oppo will be installing the firmware upgrade in a subsequent production run because I probably won't be doing this for a few weeks yet?

The firmware I'm running right now is an open beta - you can download it from their site, but they won't pre-install it. If you have a USB drive or a CD burner, though, you can install it yourself in a few minutes ( my review has the details).