Boys, I'm in great need! lol

I've attached several cables to my 990. How I'm going to get all this to work is beyond me. You should see the cables/wires ... it's a technical work of art, or catastrophe! And, I haven’t yet even attached my 5-channel amp! Unreal! I’ve got to take a picture of this.

I have both my sat box and oppo 981 attached via digital cables, dvi/dvi (for sat box) and HMDI/dvi for the oppo 981.

When I hit the video 1 button on the remote (wouldn't you know it, the batteries just died … I hope that’s the reason it’s not working), I get video 1, with analogue displayed above. I assume this somehow needs to be changed to digital, but haven't the slightest clue as how achieve this. If I hit the menu button, obviously nothing appears, as I have to get the correct setup to get the image onto my digital display.

If anyone can help me sort this out, I'd certainly be very grateful! I’ve browsed the manual and just haven’t the patience; it confuses me even more.

Thanks,

John

The "analog" indicator above the input is actually referring to audio, but you're right that it needs to get changed as well. Let's see if I can help you out here.

Step one: make sure you have a composite, s-video, or component monitor output connection between your 990 and your display - and then set your TV to the corresponding input. Personally, I have my component monitor output connected to the "Component2" input on my TV (used for watching certain inputs like cable TV and my DVD recorder, and for accessing the 990's menus).

Step two: Once you are viewing an analog monitor output from the 990, press TNR on the 990's remote (once those batteries get replaced) and hit the "MENU" button just above the channel controls (there's a button farther down with a secondary label of "MENU" but that's for certain DVD players). This will bring up the 990's setup menu.

Step three: The first menu option is INPUT CONFIG. Select that, which will take you to the video input configuration screen. Pick the first input that you want to configure. Let's say that it's "DVD" for the OPPO 981HD. That will take you to the screen where you can select both the video input (DVI1 or DVI2, whichever the 981HD is connected to) and the audio input. Scroll down to "VIDEO INPUT" and use the left and right arrow buttons to pick the right input. It will offer you all three component inputs (COMP-DVD, COMP-VID1, COMP-VID2) and both DVI inputs (DVI1 and DVI2) as well as the s-video and composite video inputs. Once you've got the one you want picked, go to "AUDIO INPUT" and scroll left/right until you have the correct digital input selected. (And, by the way, you'll need to make a digital audio connection of some sort between each of these sources and the 990. Since you're hear anyway, this is the place to take care of that.) The other settings can probably be left alone for now, although if you want to you can edit the input's name (such as changing VIDEO1 to "SATELLITE"). Once you are done with this input, go down near the bottom and select "RETURN TO VIDEO INPUTS" to move on to the next input.

Step four: There are other menus to work on at some point, but I wouldn't go much farther until the amp is connected as a lot of the other setup will relate to speaker configuration and test tones. If you want to, you can just exit the menu by pressing the "MENU" button again, change the TV's input back to the DVI or HDMI input, and see pretty pictures from the satellite box and 981HD...

Thanks, Gonk!

You're our technical saviour!

I've printed off a copy and will now give it a try.

Again, thank you.

John

Thank you, Gonk.

I managed to select all the inputs, as you explained, resulting in the beautiful image I'm accustomed to. However, I have an analogue out, from the 990, to the Display's audio system, yet, I can't seem to get audio. What am I doing wrong?

thanks,

John

You are running an audio connection to the TV? What do you have it connected to on the 990? If you use the pre-amp outputs, you may have two volume controls operating in series (which will make for very low audio levels until you push the volume up quite a ways).

Well,

I tried first the "Aux" out and then the "Tape" out and now I have it connected to the L and R of the pre-amp audio outputs. No matter what I try, I get no sound.

I've configured video 1, to SATELLITE 1, with opt 2, since the cable kept falling out of opt 1. When I made the choice to opt 2 (in the input menu), it immediately went to "2 channel Downmix," which I assumed meant that the optical connection is working.

I have no analogue audio. What can I be doing wrong, Gonk?

thanks,

John

When you have the VIDEO1 (SATELLITE) input selected, what indicators are illuminated above "SATELLITE" on the front panel display? At a minimum, you should have "DIGITAL" and either "PCM" or (more likely for satellite) "Dolby Digital" engaged if the 990 is receiving a signal. Since you mentioned the cable falling out of the optical1 connection, though, I'd also check the optical cable itself to make sure there's not a cap on it that is interfering with the connection.

Also, there should be a red speaker symbol lit up on the bottom right portion of the front panel. If it's not on, then the 990 is in headphone output mode and the other outputs are disabled.

Gonk,

you're a technical wizard (at least compared to me!).

Yes, there were plastic covers over the optical cables (problem 1)

Yes, it was in HP mode; I depressed the mute button, for a period of time, until it switched into gear (problem 2)

Now, two new problems:

1. I have to crank the volume on the 990, all the way up, to get even near decent sound.

2. The audio and video are out of sync.

These lead me to ask:

What is the best method of attaching the analogue inputs, for my display, to the 990? Or, to put it another way: which of the analogue outputs, on the 990, are most effective: provide the strongest signal, without the lip sync problem?

And, while I now have an additional video cable to view the 990's menu, is there any way I can see this menu, directly on my display, via my DVI connection?

Gonk, thanks for all your valued help!

John

1. If you are using the pre-amp outputs to drive the TV, this makes sense - you'll need to crank up either the TV's volume or the 990's volume to get anything significant. There's not really a great way to drive the TV's speakers from a surround processor like the 990. One approach would be to use the record outputs (Video1, Tape, or Aux), at which point you'll have to use the TV's volume control since you'll be bypassing the 990's volume. Another would be to connect to an input on the TV that can skip volume control.

2. Video processing often produces this condition, and it is entirely separate from the audio connection you are using. It is happening either at your source component or at the display as the video signal is manipulated (deinterlacing and scaling), and it is likely to vary some for each video source. The 990 provides AV sync adjustments that introduce an audio delay to compensate. The adjustments can be made separately for each video input, and can be made in 1ms increments. The setting appears in the individual input menus ("LIP SYNC DELAY"), but you can also press the SYNC button on the 990's remote and it will display the active input's sync setting on the front panel. You can then use the left and right navigation buttons to adjust the sync up or down and then press SELECT to lock in a sync setting. Typically, you will need to change it at least 10ms to produce any detectable difference, and don't be surprised if you need to go up to 40 or 60 (or more) in some cases.

The 990's setup menu cannot be accessed via the DVI connection. You need to have a display connected to one of those three analog video outputs (composite, s-video, or component) to be able to see the setup menu.

Thanks, Gonk.

I've attached the display's analogue cables to the AUX out on the 990, but am unable to get any sound. I keep playing with the settings, but to no avail.

What am I doing wrong?

I'm about to dive into the manual, for help.

For first timers, like myself, this is akin to an introduction to computer software! lol

Again, thanks.

John

Hmmm... I was thinking that the record outputs get a downmixed stereo signal from digital inputs (because of some headphone amp discussion the other day), but I could be wrong about that. If I am, that would explain your problem, and two solutions would be to run analog audio cables from your sources to the 990 or to stay with the pre-amp outputs and crank either the 990 or the TV's volume up pretty much all the way. I might try the latter and push the TV's volume all the way up, assuming you only use the TV's speakers with the 990's input. (If you also used the TV's on-board tuner or some other source of audio, changing over to that from the 990's connection could do bad things to your TV's speakers and your ears.)

I'd definitely recommend that anyone setting up an Outlaw receiver or processor take some time to read through the manual. It is not your typical hard-to-decipher manual and has some very good information in it.

I'll have to try and read through it, when I'm better able to concentrate. At least I have the picture portion working and with the new setup, the image quality is stunning; I'm very pleased, at least in this regard.

My speakers were to arrive three weeks ago, have been told I'll have them in less than two, but my gut tells me they won't arrive until sometime next month. In the mean time, I can just take the analogue out's off the sat box or dvd player. I'd really prefer the choice between the two methods, however, as the TV's sound quality is not that bad (practical for night time listening), while my audio system will border on the extravagant.

In any case, I thank you for and appreciate your advice, Gonk.

John

You've got a PM, John. (And I need to clean out my PM's before my inbox is completely full...)

What speakers are you getting?

In 1980, I purchased a pair of Dahlquist DQ 10's and enjoyed them for some 17 years. For the past ten, they've sat silently. I looked around and couldn't find anything to compare, for less than many thousands of dollars and so instead, I sent them back to the original manufacturer, for a complete rebuild.

After ten years of silence, I can't wait to hear them sing their sweet music, once again.

I've yet to read this, but here's a small write-up about them:

http://www.epinions.com/content_4300841092

Thanks, Gonk.

John