Well, I just got everything up and running on my new 990 a few hours ago.....and, I'm in love. Listening to music in upsample stereo. Never heard anything like it....all the instruments are clear and layered.....sounds very three dimensional. Percussion is lively and crisp. Sub tones are tight, rich, punchy and musical. Vocals sound natural, centered and nicely separated from the instruments. The soundstage is wide and deep.

And, I haven't even tried my CD/DVD player yet. What I'm describing is coming from MP3 at 256k iTunes air express through an optical input.

Can you believe it? Unreal.......or should I say way real.

Thanks to Scott at Outlaw and Gonk on line for being so helpful.

John

- glad to hear that the 990 is taking good care of you.

"Can you believe it?"

Answer: nope.

I don't own a 990. I just read the owner's manual and the claims it makes for Upsample Stereo mode. I have trouble believing the claims in the manual. My disbelief is that I truly doubt that anyone could hear a difference between a straight stereo CD signal and one that has been "upsampled" and "crack filled." Well maybe there could be a difference - but I doubt that it was in some way an improvement.

As for all of the claimed characteristics in the post above: I don't doubt that that's how it sounded. I've got 192k MP3's that I can't tell from the original CD. But starting with an MP3 and claiming that it then takes on these types of characteristics that are all superior to the original CD's - just because of the Outlaw Upsample Stereo mode? Sorry but I can't believe.

So if the 990 is switched back to "normal" stereo does this mean that the instruments become less clear and layered; that the sound becomes two or one dimensional; that percussion is dead and stale; that sub tones are loose, poor, flabby and non-musical; that the vocals are unnatural, off-center, and mixed-in with the instruments; and that the sounstage is narrow and shallow?

I can see how some proprietary multi-channel processing modes could generate at least some of the characteristics given above, but all of this due only to upsampling and "filling in the cracks" (from Owner's Manual - p14)? Nope - I don't believe.

This one I'd need to hear for myself.

Hope this mode is included in the next generation pre/pro for no other reason than to A-B it.

Jeff Mackwood

Geez, dude, why not tell us what you really think?

Up until last weekend, I was using Upsample mode and I was never completely satisfied with the way my system sounded. Just for the heck of it, I changed to Bypass mode for CDs and now find the music more engaging. To me, Upsample mode sounds a little sterile.

I should have stated it differently.....my impressions are about the 990 in stereo.....not upsampling....frankly, I don't notice a difference between regular and upsampled stereo, but I am equally impressed with both, and I think the 990 is a super processor, especially compared to my old mid priced Yamaha pre outs that sound flat and tiny by comparison.

I have to concur. Bypass sounds more balanced to me than either Stereo or Upsample. Both lose bass output and tips the presentation towards the mids and highs. In Upsample, I do hear slightly more detail retrival vs. Stereo but Bypass still sounds best for my system.

Slbenz

The sound you get from bypass mode will depend on the source component, since the source is now responsible for the D/A conversion. A source with nice DAC's probably deserves the chance to be heard that way. I did a fair bit of comparison using bypass when I first got my 990, and it did provide a quite good analog pass-through.

As for upsample mode, I have tried it with both CD's and MP3's. MP3's were still MP3's afterward, and still couldn't match up with CD's, which is why I continue to use MP3 solely as a background music source (either to help keep the two-year-old entertained or as background music when working late) and why CD's (or DVD-A's or SACD's) go in for those moments when I can really stop and listen. I have found that upsample helps somewhat in both cases, though. Is it night and day? No. Is it as good as having the original content 96/24 or 192/24? No. Is it a bit better sounding to my ear than stereo mode by itself (when the same digital input is used in both cases)? Yes, I think so.