There is enough bandwidth to play 96kHz through S/PDIF, just not in 5.1. The 990 is compatible with PCM 96kHz. I think there is something wrong with my 990 and of course it is out of warranty. I found out after switching between modes (DTS to advanced resolution to whatever) that they all started to sound extremely distorted. The trick was to turn off the 990 as I changed settings on my computer either on the sound card or through PowerDVD. To switch between DTS and 96/24 I have to power off the 990, set the sound card spdif output to 96khz, set the dvd quality to advanced resolution, power on the 990. And bingo, PCM 96khz plays just find on 2 channels. I do the same to go back to DTS. As for the bass, I got it back by changing the crossover setting on the 990 to 80hz. Is the 990 compatible with SACD DSD?