I have to admit that I considered not doing the firmware upgrade, but a lazy Saturday turned into a firmware party. First, my Oppo DVD player (that one was the easiest). Then my SMS-1 (second easiest), which I just unplugged and moved to the only Windows computer in the house with a serial port.

And that's when I paused and took one long, hard look at the 990. Do I unplug EVERYTHING (about 20 different connections), pull the thing out of the rack, move it upstairs, plug it to the PC, do the upgrade and then reverse the process? It was a long pause.

After playing with my newly upgraded SMS-1, I could no longer wait. So I devised a plan B: kicked my kids off the computer, unplugged EVERYTHING that was hooked to it (only about 10 things), moved the PC downstairs and parked it next to the 990. I could almost see the 990 giving me an approving glance. The upgrade went so smoothly that I felt silly for contemplating it so long.

The primary reason for this post is to urge anyone who is on the fence as to whether you need/want the upgrade to go for it.

I was satisfied with the bass management on the 990. However, over time I did stay away from 2-channel modes as I felt that my system sounded better in the multi-channel modes. I had assumed that I had to optimize it for one or the other and when the 2-channel modes sounded a bit dull, I thought it was because of this reason. After this firmware upgrade that is no longer the case. The UPSAMPLE mode sounds awesome. It always did, but the bass was always lacking in my opinion. To describe the improvement in one word, I would call it dramatic.

I would like to hear other impressions.

Thanks for the great work Outlaw.

Glad to hear the firmware update went so well. Equally glad to hear that the upgrade has given you renewed enjoyment and possibilities with your 990. I’m still processing through a 950 but thought I might offer you another option to try in your arsenal of playback options. You mentioned an Oppo player in you setup. Oppo has a great feature of spreading a stereo source material through the other channels when you have “Downmix” set to 7.1 or 5.1. It is not a 100% L/R duplicated in the SR/SL but a very nice sound distribution. If you have your Oppo setup with analog outputs (typically for SACD/DVD-A) and use you 990 “7.1 Direct” mode, you’ll get a very good stereo feed that utilizes more of your systems speakers. You might try it to see how that sounds for you. The firmware update should also now provide just the right Outlaw Bass Management.

When listening to 2-ch music, I use the Upsample mode, have the Left and Right Speaker set as Large, Crossover at 40Hz, and the Sub set at L+R/Sub. This way I always get full range music sent to the 2 main speakers and added bass to the sub. I have tried setting them to Small and placing the crossover at 80 or 60Hz, but it makes the music sound 'thin', almost like it is losing instruments.

When watching movies, I still keep the fonts set to Large and crossover at 40Hz, but then put the Sub in LFE Only mode. The Center and Surrounds are set to Small with a crossover at 100Hz.

It's kind of a pain to have to change the settings all the time depending on what I watch, but after 2 years I've got the hang of it.
It would be nice if the replacement 990 allowed for individual speaker/crossover settings per input.

I look forward to trying the new firmware this week and see if it makes a difference in my setup.

Thanks for the "impression". I have not done any upgrades on the 990 or my Oppo 980H as I usually say 'if it's not broke. don't fix it" but after your thoughts I think I'll give it a try.

I had some time today to disconnect my 990 and hook it up to my PC to install the 3.24 firmware.
I listened to one CD for an hour (before update) and then again (after update).
I always use Upsample mode, and re-entered my info back into the 990 after it reset.
I could tell a definite difference right away.
The bass through the main speakers and sub was more pronounced. Fronts were set to Large, 40Hz, and the Sub was set to L/R+Sub, as I have used these setting for 2 years.
I changed the fronts to Small, crossover 40Hz, and Sub to Yes and -10dB.
This now sounded right. There was still noticeable bass, but not nearly as overpowering as when set to L/R+Sub.
Sound quality was still good, and there seemed to be a little more detail in the instruments.
One thing I imminently noticed was that instruments now sound like they are 'in front' of the speakers, instead of at the speakers or behind them.
But instrument also seem to be 'pushed' slightly to the sides and not 'filling' the center as much.
I tried a few other CDs and after a 2 hours I got use to the 'new' sound.
In the end, I would say the upgrade is worth it, as bass management works better and there is more resolution using Upsample mode.
I'm just not sure why instruments that use to be heard in the dead center are now closer to the left or right side of the soundstage.
Not all CDs are like this, which is confusing. If its a small group (quartet/quintet) it is more noticeable than a larger group (orchestra + chorus).

I haven't tried any DVDs yet, so can't comment on how the new firmware will effect it.

FAUguy, thanks for sharing your impressions. About 99% of the time I have had my 990, my mains were set to small crossed at 40Hz and my sub to LFE Only.

When I tried my sub at L/R+Sub, it was way too much bass for anything multi-channel - I have 7 speakers and all others were crossed at 80Hz.

Before the update, the Small Mains (40Hz) and "LFE Only" was the best setting for multi-channel in my system, but this caused Stereo 7 to sound better than Upsample, which sounded too bright, and regular stereo, which sounded a little dead for my taste.

I have to go through a few of my DVD movies that I typically demo, but I already know I am going to like what I hear. I played The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over DVD in DTS yesterday and it sounded awesome.

I don't think it gives you the option to have the fronts st to Small and the sub set to LFE. If the frot are set to Small, then the sub is set to Yes. The only time the sub can be set to LFE is if the fronts are set to Large.

Oops! I meant Yes. Thanks.

I have not read the instructions yet for the FW update;

Do I have to unplug eveything from the 990 or can I use my (portable) labtop to run the update?

From what I understand, you can leave everything connected to the 990.