The switcher is designed to be HDCP compliant (same concept as the DVI switching in the Model 990). There may be some sources that don't do HDCP compliance consistently with switchers, but in most cases that is not a problem - and those cases will tend to cause problems with any DVI/HDMI switch.

The only volume indicator other than the front panel is an on-screen pop-up that works with any composite or s-video input. For component or DVI inputs, the front panel is all you've got. The volume control is global (no setting a different level for each input), but there is a start-up default that can be set so that any time you turn the unit on it will automatically go to that volume level.