I purchased a B-stock 970 in late '06, and hadn't been able to set it up until now.

Loaded the new firmware, and proceeded to install. Great connectors, nice and solid. The build quality of the 970 overall is very good.

Once powered up, initial setup was fairly easy, only thing that happened was a strange sound coming from the right front channel, like the DAC had not fully decoded the digital stream. A reset of the unit solved this.

Sound quality is far, far beyond the price point of this piece of equipment. Previously I was using an Adcom GTP 830 pre/pro, and the Outlaw compares favorably in every aspect. Maybe the one thing I don't like so much is the delay in the display when changing volume, and the slight delay the pre/pro experiences when switching surround modes, kind of annoying with DirecTv which changes surround modes every time an ad comes up.

Stereo playback is exceptional. I have rediscovered my CD collection, using a Pioneer Elite DV-45A universal player connected to the 970 via the coaxial digital output. I was surprised at the very high quality of the DACs, and stereo music sounds sweet and detailed. Granted, I did install a Musical Fidelity X10v3 tube buffer between the L/R outputs of the 970 and the L/R inputs of my Adcom GFA 7000 amp.

Surround sound is also extremely good, my reference DVD is peter Gabriel's Growing Up Live, possibly the best-recorded DVD out on the market. Mercy Street sounded sweeter than I've ever heard it, and the positioning of the instruments and musicians was extremely accurate.

DirecTV playback is also very good, my only complaint being the slow change in surround modes, which occasionally leaves a small part of audio out between changes.

The video quality blew me away! I had my DirecTV HR20 HD DVR previously connected directly to an Optoma RD50 DLP RPTV. The picture was good enough, but when I saw what was coming out of the Outlaw I was simply floored! SD channels look almost (but not quite) as good as HD channels. The upsampling really works!

So, all in all, so far I'm quite happy and impressed with the 970.

I'll post up more impressions as I live with the 970 for some more time.

Thanks Outlaws for this exceptional product!

I didn't think the 970 did anything to the video signal other than switch between sources. Could it be that you had a bad cable or connector?

composite and S-video...
are up-converted to component at 480i...

Technically, what's being done there is transcoding rather than up-converting.

I stand corrected...

One thing I did notice, is that I can't use the remote to turn the system on. For powering off it works fine. Is this the way it should be?

That is in fact correct - sort of.

The 970 provides discrete on and off commands, which is great when using a third-party universal remote that offers macros (like my MX-700 or the MX-500 that I used to use). The way this is done is actually pretty convenient, once you understand what is happening: the "Power" button is a "power off" discrete command. Any input button (Video1 through Video4, DVD, CD, ...) will also serve as a discrete "power on" command at the same time that it sets the 970 to that input.

If you want to watch a DVD, just press "TNR" to control the 970 and then pick "DVD" - the 970 will turn on and go to the DVD input at the same time.

got it! kinda like European TVs... had a helluva time figuring those out LOL!

I just ordered a Harmony 1000 and will use that as a master control.

Thanks for clearing that up.

And thank you for not screaming at me: "RTFM!!!"

Last night I experienced the first "no-audio" issue. Was flipping thru the DirecTv channels, (am a consummate channel surfer) when the audio completely dropped off.

The surround mode change was between DD and PLII, the DTV box is connected to the 970 with an optical cable.

Changed channels and audio came back partially, turned 970 off and back on again and audio came back in full.

Have you installed the beta firmware? I don't know what version of firmware your 970 shipped with, but I'm certain that it's not the beta.

Yes I did, before setting up.

Since I put the 970 in an enclosed cabinet that's pretty difficult to access, I left a serial cable connected to the back for future updates.

What is DAC chip used in 970?

The Model 970 uses a Cirrus CS42528.

Gonk,
After review the below Errata of the CS42528 from Cirrus website, look like the "no audio" issues is causing by the DAC circuitry and the firmware fix will not resolve the whole problems without some minor hardware modifications (including PCB layout).

I talked to Steve couple weeks ago and he is really confident that is just a software probems and it will be fixed.

I just returned my 1070 to get the 970/7075/LFM-2 combo and installed the same beta firmware. The no audio issues happen more often than my old 1070. It is also explain why the no audio problem is causing by the CS42528 DAC implementation.

Hopefully my assumption is wrong and Outlaw will release an official firmware fix soon, that will make a lot of folks here happy.

http://www.cirrus.com/en/pubs/errata/ER586D1.pdf
http://www.cirrus.com/en/pubs/errata/ER586C3.pdf
http://www.cirrus.com/en/pubs/errata/ER586A2.pdf

I suspect that the problem really is software - the CS42528 is fairly widely used and Outlaw's had a farflung team on the "no audio" problem (based on some comments Scott's made about the work done to date). A hardware fix would have likely been easier to isolate, and thus easier to resolve once and for all.

When I was looking into this problem, I learned that Sunfire resorted to a factory-installed eeprom chip replacement on their TG2 when they had similar problems. Apparently, they were able to fix the TG3 audio drop-outs via firmware upgrade without their customers having to send their units to the factory.

These problems are more common than I thought. That's why I stuck with Outlaw before spending thousands more on somebody else. Outlaw Audio is one of the few companies that I have seen that addresses their problems in a public forum such as this.

I've become numb to the no audio bug. I cycle through the audio modes (my fix) and that's it. I don't call Outlaw anymore and after all this time, I don't expect any true fix from Outlaw.

I have more serious issues with my unit like a non working front panel and popping sounds. Outlaw promised to replace my unit (third time) and they never called me back.

I'm tired of the 970 and Outlaw in general.

The no-audio bug seems to have become less and less frequent lately. I DID experience quite a fright when I was flipping thru the DirecTV channels and I was nailed by speaker-busting noise from all channels including the sub. Only a power-off solved the problem, it got so loud the clipping lights on my amp all came on steadily. Luckily I was quick to turn the thing off and no damage to my speakers resulted.

well, today while watching the Indy race my 970 crashed completely... no audio, no response to remote, no response to standby switch. As my 970 is in an enclosed cabinet with difficult access to the back, I could not use the power switch. Had to unplug my Panamax from the wall to reset it...

by cheebs...
I've been there and done that....but with a 1070.... :rolleyes:
I'm starting to suspect some kind issue with the hardware needing an occasional reboot...same as a PC...
as long as it doesn't become a brick...and keeps sounding sooooooo sweet....
I'll put up with the grief....

And again last night, while flipping thru the DirecTV HD channels, a super loud buzz at around 1khz coming from left front only. Power off/on again with remote solved.
I agree that the sound is sweet but I'm beginning to think we're dealing with a major hardware flaw that no amount of firmware upgrades will fix.
At this point in time I'm wishing I'd spent the extra coin on an Adcom pre/pro.

I replaced a GTP 830 with the Outlaw, only because I wanted component and DVI switching, and in 3 years of owning it never experienced anything like this.

that damn HD tv...
I also get this problem...but with a pc ATSC tuner (off-air HDTV)
maybe all the different flavors of dolby digital give the cirrus chip a work out...
that once in a while....is simply too much for it...
a buddy\business partner of mine with an Anthem AVM 30...
chuckles at the mention of another crash...
but hey for the cash...
I'm still happy...
oh! make that very happy with my 1070...
the DVI switching...
the sound...
the capabilities...
the look...
and the very high "schwing" factor
for the money...
what else can I say...
like I said...I'll put up with minor woes...
like a finicky child that needs...
a little extra loving care...once in a while...

until...or should I say IF...
the HDMI issue ever becomes stable...maybe then...I'll start eyeing something else...
Outlaw should have something in those flavors by then...
and that's what I'll be looking at....