Greetings, I am running a simple HT/Music set up and using my Denon as the PRE/PRO. I have a small apartment and don't need a lot of the bells and whistles that some of these mega-PRE's possess. Why do you think, if you do that I would do better with a 990 than the 970? I think I could trial the 970 and return in 30 days if I wanted to change up? (BTW, I told OUTLAW that they should give you a pair of their speakers to demo. Your endorsement would go a long way to making considerable sales from this forum.) Have they fixed the problem with the 970?

Good afternoon, Dog_lover. I'm quite happy with my 990 and like some of the little features that differentiate it from the 970 (editable input names, addressable video inputs), but for a simple system the 970's feature set will cover things well. The general opinion from folks who have used both is that for movies the sonic differences between the two are very slim, while for music the 990's better DAC's really can make a difference.

The final word isn't in yet on the death of the 970's "no audio" bug and the beta firmware is still not an official firmware update, but the feedback around the forum has generally suggested that it's made a definite and significantly positive difference.

Hi gon and dog_lover.
I first obtained a 990 soon after it came out. This for the living room. In another room (mostly music) I thought I didn't need all the features (which I don't) so I ordered the 970.

I felt that the musical differences were considerable so I returned the 970. Sonically there is a differene. HTH

I am scared at this time to purchase the 970 after reading about all the problems with the no audio and the other issues with this unit. The combos they are offering are great prices right now, and I wish they would do it for the 990. What do you think is the percentage of people with the 970 having these problems.

At one time, the number was small but difficult to pin down - it was not an issue for every unit, certainly. For people using the beta firmware (see this thread for the firmware), it would appear that the "no audio" problems have dropped off significantly or even ceased entirely for those people who were experiencing it.

Gonk, greetings to you as well. I'm not sure what you mean by 'editable input names and addressable video inputs' please clarify. Why the difference? Just the chips? What do these chips do? (And here you thought you would spend a nice evening with your lovely wife and daughter.)BBTW, have you ever done any beta-testing for Outlaw?

Gonk, greetings to you as well. I'm not sure what you mean by 'editable input names and addressable video inputs' please clarify. Why the difference? Just the chips? What do these chips do? (And here you thought you would spend a nice evening with your lovely wife and daughter.)BBTW, have you ever done any beta-testing for Outlaw?

Badger_71 wrote:

I am scared at this time to purchase the 970 after reading about all the problems with the no audio and the other issues with this unit

So if you can manage the cost difference just get the 990. You won't be sorry.

Dog_lover: editable means that you can change the name of the input. For example: instead of it saying VIDEO 1 you can have it say Sat or LaserD or whatever. You can change the names of all inputs except phono and tuner. Addressable means that you can tell video 1 to use its analog audio input or optical # whaever or coax #_ etc. It makes it so convenient.

However we'll see: if the wife catches on

nfaguys gave a good answer here - The 990 will let you change the labels for the input names to whatever makes sense to you (I've got DVD, CD, DVD-R, Cable, SMS-1, Roku, and iPod, for example), and you can assign either DVI or any of the three component inputs to any video source (DVD and Video5 through Video5).

I have done some beta testing over the years - most notably a product that never entered production (Outlaw's IR1000 internet radio).

This is a product whose time is surely coming. Hopefully, Outlaw is considering some sort of "networking" product? (not sure if that's the right word.)

hmmm .... Gonk beta tested the IR-1000 and it didn't go into production eh? Cause and effect? :p

Heh-heh-heh... Maybe I took the concept of "test to destruction" a bit too far, killed the whole project? Oopsy.

The IR1000 was fairly different from the media players that have appeared since its development got tripped up by royalty changes from the librarian of congress back in 2002. I don't know if Outlaw would pursue a media player now - the market is much more cluttered with competition ranging from the Slim Devices Squeezebox and Roku Labs SoundBridge to the AppleTV to the XBox, whereas in 2002 there was just the Audiotron - but it would certainly not be similar to the IR1000.

By the way - glad to see you around again, Pat.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was also involved in testing the IR-1000, so I guess it could have been partly my fault too. No, you are of course correct, it was the royalty changes that hit just prior to its release that really killed it. I have to be honest, I at times wonder how some of these newer streaming systems have dealt with that. Alas.

Not sure I'll be posting a lot, but I'll at least be lurking for a while. My 1050 (upstairs) & 950 (downstairs HT) are still doing journeyman service and therefore I really don't have an overwhelming urge to replace either. As I mentioned to you in private email Gonk, I'm likely going to be buying a new TV to replace my 36" 4:3 SDTV in the living room and the one I'm considering has three HDMI v1.3 ports, so I think I'll hold off until someone offers a receiver or, preferably, a prepro that supports switching them (hint, hint -- Scott, Peter & crew ). For the near term, I imagine I'll do any needed video switching at the TV and the audio switching at the 1050.