I have the "no audio" problem regularly, and although I can live with it (not much choice without spending a lot more), it's really difficult to appease my wife, who isn't interested in the machinery of the HT system, nor why we should accept the 970 in spite of its flaws. To her, the system is a black box, and she just wants it to work. Does anyone else have this problem, i.e. another user of the system who has no reason to be forgiving of the 970?

For the record, our problem occurs most often when changing channels on the cable box. The 970 will fail to acquire the audio stream from the new channel around 10% of the time. Changing the channel again often fixes the problem, especially if we give the unit a few seconds to lock on to the signal, but my wife has no patience for this and will often give up and switch to another channel before giving the 970 a chance to fix itself.

I don't think it's just a matter of the interaction with external source components, either. I often get no audio when I turn on the 970 to listen to FM radio. It really is pretty frustrating that this unit can't even find a signal that originates within the same box.

Bruce,
I've encountered the same issue switching digital audio sources, but I don't normally use the 970 when watching TV. I've run into some problems with dgital audio signal acquisition and will get no audio like you report. I think this is an issue with the 970's architecture. If I regularly used it for cable/satellite I would probably be looking for something else (my wife wouldn't tolerate it either!)

I primarily use the 970 for analog music listening and watching movies. If you aren't cycling through digital audio sources (channel surfing or simply changing channels on cable/satellite) it works well enough.

If I do upgrade in the future for HT I'll likely purchase a receiver for use as a preamp and perhaps keep the 970 for 2 channel audio use.

Hello Bruce,

Please give Edward in tech support a call today (866-OUTLAWS). Between performing a software update and some potential input configuration changes I am confident we can alleviate these issues for you.

Best,

Scott

I had the same issues with the 970 with the addition of some strange noises when the 970 could not acquire the digital signal. I figured one day, this noise might break something else (tweeters perhaps). I decided to use a Denon 2808 as a preamp. The 970 is now in another room as a 2 channel preamp - no problems at all in this configuration. I had mixed thoughts doing this, as I really liked the 970.

Oddly enough, the 970 started out just fine, then the no audio problem became more frequent.

I will continue to use the 2808 until I something better comes along - preferably from Outlaw. Any pictures yet of the next gen pre/pro? I read over the SN brochure (electronic version) and that unit presents as very cool.

Unfortunately the no audio thing is real. I don't get it real often, certainly not enough to troubleshoot it. I can't reliably reproduce it.
I could go a month without it then get it twice in two weeks.

BUT- Every time it happens I get the look that says, "Why do I need all this crap hooked up to just watch TV?" and sometimes I get the words.

I don't blame outlaw for it, I just live with it. Back when the 970 was new I did some research and I remember finding that it is a flaw in the chip from Cirrus. I think that Outlaw has worked real hard for a software fix for this hardware problem. Certainly if you cant reprodue it you can't fix it.

The sound from the 970 really is first rate. In this day and age there processors and receivers are more like computers than stereo gear. I'm afraid that glitches are here to stay. Windows still blue screens (Actually in Vista last night I got an error window that the description was BlueScreenCrash)

Look at the whole HDMI audio debacle. I haven't heard of one product that is flawless and they all have some sort of audio lock problem.

As a former 970 owner and a current 990 owner, let me throw in my 2 cents.
Both the 970 and the 990 are wonderful pieces of gear.
Outlaw audio may not like me saying this but, I would recommend to anyone to grab a 990 NOW while they last. Don't wait for the new processor. At $699, the 990 is a heck of a steal. That's almost $400 less than what I paid for mine.
If you are waiting for "the next thing" in audio, you will be waiting for many years before content catches up. Not to get any holy-wars started, but just think how long DTS, which I find superior to DD, has been around and see how much content you find. DD 5.1 will be the de-facto standard for a long time. I plan on keeping my 990 for as long as I can and I do have a 7.2 system. If 7.1 source material ever catches on, I'll just look for a source that can do its own decoding and take advantage of the 990's analog inputs.
By the way, when earlier Sunfire Theater Grand processors (and some Classe) had similar problems, they were never really able to fix the problem entirely either.
So, in summary, I would upgrade to the 990 and the price drop alone would justify whatever you do with the 970 (keep it, sell it, gift it).
Just my two cents...

It's funny, actually not...

I got an irate e-mail today about needing to have a conversation about how the TV is hooked up. Through some troubleshooting it seems that the 970 is at fault.

This may be it's last hurrah in our house. It truly happens infrequently, but has VERY bad timing, like usually when I'm not home.

Since I have purchased the 970 we bought a house and had a baby (he is 3 months old and we're sleep deprived). So there is NO money for upgrades. Lucky for me I still have an older processor (Dolby Digital Only) that the outlaw replaced. I'll have to lose either my PS3 or HD-DVD player to get everything connected to my TV.

Good Luck to all.

My advise,
Don't buy a product with issues. It may not be able to be fixed.

I ran into the no audio problem just a few minutes ago again...this is one of the worst 'episodes' I've had in a long time. I haven't used my system in a week, and I sat down to listen to some music (2 channel, analog) via my Oppo. Everything powered up, no sound. No volume control via remote. No volume control via knob on unit. Remote doesn't respond at all, except to power off. I shut off the master power switch, waited a few minutes, powered back on. (That usually solves the problem). No good. Did this 3 more times after powering up and attempting to use the remote. I powered down again and unplugged the 970, found the number for Outlaw support and picked up the phone, plugged it back in, and presto, now it works. This took me about 15 minutes to go through all this and get up and running. Really not acceptable. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but when this happens it drives me nuts. I really enjoy the sound of my Outlaw gear (when the 970 works) but I'm really thinking about selling it all and moving on.

I suggest getting rid of the wife :-)

Liz,
Been there, done that, and ain't doing it again (too expensive)!!! But I'm not the OP!

As far as the no audio issue, in my case, and I think others as well, it's more of a 'no response' issue. The 970 powers on and you can't make it do anything...either via remote or on the unit itself. It seems like it's a no audio issue since it doesn't output any sound...but realistically it's a problem where the unit simply will not respond to any input until it's powered off (and in my last case, unplugged) and then powered on again. My unit was supposedly shipped with the latest upgrades when I bought it last year, and it still does this. It gets very frustrating. As I said above I'm about ready to sell my Outlaw gear and move on.... Anyone looking for a 7125?

The sort of "complete lock up" seeems pretty different from the "no audio" bug. I haven't followed the 970 as closely as I maybe should have, so I don't have anything in my head on if or how many others have had a similar recurring issue. Have you asked Outlaw about this? It may be something unrelated that could be fixed...

Gonk,
I thought I'd seen posts in another thread that others had the same problem?? Maybe I'm wrong. Guess I can give them a call and see.

Like I said, I haven't followed those discussions real closely, but I don't recall that being a typical issue.

This apparently was a byproduct of the latest upgrade that some but not all users had. I am not sure how to do it, but if you could revert to the prior firmware it should fix this problem. No one reported this problem until the latest firmware. I didn't upgrade my unit because of problems like this reported after upgrading. My no audio problems are manageable and not frequent enough to justify the chance of this bug in the upgrade.

I kind of thought that what I've experienced was mentioned as a problem elsewhere...anyway, I talked to Edward this morning...my 970 is taking a trip back to the Outlaws.

Got my 970 back...capacitor issue...works fine now but I sold it. Will be in line for the 997.

og33,
PM Sent

My wife is among those who hate on the equipment. My 1070 experiences the same bugs (apparently) as the 970. One trip back to homebase in MA helped my no audio bugs tremendously though. But the all-out lockups, however infrequent, bring wife chiding into play. Funny though, when I say "so we should buy a new receiver", I'm told "no."

I was having the 'no audio' issue every time I turned on the system. I cursed and swore. One day, my DirecTV HD receiver failed and I prevailed upon DirecTV to send a new one. I have had no more 'no audio' issues. Just because the processor emits no sound doesn't necessarily mean it's the processors fault.

I would somewhat agree with Chili's statement. It's not always my 1070. I've noticed since receiving my 1070 back from it's factory firmware update then when I do get a no-audio incident, 9 times out of 10, it's my Comcast/Motorolla DVR box. Simply hitting the "jump back 15 seconds" button acts as a refresh and that brings the sound back. But with that said, I ran my Yamaha RX-V750 for over a year with an identical model box and never got no-audio bugs. But then again, I wasn't hearing Outlaw-quality sound either. You win much and lose a little. If all of life were like that, I'd be in good shape!

I have a 990 that will loose all sound in a TV program or even better, will just output the low end. What does it is the detection of a signal change.

To clear it up, I switch Dolby modes, and all is back to normal. It's not just the 997...

Try this as well.

Only turn on the Pre-Amp and Amp.
Put the preamp on an input that does not show the SB speakers as being active. No components turned on.
Turn the volume to -75 then -76.
Turn the Pre-Amp to an input that shows the SB as being active.
Turn the volume to -75 then -76.

Do you hear a ticking coming through the speakers?

I can unplug EVERYTHING from the Preamp and use the jack in the front and still hear a tick when I go from -75 to -76 in the example above.

I've not run into that with my 990. That might justify a call to Outlaw. What firmware version do you have installed.

I have both a 990 and a 970. I've had the 990 longer and have had absolutely no issues with it. It is truly a fantastic piece of equipment that does exactly as advertised. However, the same cannot be said of the 970, unless you count "audio dropouts and complete freeze-ups" to be exactly as advertised. If you are thinking of getting a 970, make extra room for the larger 990 and spend the little extra money. You will be much more satisfied.

I think I agree with you. And I just got my 970 B-stock 3-4 weeks ago. The good news is that I just got it as an interim until the 997 arrives. I still get the coupon and maybe I can find a friend who needs an upgrade.

Sadly, with the issues I have already had, I don't know if I want to give it to a good friend

Just to wrap up this thread - I worked with the Outlaws to try and resolve my issues with the 970, and although it took a few attempts and more than one trip back to the Outlaw homeland (mine was a particularly recalcitrant unit, apparently), in the end everything worked out to my complete satisfaction.

My wife - who was the original inspiration for this thread - had sunk for a while to the point of demanding that we go to the local electronics super-store to buy a $300 AV receiver because "at least it will work, right?" Luckily, we were spared that possible conclusion and instead we're all still happily living the Outlaw life.

Many thanks to Scott and the tech guys at Outlaw.