Well I wouldn't buy the UMC-1 until it had been out for a while and gotten several positive reviews, not after all I've read about the LMC-1. I should point out that at that time I also heard quite a bit of negative reports about the Outlaw 970 and several attempts to fix the firmware (I hope THAT'S over with!). Which is why I finally ended up buying a used Onkyo '701 receiver on Ebay. At this point the 990 looks tempting, but quite frankly still not quite cheap enough due to feature creep. IF the UMC-1 ISN'T crap or vaporware it's like 90% of the 997 features at the 990 price. (A BIG IF though).
And if Outlaw has a "977" up their sleeves in secret, well I'm just going to have to be patient I guess. The Onkyo '701 is still good enough, at least until I finally spring for a BD player to replace my Oppo '81 (especially if I augment it with some external power amps).