Going back to my observation from last week (above), I also wonder how many others noticed that, before it was removed, the now-absent update to which I refer was stickied to the top of every single thread on this forum, in addition to its expected posting under the "Announcements" heading. That always struck me as very odd, but I figured that Outlaw simply wanted maximum exposure of the update's contents to all forum visitors. It must have taken some effort to remove all traces of it.

Which brings me to the point I wish to make... I can't see any reason for deliberately removing that update unless one or both of its two main revelations (ESS DACs, switching power supply) will no longer be true of the "finished" product. I can't see the power supply as a cause for unresolvable firmware issues, so I have to wonder whether the ESS DACs have been dropped. That wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world - there are excellent alternatives - but at this stage of the game could result in even longer delays. Food for thought...

I too noticed the curious effects of what appears to have been a pretty thorough "search and delete: function"...

Part of me believes that due to the speed with which DACs are evolving / dropping in price it is unwise to include in a pre-pro at all . Now I can completely understand how / why the marketing of a new pre-pro might be temporarily enhanced by touting the inclusive of a DAC, but the long term value of that DAC may be first part of the purchase that the gadget minded digital audio enthusiast might regret.

I suspect that the relative turmoil among the manufacturers and marketers of OEM grade DACs is also a significant factor in trying to pin down a stable supply of usable components. While theoretically any given OEM DAC ought to be "plug & play" with another, the details of integrating signal paths could very well get tricky...

Further I can easily imagine that the dissolution of one supplier relationship would result in a "late night purge" of any public mention of prior promises.


The "tea leaf reading" and general sleuthing that occurs when there are a lack of official annoucements is similarly something that the Outlaws could / should have imagined.

Exactly, and it seems like I wasn't the only one that noticed the "cleansing" of a previous announcement about the 978. While Outlaw has no obligation to be transparent, they have gone WAY out of their way in the past to give the appearance of transparency so the fact that this has stopped makes you wonder about the progress of the battle in China.

Call me a pessimist...call me a realist...but recent history would dictate that all might not be well. Any tidbits of info showing the glass being half full would certainly be welcomed by their customer base (certainly THIS customer), while continued opacity will likely be met with more legacy customers buying elsewhere.

Best,

I think it's about time to look for other options...... SUCKS!

That is what I was afraid of. Yet more discouraging news about the ever invisible 978. By the time this blows over they will bring out the 979.

Their R&D will get so expensive that a finished unit will be over 2k.

GaryB,

Please allow me to clear up a little confusion regarding the August update's disappearance. When one of the forum admins posted the NL, it was uploaded as a "sticky" in every section of the forum. At some point within the last few weeks, I attempted to correct the global announcement by limiting its posting to the "Announcements" section as we do with all of our newsletters. I was unaware until just now, that the post had been completely removed.

This was not intentional (in fact, the original link from the Model 978 product page is still there)! I will go back to the original NL and re-post the update in the Announcements section where it should have been preserved.

As far as a new update is concerned, there are still items that must be resolved before we can provide another newsletter. We know we are overdue. We are working day and night to get this right. Once the outstanding items have been addressed we will provide an update/schedule for the Model 978's availability.

Best,
Scott

Thanks Scott. But it would be nice to have an understanding of what "items" need to be resolved. I think many of us here want to know what's causing the current delay.

You can never over communicate with your (potential) customers.

Scott, thank you for reposting the August update.

Rob

Thanks, Scott... I accept your explanation. In fairness, I know that you and Peter check the forum from time to time and when nobody responded to my original (Feb. 3) post regarding the missing update, I had to assume it (the update) was removed intentionally, despite the persistent broken link on the product page, of which I was well aware.

None of the above addresses my growing misgivings about this entire project, however, which appear to be shared by others, as you are no doubt aware. I await your next newsletter with interest, but I'm not willing to wait forever.

Respectfully,
GaryB