I posted something about this in one of the other threads, but what is everyone looking for in a mid-priced processor?

I can do without balanced connections and a lot of the legacy connections, but dual, stereo sub outputs would be great. Auto Room EQ would be really useful (I'd pay a little extra for Audyssey's XT32 with the bass/sub correction). I would also like a front display you could turn off. I liked the thought process behind the 975 of "trimming the fat" and going for sound quality over everything else, and I would love the next pre/pro to include these features.

I really agree with this sort of philosophy. As cool as the ridunkulous feature list of options (and associated NASCAR like logo panel) might be to some drooling idiot at Best Buy I would actually PREFER to not have built-in access to every streaming service operating in this solar system, crazy connection options that I will in all likelihood NEVER use, LED display that could run advertising at an NBA stadium and more sources of digital / RF noise than your average Soviet era air-to-ground radio jammer...

Peter has to find a way to put a big ol smooch on the cheeks (not saying which set) of whatever MASTER OF ELECTRONICDOM that crushed the last effort and/or BUILD THE DARNED THING IN A COUNTRY where legal agreements actually mean something and just shove high resolution auto-EQ in a box with top notch connectivity(XLR might actually be nice in my book, but if low noise circuit design and topology gets 99% of the benefit...), modern OSD, high quality DAC chips, vanishingly low noise floor, non-disco party display and a front panel that looks like it belongs in my living room not up on the high bank at Talledega... Be nice if the list price did not have four digits in it either...

Personally, I'm looking for "processing" in a mid-priced "processor". In this case it would mean the latest surround processing (PLIIz, Neo:X) and competent room correction (XT32). Problem is, DSP chipsets and licensing fees can add up, making a couple of my favourite features conflict with one of Outlaw's main features: affordable pricing.

I was ready to buy the 997/998 with Trinnov (almost bought Sherwood's version to use as a pre-pro), but rarely check the Outlaw forums anymore as nothing is happening here. Probably will now either go with the Emotiva XMC-1 with Dirac which looks like it will be released at Emofest the beginning of Sept., or wait for the higher end RMC-1 version. Would be interested if they came out with a state of the art class D amp like the nCore nc400.

The Anthem MRX line of receivers seem to have gone over well. I know that we are not comparing apples to apples here. But, the success of the MRX line of receivers, is proof that there is a market for a "networkless" processor with the emphasis placed on audio. Room correction is also a MUST have !

What the 978 was supposed to be, but I do not want room correction? Doesn't everyone realize that room correction will "correct" the sound at the sweet spot only?

Everyone doesn't, because it's not true.

The only way correction will be limited to the sweet spot is if you measure only from the sweet spot.

However, if you measure from multiple seats, then most room correction systems will correct problems that are common to those seats.

In fact the better room correction systems offering higher resolution are specifically designed to be used in the manner sdurani describes -- multiple measurements from multiple points in the room.

If you have not heard the difference that MultiEQ-XT (or the even more tweakable PRO variant or even more precise MultiEQ-XT32/Pro ... http://www.audyssey.com/technologies/multeq/flavors) can make with even a VERY high end system it is frankly astounding. I was more than a little skeptical before I heard the very very nice Wisdom system but it is really a night & day sort of difference that makes the whole experience noticeably better NO MATTER where you sit / stand in a properly running system in even a very large room.

The key is that with the high resolution filters and a high quality system the software is truly calculating both the frequency related problems AND the time domain issues then applying filters that allow the most performance for all measured positions -- http://www.wisdomaudio.com/products_sc-1.php

The "guts" of the algorithm are in the chipset that Audyssey licenses and from discussions with technical people at Wisdom and some of the other respected audio manufacturers the certification that Audyssey goes through is pretty thorough so the potential variation IN THE SOFTWARE is eliminated. Of course that still leaves lots of room for a whole lot of other digital noise to impact the rest of the chain, to say nothing of the various limitations of the analog part of the reproducing equipment so it still makes a lot of sense to get as a high quality system as one can reasonably afford...

And Audyssey is not alone in this style of room correction -- the Trinnov system is also strongly oriented toward making the whole '3D sound space' as realistic for as many listeners as possible: http://www.trinnov.com/technologies/loudspeaker-room-optimization/concept-6/ A very similar philosophy is also the foundation of the RoomPerfect system from Steinway-Lyngdorf http://www.steinwaylyngdorf.com/technology-and-innovation/roomperfect (I believe KRK was forced to cancel their Ergo product based on the same technology -- http://www.krksys.com/manuals/ergo/KRK_ERGO-Brochure.pdf) Although Anthem chooses not the highlight the "3D" aspects of their system the fact is they also build their system with MULTIPLE room measurements in mind: http://www.anthemav.com/downloads/ARC-1_PDS.pdf



In short folks that DO NOT UNDERSTAND what these systems actually achieve are perhaps the single greatest impediment to manufacturers pushing even more mathematically complex implementations down into the more affordable products. Of course it does not help that so few people even visit a retail showroom to actually LISTEN to the very noticeable improvements capable with with such a system but that is a whole other issue...

I will add that the I am not sure if there isn't a problem with marketing these systems as "auto room correction" -- there has been research that shows "flattest response" is not really the goal. Listeners judge the best sounding system to be not necessarily closest to spectrum neutral but that which gives the most pleasing spectral balance and factors in the room gain: http://seanolive.blogspot.com/2009/11/subjective-and-objective-evaluation-of.html and also http://dagogo.com/lyngdorf-rp-1-roomperfect-room-correction-device-review

Finally, in the context of what these means for firms like Outlaw, that frankly NEED a competitive advantage if they are to remain relevant, I would hope they somehow "partner" with firms that care more about advancing the overall technology than being a "me too" audio firm. Seems very likely that in an increasingly "venture capital" driven economy the potential for creating a real physical product that builds off the something like Open Source Software could be a real game changer -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_room_correction#Open_Source_Implementations

OK, I want to bring this back up one more time. This time I'd like a comment by someone at Outlaw, Nancy maybe you could enlighten us?

Is there anything on Outlaw's road map that resembles a new processor? The 975 is cool, but I'm really looking for something higher end. I remember well the huge debacle of a few years ago when we were promised (endlessly) the next new processor was just around the corner. And I'm sure there are people at Outlaw that are still reeling from that mess. I'm not asking for anything as detailed as that, but it would be nice if you could say something like, "we are working on something and hope to have announcement sometime this year" or "we currently do not expect to have any new processor announcements this year", either way is fine. I just think it would be nice if we had some sort of "semi official" word from Outlaw on the prospect of a new higher end (relative to the 975) processor.

Thank You in advance for your consideration in this matter.

OK. We are currently working a few new products, one of them is a processor. Sorry, it is too early to give you more info regarding the timing. Stay Tuned!