Theres a lot to like about the 976, but of course no component is perfect. Maybe Outlaw can address some issues, maybe not !
I can live with the issues i see, but maybe there are others with issues that really should be addressed. Lets hear em !

I really dont like that i cannot rename the inputs to match my components. Thats old school Outlaw !

Blue power button is crazy bright! If i had that inside my viewing room, it would be covered with some blackout tape or something the day i got it. Thankfully i have a separate media closet outside the theater. I have one component thats even worse. A Newport Theater director - It has a row of five of these bright blue LEDs. Crazy !

The remotes very narrow field of view has been commented on a lot here. I have an IR repeater system which does help a little, or maybe im just getting better at aiming.

You would think that the same feature that allows dimming the main display could dim the blue light also. Renaming the gizmos while nice is probably not gonna happen. The remote issue needs to be fixed ASAP.

I will add that each input should have an audio gain adjustment in the input setup menu.
My turntable has by far the lowest volume output, my Oppos Bluray the highest. I can lower the Oppos output within the player, but it is a master audio control. All the apps within the Oppo also have differing gain, further muddying the waters - i wish they were each adjustable also.

I'm loving the sound quality and integration options of my 976! I really appreciate the Outlaws product management and engineering decisions.

Here is my request: improved audio bitstream detection/locking.

My Apple TV and Xbox One X (both feeding through HDMI) seem to be tripping up the 976 when silent or switching between menu/navigation sounds and content bitstreams. The 976 misses most Apple TV menu navigation audio unless it is in rapid succession. The Xbox is more troubling as whenever I pause or advance chapters I get a burst of digital white noise (for less than a second) before a Dolby TrueHD or DTS MA bitstream locks correctly when playing 4k content. I think this is because the Xbox is switching to Dolby Digital (or DTS) for its own system/menu sounds then back to the content bitstream. I admit that these could just as well be issues with the ATV and Xbox as sources but I have not experienced similar behavior when using the same sources and different gear (TV or HDMI attached Soundbar audio).

I also notice a delay/fade-in on audio bitstreams coming in from the coaxial input. I use Roon to send audio to an Allo DigiOne player and my playlists change sample rates / bit depths depending on the track.

This may be too much tech for the price point...but I would like to see the OSD show Speaker Trim Levels with the touch of a button on the remote...then allow you to adjust each level up or down...all while watching and listening to the particular source. This is nice to have for Movies (due to the differences in sub woofer low bass and center channel dialog) and Blu-ray concert discs (due to wide range of recording quality).

PS...I like the bright blue power button...but that's just me!

I second the "on the fly" trim levels on the remote. I would love that.

Regarding channel trim levels - viewing and changing them on the fly is documented on page 37 of the owners manual (far right column "To adjust channel levels during playback:"). You use the "test" button on the remote, press enter (to leave test tones off) then use right and left to move between channels and up and down to adjust the level.

Thanks, I know that, Outlaw customer service advised me...but I really like to adjust levels with the aid of OSD on the TV, not the unit.

Id like to see an adjustable delay on the second sub output so the room modes can be manipulated. Seldom can we place subs in the ideal locations.

In addition to granular delay control on each sub output (good call, this could really help fine tune) I would like to see an option to set the low pass crossover to the subs without a high pass on the mains (when using large mains to allow more overlap). There is an option to do this with multichannel DD/DTS but I'd like an option to do it with stereo.

While I'm on the subject, I would like a better explanation of the "Sub Trim" on the "LFE Trim" menu - is it duplicate to the sub trim on the Speaker/Level Trim (I don't think so), seems like it applies to the All Channel Stereo mode? That would make sense since there are explicit settings for DD/DPL/DTS/Stereo but the language the manual uses, overall far better than other products, still leaves me with this question. Are crossovers applied before the EQ for each channel or after? Come to think of it, the 976 is applying bass management to the analog inputs too (this is huge, prior Outlaw products had a fixed analog option for analog bass management or used an ADC) - are the crossovers always analog or are they digitally processed for digital sources?