no-audio returns

My 970 is experiencing occasional audio failures upon power on or source changes. When the audio drops out the displayed volume does not respond to adjustment of the volume knob, it remains at default level. I had the no-audio issue when I purchased the unit, upgraded the firmware and didn't see the problem again until the last few months. I'm concerned that what I'm seeing is evidence of a hardware degradation. Has anyone else seen these symptoms as their 970 ages? And more to the point, what do I do to fix it? I'm worried that trying to reflash degraded firmware could brick the unit. I would be willing to try once my 997 arrives, but that could be a while.

This behavior sounds separate from the no-audio issue, and it's not something that I've heard other reports of. I'd suggest contacting Outlaw support (either through their support page or by phone at 866-688-5292).

Thanks, Gonk. I was afraid of that. If returning the 970 for service is the answer I'll live with the occasional drop out for now. I can deal with a dropout several times a week easier than going without a receiver for any length of time. If the 997 ever becomes available I will upgrade, and address the dropout situation then. If the frequency increases, which is eminently likely if a component is failing, I may have to change plans. In a race between the 997 and entropy, where would you put your money?

It may require service, but it may not too. I'd get them in the loop just to be sure. As for the 997, I don't know...

How did this issue turn out? Im having issues right now too. i have digital coax line running to both my denon up stairs and the outlaw here in my basement. this week ive had a lot of dropped signal locks on the outlaw while the denon would keep playing through without a hiccup. tonight i have audio upstairs but cant get a signal at all on the 970. at first it would be in and out, as it did the other night, but now its simply lost a lock at all and i have no audio, while the denon is playing away upstairs. before when it got really bad it could get it to play better by turning it off, taking a pause, and then back on, but now that does nothing. also at the beginning of tonights headache it did actually freeze up on me completely, the volume didnt respond to the remote or the knob on the unit(or any other button for that matter), it also wouldnt turn off either by both remote or stand-by button, i had to use the switch on the back near the power cord.

my 970 is silent.

im bummed, i was planning a good listening session tonight as ive got a few new albums to listen too.

Jimna,
I had a similar issue with my previous 970. It wouldn't respond to the remote or the volume control on the unit...it was on but didn't do anything. I ended up sending it back for repair. If I remember correctly it was a bad capacitor. Once replaced it worked fine.

John

thanks john. guess ill have to call them. sucks as much as i use it...

also FWIW, i just tested analog inputs on multiple source inputs(ie: cd, dvd, aux, ect..) and nothing outputs audio.

Jimna,

Please call Scott Monday morning. You should send it back to us for our tech to take a look at. I am very confident we can help you to address your problem.

I've still got it. Happened again this morning. It seems to happen when my source (usually optical from computer) is active when I bring the 970 out of standby. Funny thing is, I can take the 970 back to standby and restart it with the source active and it doesn't reoccur. So far it hasn't dropped out while in use. As it only occurs on start up and doesn't interrupt movies or listening sessions I'm going to live with it until the 998 appears. If it starts happening during shows or tunes, then I'll reassess my situation.

FWIW mine is on its way to Massachusetts. But I did have issues with mine if the signal would drop momentarily. For example when I opened my audio editing software it always cause a millisecond drop in signal and the 970 would loose audio, while the Denon upstairs would not. Also if i had music already playing upstairs and then turned on the 970 mid song it wouldnt lock on at all until i cycled the unit, and then I had music. To me all this was annoying but not that big a deal as long as after a quick fix I was rocking out.

Coincidentally I have a show to record tonight and am dreading trying to work with the audio tomorrow. Ive never been a fan of using cans in audio mixing, they make everything better than it is on a real playback system, which leads to mixes that dont sound like I intended them....oh I miss my 970 already....whoa is me. :^P

Well, the 970 is dead. The no-audio state described earlier is a permanent condition, although the video output is still there. Strange. Even in bypass mode sourced from my external DAC there's no audio output. I've submitted a trouble ticket and we'll see what happens. I've been waiting impatiently for Outlaw to produce a new processor and they didn't get it done in time.