Just wanted to asked a couple of questions in concerns about the 978.
I know (including myself) there are a lot of people out there that want to see the success of the 978. There are a lot of people out there that want to see the 978 tested, debugged, on the market and shipped out to it's first customer or guinea pig ?
I would like to know how many people on this forum will be the first to pull the trigger before hearing of any results from consumers?
I have a couple of tech related questions. Sorry if they seem unimportant or dumb.
First, I noticed on the rear panel of the 978 that there are only three optical inputs as opposed to the 990's four. I myself use all four optical inputs. I am using them with the Oppo, Roku, Sony777, and Comcast. I do know that I can eliminate the Roku and stream Netflix thru the Oppo, however I like the idea of having the four optical. Why only three?
Second, on the 990 the 7.1 channel or multi-channel is clearly labeled but not on the 978.
Does it have multi channel?

Thanks

Hey Rubbersoul

You said you need 4 optical inputs for the 978. You are using optical on the Oppo. Is that for movies? Would you not use HDMI or analog multichannel for movies on the BD-93. This is the only way you can flush out lossless audio. If you need to eliminate Roku then Roku you must eliminate. My guess is that Outlaw may feel that HDMI is the new way to go but still gives you three optical inputs. Not too sure why anybody still needs component or composite. I guess the world isn't totally ready to give those inputs over yet.

The multichannel is labeled here as "analog audio inputs." I guess they are not using the "7.1" designation for this method of hookup. Outlaw may feel that their clients are so smart they will figure it out.

As for myself I will NOT be amongst the first early adopters to pull the trigger and fire in fear that the early edition of the 978 may not be ready for a real gunfight. I want to wait and see if some of you brave cowboys are ready to be deputized by Sheriff Scott and his posse. I wish to wait for 2012 (assuming the 978 comes out this year) and buy next year. I do intend to buy the unit providing it will be released at a respectable price.

Aren't all of those sources capable of excreting HDMI? If so, why would you need a second digital input for them?

Best,

First thanks for the response.
Except for the Sony the rest have HDMI capability. Like I said it seems that I will have to eliminate the Roku. No big deal except I just purchased it not to long before I bought the Oppo 93.
Question...with Comcast using HDMI would I have audio if I did not use optical?
I am using both Optical and multi-channel on the Oppo, the HDMI in use goes directly for Video use directly to my projector. Multi channel on blu-rays and optical with standard discs and cd's unless of course they are SACD's.

The Oppo is the only unit connected directly to the projector.

I don't follow. If you've got HDMI, you can simply use HDMI to transport the digital audio stream. That's how I have my Roku XS hooked up.

Best,

I will be one of the early purchasers of the Model 978 when it becomes available.
I have ordered a Model 7700 and looking forward to matching it up with the 978.
A big thanks to all of you for making the 7700 purchase easy.

rubbersoul,

Your dilemmas are non-existing. You don't need to ditch your Roku if you want to connect it to the 978 through the optical connector. Keep on reading to find out why.

Optical connectors otherwise known as Toslink, since it was developed by TOShiba, adhere to the S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) specification. The S/PDIF spec describes both an optical interface (Toslink) and an electrical one, often called coaxial as the cable used is coaxial (75 ohms impedance) and uses RCA connectors at both ends. Those two S/PDIF interfaces (coax and optical) essentially have the same bandwidth and are used to carry the same signals, traditionally LCPM digital data out from a CD player or a transport but also lossy Dolby Digital and DTS streams typically but not exclusively for DVD players.

Now back to the 978, on the left hand side where a column of six connectors is marked "DIGITAL INPUTS", you can see the three optical inputs on top and below there are three orange RCA connectors numbered 4, 5 and 6. Well, those three RCA connectors are the "coax" S/PDIF connectors that you can use for digital connections. So the solution is simple, you can keep using your Roku with the optical out and simply use the connector labeled "coaxial" from the Oppo BDP-93 instead of the optical one on that device. Alternately, you could do the same thing with your Comcast box if it has an RCA digital coaxial connector; I don't know the Comcast box. Your Sony 777 also has a digital coaxial RCA out connector. So in fact you have 6 S/PDIF digital inputs to choose amongst on the 978.

Many audiophiles actually prefer using the coaxial RCA inputs as they believe the electrical interface provides more speed for transients even if it is susceptible to more electrical noise. While the optical INTERFACE is much more immune to electrical noise and a fiber optic cable has considerably more bandwidth than an electrical one, the somewhat dated Toslink interface specification that defines the transceivers used that must convert the optical pulses back to an electrical signal is perhaps not as fast as it could be, arguably a little less so than a straight electrical coaxial interface.

However, as beyond 1000 and Ritz have clearly pointed out, at least for Blu-ray material that use the lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs, you should by all means use HDMI for extracting the multi-channel digital audio as you'll get the full uncompressed (lossless) digital signal, i.e. much higher sound quality over optical or coaxial (S/PDIF). The best S/PDIF interfaces out there only have sufficient bandwidth to carry LPCM up to 192KHz/24bits (in stereo only) or plain Dolby Digital and DTS but not the two new high resolution multi-channel audio codecs mentioned above that Blu-rays typically use.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, I will be one of those early adopters

I will most definitely not be an early adopter. I have three functioning systems right now and don't need anything to crash that party. If one of my Onkyos or the 990 buys the farm I will still wait until I have heard the news. I am definitely interested in the 978 from a technical standpoint but will see what happens with the 998 and Trinnov before I cross that bridge. I have seen some really good deals on the Sherwood R972 on the net and could go that route too. Right now my closets are full.

I could see being an early adopter ... if Outlaw would have me.



I was there from the beginning for the 950, and I don't remember any show stopper type problems that would stop you from using your system entirely while they worked out the early bugs.

I think way too many people might be thinking, Emotiva = Outlaw for bugs, and that just is not the case. I think Outlaw has a much better track record of getting rid of the worst of them before even beta test customers get their units.