Interesting. I never hear a popping noise, but of course my amp comes on a second after the 970.

But I've been running the beta sofware now for a while and still get the lost audio issue several times a week. Sounds like I'm not alone, from what I read from other users here, and my correspondance with tech support.

What keeps me from using something else? The poster above got it right, the only alternatives are significantly more expensive, and don't include HDMI 1.1 with full audio capability -- which is a definite requirement for my next controller.