So, it's with a sad heart I post that I've decided and requested a refund RMA and label.

After the Sunday night incident with my first true dropped audio, and the recurring 'seemingly locked no audio' on power up almost every evening, my fiancee is quietly exhibiting a looming exasperation, since she knows that the refund/return window is drawing to a close.

Given the exceptional audio quality of this design, I'd love to hang on to this piece, but with the latest firmware update not seeming to help my situations, I can't argue with the logic she brought forth that for the price, it should work each and every time it gets turned on.

I can't afford to just hang on to it and wait until the next firmware like a few of you guys have, especially since I need my complete system to function all the time, every time. (lest it become very hard for me to justify to her the high expense of these toys of mine)

I'd upgrade to a 990, but that's not possible because it A) will not fit into my rack, and B) breaks my promised budget for this 'forced' upgrade. (my A/V receiver was unrepairable and instead of going with a replacement integrated, I went to seperates, via an even trade up to the new NAD T955, while the 970 was to be the 'new addition' pre/pro portion of it)

What makes all of this worse is that for $300-400 bucks, my fiancee knows that I can get a unit from a B&M store that will function until the cows come home. (arguably by me at a much lower acoustic quality, but with a wedding to pay for later this year, it's a hard sell... LOL :p )

I'm happy to help with troubleshooting by answering any questions about what configuration I had, what I experienced (for as long as I can recall the events) and the like...

For those following along, Outlaw support has been top notch the entire time. Steve and Scott have demonstrated to me that they are indeed committed to getting this resolved. I only wish I could stick around for the ride. If I were single, I could justify leaving the investment in the 970 alone and just 'deal' with the quirks. But with the other half needing the overly complex (to her) system to respond predictably so she can use it, I can't comfortably hold onto the unit at this point when the funds would be better served elsewhere in our lives. In 8-12 months, I will revisit this issue, and see if another new firmware has been released, making the unit rock solid. If so, I'd be happy to plunk down the cash and try again at that point.

I can say that without reservation, only because I have NOT seen/heard the kind of acoustic performance that comes out of this unit at anywhere near this price in any other comparitive piece for under $3,000-4,000! (and for pre/pro's in that bracket, it's niggling hairs as to which is truly sonically better) This is not to say most of the units I've auditioned were dramatically 'worse', just that they had ever so slightly different characters/sonic footprints, and a variance of included features. And higher price points. With emphasis on the last part.

In the mean time, I will probably go cruise the used racks at my local dealers and see what trade-ins I can find for a few hundred bucks that will at least let me have a functioning system. (or settle and buy a moderately priced Denon or something with pre outs and just drive my T955 that way)

Happy Trails,

E.