I've owned a 1070, 990 and now a 970. The no audio bug was present in both the 1070 and 970, but I never had one problem with the 990. It performed flawlessly for me the whole time I had it. If the 990's size isn't a problem in your setup (my issue) I'd go with it in a second over the 970. I've noticed the no audio bug strikes mostly after I've been using the 970 for HT duties. The next time I power it on it is frozen. It happens at least once a week in my case.
Outlaw knows this is a problem. I would think if it can be fixed they would do so...their silence seems to indicate (to me at least) that it can't be fixed.
I would like to remain a loyal Outlaw customer when the next generation of processors come out, but it really concerns me that there will be problematic issues like the no-audio bug we 970/1070 owners deal with now.