I expect there will be eight (left, right, center, left/right surrounds, left/right rear surrounds, and subwoofer) balanced analog outputs on the 997, but that's the only balanced provisions we know of. We haven't heard of any balanced inputs (stereo or multichannel), but since I don't know of any sources with more than stereo balanced outputs I can't imagine why they'd try to shoe-horn a balanced 7.1 analog input into a surround processors. There are some disc players with balanced stereo outputs, but they are rare. Based on the 990's design (which lacked a balanced stereo input) and the fact that Outlaw has made no mention of a balanced stereo input, I doubt we'll see such an input on the 997.