A good point to those that worry the Outlaw is obsolete without firewire.

This is just another technical hoop DVD-A expects their users to jump through, narrowing their buying public even further. Not enough to have a DVD-A player with mutlichannel speakers properly set up with a 5.1 passthrough. Now you need equipment with a firewire port and software to handle the input?

Even DTS discs don't throw those kind of requirements at you, and look how few people buy those?

With SACD needing nothing other than the right cd or dvd player, it has a much better chance of reaching the broader public.

The outlaw will already work DVD-A through analogue inputs. The only obsolescence I'd worry about is with the DVD-A format itself.