To answer jhunt1:

I've manually swapped a single set of audio cables between the AUX/OUT, TAPE/OUT, and Video 1 REC/OUT analog audio outputs, and only on Video 1 Rec Out is it dead. It isn't the cables.

To answer PodBoy:

The source does not make a difference. I have alternately connected both Video 1 Rec /Out svideo and composite video to a display with all sources selected (DVD, VCR, STB) in turn, to no avail. I never connected the Video 1 Rec Out through a VCR -- it was always connected directly. I had thought that, perhaps, the 990 was *detecting* any macrovision in the video signal and disabling the Video 1 Rec/Out since it was, after all a "record out". Though, in retrospect, there's no legal requirement for Outlaw to do that (it's the VCR's responsibility to honour macrovision), and it would not be a beneficial feature for a customer, so I can't see them doing that.