Here's an interesting note to mix into the debate... In this AVS post yesterday, MLS identified the DAC being used by the LMC-1. It's a Cirrus CS42518. You can probably get some good feedback on its performance from folks with Model 970's, because the 970 uses a Cirrus CS42528 (which is listed on the same page of Cirrus's site as the 42518). The two chips are very similar -the only difference between the 42518 and the 42528 that I could find is an extra 4dB of dynamic range on the 42528. The concensus from folks who have heard both the 970 and 990 (including the Outlaws themselves) is that the 990's Analog Devices AD1852 DAC is a nicer chipset (as you would expect in a processor costing several hundred dollars more).