This is not something I've done a lot with, so others may be quite a bit more helpful. It looks like PowerDVD 8 does support the new audio formats (although the features list is not explicit about DTS-HD Master Audio vs. DTS-HD High Resolution), in which case the 7.1 analog connection to the 990 would allow you to watch Blu-ray discs with those formats. For DVD's, you could go with a digital audio connection to the 990 and let the signal stay digital as long as possible (I trust the 990 to do decoding, processing, and D/A conversion better when the circumstances allow it, as in the case of DVD's). I do something similar with my 983H DVD player (DVD-A/SACD go multichannel analog by necessity, everything else goes via coaxial digital audio).