I think I know what you are running into. The 7.1 Direct connection on the 990 is basically a separate audio/video input. If you have the 980H set up to use the "DVD" input with its digital output for watching DVD's and the 7.1 Direct input for SACD / DVD-Audio, you simply need to select the 990's "DVD" input on the remote when watching a DVD or the "7.1D" input when listening to SACD's.