I appreciate the input, but let me expand on my original post...As you can see from my component list, I'm on a limited budget. I don't want to spend an extra $400 + shipping for a negligible gain in performance, and an external d/a is not an option unless it's pretty inexpensive. I'm hoping to hear from someone who's owned both soundstorm and outlaw or 970 and 990 and can speak from experience as to how much better sound I can expect from an upgrade. Am I being limited by my other components? Or maybe I just have a tin ear:)I wasn't unhappy with my sound before, just surprised it didn't sound better moving the d/a off the motherboard and into the outlaw. Maybe the soundstorm and 970 are comparable quality. Again, thanks.