Unfortunately the no audio thing is real. I don't get it real often, certainly not enough to troubleshoot it. I can't reliably reproduce it.
I could go a month without it then get it twice in two weeks.

BUT- Every time it happens I get the look that says, "Why do I need all this crap hooked up to just watch TV?" and sometimes I get the words.

I don't blame outlaw for it, I just live with it. Back when the 970 was new I did some research and I remember finding that it is a flaw in the chip from Cirrus. I think that Outlaw has worked real hard for a software fix for this hardware problem. Certainly if you cant reprodue it you can't fix it.

The sound from the 970 really is first rate. In this day and age there processors and receivers are more like computers than stereo gear. I'm afraid that glitches are here to stay. Windows still blue screens (Actually in Vista last night I got an error window that the description was BlueScreenCrash)

Look at the whole HDMI audio debacle. I haven't heard of one product that is flawless and they all have some sort of audio lock problem.