[Sehnzeleid]

Originally Posted by Sehnzeleid

I was going to wait to see what Outlaw Audio has got in the works, but I doubt they'll be able to beat $1,300...

Here's the last update on their forthcoming processor, 10/07 email update:

So what's next?

The Outlaws are hard at work creating new world-class products with all the bells and whistles, but the development time line is a long one and some of the critical path items are outside of our control.

For example, as recent as late last month, we learned that the newest version of the Cirrus Logic CS49700, the DSP chip powering these new products, will have an eight-week delay in the production schedule for samples. This cascades to a greater delay in the schedule, since the samples need to be in hand before we can finalize the board layout and freeze the firmware/software. We could use the current version of the DSP chip, but we want to deliver the increased stability and lightning-fast acquisition of the latest "lossey" and "lossless" audio formats transmitted over HDMI.


Similarly, our plans also include new, advanced codecs that are not currently available in any product. Unfortunately, there is also a delay in the delivery of the final microprocessor code for some of these codecs to the chip suppliers. All of us at Outlaw are waiting for final word on how to implement them. The net result is that our new processors will not be scheduled for production until some time late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2008. To bring these processors to market sooner would deprive us of offering you some hot new features and the advanced stability that depends on component-based hardware, not upgradeable software.