User manual M-AUDIO SONICA THEATER USB

[. . . ] Sonica Theater User Guide version: SonicaThtr-012103 Table of Contents Introduction . . 32 Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Sonica Theater by M-Audio. Sonica Theater is your audio upgrade for any PC or Macintosh computer, * utilizing the convenience of your computer's USB port--no tools, computer disassembly, or additional power source is needed. The Sonica Theater brings you true 24-bit, 96kHz audio and the highest-quality stereo, virtual surround, and multi-channel surround sound available today. [. . . ] Some technologies, such as Microsoft's Windows Media 9, also provide the possibility of playing back content encoded with 7. 1 discrete channels of audio. You need specialized software to play back surround audio formats above two channels. Much of this software is included in the drivers or the software bundle for Sonica Theater. See the installation CD that came with your Sonica Theater for more information, or check the M-Audio website. Sonica Theater Control Panel Once setup is complete, you can control most aspects of the Sonica Theater using its control panel. To launch the control panel: Windows - Following the driver software installation in Windows 98Se, Me, 2000, and XP, you will find an M-Audio logo "M" installed on the right side of your Windows taskbar. Double click on this logo, and you will launch the M-Audio Sonica Theater Control Panel. 20 Mac OS 9 - Following the driver software installation in Mac OS 9 and subsequent restart if your computer, the M-Audio Sonica Theater Control Panel will be placed in your Apple Control Panels folder. Open your Applications folder and select "M-Audio Sonica Theater Settings. " This will launch the control panel. Mac OS X - Follow the driver software installation for Mac OS X and restart. Open your Applications folder and double-click "M-Audio Sonica Theater" to launch the M-Audio Sonica Theater Preference Panel. When you launch the control panel, you will notice the Speaker Set pull-down menu and five tabs at the top of the screen. The Current Speaker Set pull-down menu includes presets for many popular models, such as the M-Audio BX-Series and Klipsch Promedia 5. 1 speakers. Click and hold on this menu to see if your speaker models are included in the list for the recommended settings for your speakers. The Current Speaker Set pulldown menu also allows you to set the number of output channels, such as stereo, 5. 1, 6. 1 or 7. 1. It's important for this control to reflect the actual number of speakers you are using, so that the drivers aren't sending audio to non-existent speakers. For example, if you set this to 5. 1 when you only have two speakers connected, you won't hear any of the dialog when you play a DVD movie. You can also use the "Quick Set" buttons at the top of the panel. The Master Volume slider at the bottom of the panel controls the overall volume of the Sonica Theater's outputs. The Mute button mutes all of the outputs, handy for answering the phone or pretending you're hard at work. 21 The tabs near the top of the control panel allow you to change the size, volume and surround settings of the Sonica Theater's output. From left to right, the tab titles are: "Speaker Setup", "Output Mixer", "Surround Sound", "Input/Other" and "About". Use the Speaker Setup tab to set the size and distance of your speakers and the Output Mixer tab to balance the volumes of each speaker output. The Surround Sound tab controls aspects of SRS Circle Surround II or TruSurround XT (depending on whether your speaker set is stereo or multi-channel). The Input/Other tab controls the input and sample rate settings. Lastly, the About tab gives you information about the software version of your Sonica Theater Drivers. The following paragraphs explain, in detail, the settings within each of these tabs. Speaker Setup Tab This tab sets the size and volume of the main speakers. First, check the Speaker Set menu to see if your speakers are included in the manufacturer's presets. If not, the settings in this tab will ensure the best performance from your speaker system. Speaker Bass Management - This function enables Bass Management for the Sonica Theater Control Panel. The Sonica Theater Control Panel incorporates the Bass Management system to get the best sonic performance from your speakers. This means that if you have large monitor speakers, the Sonica Theater will output the full frequency-range that the speakers are capable of handling. Conversely, if you have small cube speakers, they probably can't reproduce the strong bass found in many DVD soundtracks, so the Sonica Theater Control Panel automatically routes the bass to the subwoofer. [. . . ] If you find that your game slows down when Circle Surround II is turned on, you may want to turn off some of the graphic details or reduce the screen resolution to speed things up. Recording The Sonica Theater includes a pair of audio inputs for recording. You can set the input level of the inputs by launching the Sonica Theater Control Panel, selecting the Input/Other tab and changing the level within the tab's page. If your recording application doesn't see audio from the Sonica Theater's inputs, check that program's audio preferences, check your cable connections, or review the Software Setup chapter for potential problems. For Macintosh Users - The Sonica Theater ships with ASIO drivers for multitrack playback from recording applications. Copy the "Sonica Theater ASIO" driver into your application's "ASIO Drivers" folder to use the Sonica Theater as an ASIO device. Note: When recording audio at 96kHz/24-bit, all of the outputs are muted to provide enough bandwidth for the USB recording driver. [. . . ]