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. [. . . ] Connect the Center/Subwoofer jack to the Center and Subwoofer (LFE) speakers. Connect the Surround L/R jack to the Left and Right Surround speakers. Connect the Surround Center L/R jack to the two Surround Center speakers. Subwoofer Center Front Left Front Right Front Left Surround Right Surround Left Center Surround Right Center Surround Make sure that any speakers that you use near a CRT Computer Monitor are shielded speakers. If your monitor's image begins to become discolored in one of the corners or otherwise appears distorted, move the speaker further away to avoid damage to your monitor. Line Input Jack The Sonica Theater has a stereo line input. This input allows you to record CDs, videos, instruments or virtually anything else, with audiophile-quality 96kHz/24-bit sampling. You can set the Input level of the Line Inputs in the Sonica Theater Control Panel's Input/Other tab (see this manual's Control Panel section for more details). 17 Explanation of Surround Formats You run into several surround formats when playing DVDs, some of which include 2. 0, 4. 1, 5. 1, 6. 1 and 7. 1. This section is meant to provide a quick explanation of some of these formats. 2. 0 - This is a stereo soundtrack. This soundtrack can be expanded to 7. 1 channel playback with a Dolby Pro Logic® or Circle Surround II decoder. It will play out of the left and right speakers without decoding. Headphones are generally stereo or 2. 0 devices. 2. 1 - This is a stereo soundtrack with a separate subwoofer. Sometimes this soundtrack can be expanded to surround playback with a Dolby Pro Logic® or Circle Surround® decoder. It will play out of the left, right and subwoofer speakers. 18 4. 0 - This signal is the same as 4. 1 (description following), only without the subwoofer channel. 4. 1 - This is how most feature films from 1970-1980 were mixed. It will play back from the left, center and right speakers with a mono signal going to all of the surrounds. An additional "point one" signal gets sent to the subwoofer in all of the following formats, called . 1 because it only uses up 1/10th of the data of the other channels. 5. 0 - This signal is the same as 5. 1 (description following), only without the subwoofer channel. 5. 1 - This is how most current DVDs are released. Dolby Digital® and DTS® soundtracks can have up to 5. 1 channels. This signal plays back from the left, center, and right speakers, plus two surrounds, left and right. 19 6. 1 - This signal sends three channels to the front: left, center and right. There are also two surround channels, left and right, which get decoded into three surround channels: left surround, center surround and right surround. This is the format used by Dolby Digital EX® and DTS ES®. 7. 1 - This is a further refinement of the 6. 1 system described above, where the surround center channel is played back on two center surround speakers in order to provide better diffusion of the center surround audio. 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. [. . . ] 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. [. . . ]