- Packs advanced technology into a small, light, bus-powered external package that's simple to connect and use
- Crystal clear audio quality with high resolution 24-bit / 96kHz audio playback and recording
- Conveys DVDs and music in surround sound, makes games shockingly realistic, and can be used to record or mix music
- High signal-to-noise ratio of 101dB ? clear, clean audio from whisper quiet to room shaking levels
- Dolby Digital EX decoding with included software based WinDVD 4 DVD player
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Product Details
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Product Description
M-Audio (US99110) 7.1 Sonica Theater USB Card
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Worth More Than $40,
By S. Hsia (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: M-Audio Sonica Theater USB 24-Bit Surround Sound Module (Electronics)
I bought this soundcard to be used with my Logitech z-2300s. The soundcard offers great features: Stereo, 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, and 7.1 surround sound capabilities, dialogue enhancement, and sound quality up to 24 bit 96 kHz. But is it worth $80+? No way.Though the features aforementioned make this product seemingly excellent, the lack of reliability and consistency makes it fall short of expectations. When unplugged from the USB port more than 4 times, the driver is completely erased and I must download the current driver from M-Audio's website and restart my computer. This has now happened approximately 8 times, and if a new driver is not presented, the problem will continue. Why do I unplug the soundcard? Because I do not use it all the time; I also use the ports for multiple tasks such as printing, and uploading images and video from my camera/camcorder. Furthermore, while plugged into the port and the computer is put to sleep (I use a Mac Powerbook G4), a low pitched, but high frequency sound is emitted and becomes Very annoying. Granted, when the soundcard does work properly (which it should in the first place), it is an excellent enhacement to my already impressive sounding speakers. However, did I pay $84 to repeatedly restart my computer for 2.1 surround sound? Yes, but I shouldn't have. Unless you use a PC, which I have no idea how this product would fare with, do not buy this expensive, unreliable product.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect digital sound!! Buggy analog sound...,
By
This review is from: M-Audio Sonica Theater USB 24-Bit Surround Sound Module (Electronics)
I bought this product for my Powerbook G4, so this review only refers to how the product operates/performs on a Mac.If you have a high-end speaker system capable of digital output, then you will be 99.9% satisfied with this product (there's a 1/4 second pause in any currently-playing audio, such as from iTunes, whenever you press a key or move the mouse to wake up the monitor.) I currently have a 3 meter Avic cable running straight from the Sonica to my Logitech Z-680 speakers, and let me tell you -- I couldn't be happier. The Avic cable makes a huge difference too; the Sonica Theatre arrived a couple days prior to the cable, and I had an old coax Monster Cable lying around which I used for about a day. Once the Avic cable arrived and I hooked it up, the highs were noticeably clearer and crisper. I highly recommend this combination. On the down side, the analog output was very buggy, and would put out a terrible shreaking sound every few minutes, as the sound degraded into strange sine-waves. It was truly terrible. Thus, I recommend this product ONLY for DIGITAL OUTPUT. For anyone wanting quality 5-channel analog output (is that an oxymoron?) , LOOK ELSEWHERE.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
exceptional sound quality, buggy software,
This review is from: M-Audio Sonica Theater USB 24-Bit Surround Sound Module (Electronics)
Agree with the previous reviewer, the driver coming with original CD really has a fist on XP(looks like Mac too), after installation, it could not recognize the device; After writing to M-audio, no help, but digging further, I was able to download a latest driver. You will see the praise below, but still buggy: lost sound with various reasons during play, best thing to do, close the laptop lid, let it suspend and then open the lid, sound will be back; Pause the music or movie play if you leave it unattended.If you can live with these sillies, you will enjoy the exceptional sound processing you will ever heard from a notebook or mp3 player: do use a high end speaker system though, Klipsch ultra 5.1 (I have) or Gigaworks S700 or S750 as I heard. I played Lord of ring, the native 5.1 encoding coming live, with clarity from every speakers yet immersive. The music(off computer, native 5.1 or crappy mp3 2 channel), absolutely fabulous, the music mode will give you focusing center speaker vocal output like no other system I have ever heard, noise reduction seems to be there too for those mp3. I simply don't know how much music I have missed off computer speakers, the sonica theater simply turns into a high end receiver for me. I even went to the extreme to purchase a pair of 150W(rms) Klipsch sf-3 floor speakers and a 150W(rms) Klipsch sc-3 center speaker, running them off Ultra 5.1 woofer/amp and sonica theater, it's simply effortless music at great details even driven by 65W/channel ultra's subwoofer/integrated amp, not sure I need the surround though, the three fill the room even at 50 dB. The distance and speaker size setting does a good job trying to adjust to room accoustics and balance my system (with 65w ultra's speaker as surround). If m-audio can provide better support or driver, it will be a 6 star rating. Didn't have a chance to compare Audigy 2NX, but most review seems to like m-audio.
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