M-Audio Revolution 7.1, Reviewer'S Manual

Page 1: ...Revolution 7 1 SurroundSoundAudioCard Reviewer s Guide ...

Page 2: ...Audio the M Audio logo and Revolution 7 1 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Midiman Inc for use in the United States and other countries Other product names may be trademarks or registered trade marks of their respective owners The information contained in this document was examined carefully and is believed to be accu rate as of its date of publication ...

Page 3: ...t Low Prices 4 Top 5 Cool Things To Do With The Revolution 7 1 5 About The Revolution 7 1 6 Product Info Box 9 T esting The Revolution 7 1 10 Product Specifications 28 Bass Management 30 7 1 Surround Sound Receivers 32 DVD Test Scenes 33 Music Listening Samples 35 Additional Resources 36 Company Backgrounder 37 Press Release 38 ...

Page 4: ...ilable to assist you with your review A list of telephone contacts is provided on the next page Don t hesitate to call when any question big or small arises If this guide accomplishes one goal it is that we want to make sure you publish a factually accurate review re gardless of your opinion of the product itself Also be sure to read the printed documentation that is included with the product you ...

Page 5: ...ses refer your readers to the M Audio Web site www m audio com Media Editorial Press relations contact Jason Ivan Director of Product Marketing M Audio Consumer Products Group M Audio E mail jivan m audio com Cell 408 209 8901 Technical support contact Erik Andersen Technical Specialist M Audio E mail er1k m audio com Phone 626 445 2842 x381 Public relation agency contact Valerie Foster Shotwell P...

Page 6: ...akers As video technology advanced sound lagged Now major vendors are continually introducing new technologies that support multi channel surround sound and pro mote media as a key purpose for the computer Apple Computer Digital Hub Intel The center of your digital world Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition In addition power gaming demands the ultimate in both video and audio Most movies are now...

Page 7: ...eater The Revolution 7 1 s higher 24 bit 192kHz fidelity and 107 dB dy namic range greatly improve the listening experience of computer based playback of CDs MP3s and Internet radio The Revolution 7 1 elevates computer based audio to the level where the computer can play a viable roll as an audio source in a sophisticated home entertainment system Internet radio for example can be real ized in suf...

Page 8: ...fer completely envelope users Surround effect from two speakers SRS TruSurround XT technology gives sur round sound effect from a traditional stereo two speaker set up or headphones Convert stereo into true surround sound Advanced Circle Surround II technology creates true multichannel surround sound from stereo MP3s CDs and other audio Ready for most encoded formats Supports Dolby Digital 5 1 AC3...

Page 9: ...e delivers superior dynamic range and virtually elimi nates noise But Aren t CDs and MP3s Are Recorded In Two Channel Stereo They sure are And we ve taken care of that After investing in a Revolution 7 1 audio card seven powered speakers and a powered subwoofer users will undoubt edly remember that their CD and MP3 music collections were recorded mostly in traditional two channel stereo Circle Sur...

Page 10: ...tissimo III Price MSRP 119 99 129 99 49 99 Street 99 99 119 99 49 99 Audio Fidelity Stereo 24 bit 192kHz 24 bit 192kHz 18 bit 48kHz 7 1 24 bit 192kHz 24 bit 96kHz 5 1 only 18 bit 48kHz ASIO support Playback 24 bit 192kHz 16 bit 48kHz Unsupported Record 24 bit 96kHz 16 bit 48kHz Unsupported Platforms Supported Macintosh PC PC only PC only Audio Quality SNR 107dB Stereo to 7 1 106dB on L R SL SR 90d...

Page 11: ...ower gamers who want to supercharge their audio they way they ve already cranked up the video DVD enthusiasts can use their computer as the centerpiece of a high quality home theater Music buffs can revitalize their existing CD and MP3 collections or enjoy new surround music And business users will get wows from their presentations Operating systems supported Windows Me 2000 XP Mac OS 9 2 2 or lat...

Page 12: ...e ll cover the following Test bed considerations Hardware set up Software installation Listening tests The Test Bed The best test of a sound card is to listen to it just the way a gamer or music or DVD enthusiast would use it You ll need the following equipment for testing your Revolution 7 1 Computer You can use a Macintosh or a PC as long as it has a free PCI slot and meets the minimum system re...

Page 13: ... are mixed with use of surround channels which can skew a surround listening test About Consumer Multimedia Speakers Revolution s audio quality exceeds that of any consumer multimedia speaker system Consequently you should use the best speakers and amplifiers available for your evaluation If you do not have access to a quality 7 1 home theater receiver and speakers you can use any off the shelf mu...

Page 14: ...em and install the software drivers Optionally you can install the included software applications For the DVD playback tests you should install the included WinDVD 4 application PC or the Video Lan Client Mac which may be available in your Revolution retail box or can downloaded from www videolan org Note the color coding and intuitive labeling of the card s seven jacks Refer to the chart below to...

Page 15: ...eakers located to left and right sides just be hind listener s head Surround Rear L R silver Connects to powered Surround Center or Sur round Rear Left and Right speakers located di rectly behind listener Source Revolution 7 1 user guide Speaker Output Jacks You can see in the preceding photo that Revolution employs 1 8 stereo output jacks that can be connected to powered speakers or to the inputs...

Page 16: ...ity and feature set of its driver software We recommend that you download the latest Revolution 7 1 driver software for your operating system from www m audio com driversearch php New features have been added and existing ones enhanced Surround Sound Formats From simple stereo to 8 channel surround a variety of sound formats are found on DVDs More detailed information can be found on pages 14 16 o...

Page 17: ...logies Q Why would I want more than 5 1 surround sound A Simply put 7 1 provides a more immersive surround experience Sound goes not only from the front to the side positioned surround speakers but also goes straight from front to rear and from the sides can loop around the listener in a half circle The following graphic il lustrates this idea The 7 1 experience provides a level of realism that 5 ...

Page 18: ... back with two surround speakers each playing the same mono surround information The newer 7 1 is similar Content is en coded decoded as 6 1 information but the Rear or Center surround channel is intended to be played on a 7 1 speaker configuration rather than 6 1 Using two rear surround speakers provides better fill more natural sound better sound dispersion and with multiple listeners a wider sw...

Page 19: ...ove and the 7 1 Sur round Sound Receivers section located in the Appendix Revolution Control Panel After installing the hardware and software use the control panel to manage all as pects of the Revolution 7 1 audio experience As you go through the suggested lis tening tests detailed later in this section you will choose many options from the control panel Launching the control panel varies by oper...

Page 20: ...Test function en sures correct speaker connec tions and levels Output Mixer PC Faders adjust levels for each installed speaker with a high degree of control Solo sends sound to selected speaker only muting the others This is useful to ensure that left and right are not reversed for exam ple S E T T I N G U P T E C H N I C A L S P E A K E R O P T I O N S C A N B E A S E A S Y A S C H O O S I N G T ...

Page 21: ...ides identical functionality to the Macintosh version Bass Manage ment option routes full range signal to speakers if they are large enough to handle bass frequencies If small speakers are specified bass sig nals are automati cally routed to subwoofer Operating System Considerations Operating systems for the PC and Macintosh differ in their support of mul tichannel audio a fact of life that affect...

Page 22: ...ered speakers or a stereo receiver then turn the volume up all the way Listen for the amount of noise present 2 Turn the volume all the way down then connect the speakers to the Revolution 7 1 3 Repeat the same test with the Revolution 7 1 You should hear no noise from the Revolution 7 1 You may hear noise associated directly with the powered speakers cables stereo system or amplification but not ...

Page 23: ...mpatible and can provide positional audio on the Mac when Circle Surround II s Cinema Mode is enabled Warcraft III from Blizzard is a good example of this Note that the com bined system requirements of game processing and Circle Surround Ii decode may be somewhat high Test 3 Stereo Music This test demonstrates the Revolution 7 1 s superior sound quality when playing a stereo CD MP3 or Internet rad...

Page 24: ... in the clarity of the dialog Try enhancing bass using the TruBass slider 4 Switch to a competing card or built in audio and watch the same scene in basic stereo mode 5 Switch to the Revolution 7 1 and access the control panel Turn off TruSurround XT 6 Open a Media player such as Windows Media Player or iTunes Audi tion a song such as one of the tracks recommended in the Appendix 7 Open the Revolu...

Page 25: ... the Revolution 7 1 and the other audio hardware Test 6 DVD Surround Sound Pass Through This test shows the Revolution 7 1 s ability to play back Dolby Digital and or DTS surround sound signals to a surround decoder These tests work with Win dows Me 2000 XP Dolby Digital output works with the VideoLan Client DVD Player in Mac OS X Mac OS 9 does not support Dolby or DTS output 1 Connect the Revolut...

Page 26: ...erhead is necessary for Circle Surround processing you may need to increase the volume slightly with Circle Surround enabled 7 Turn SRS TruBass and SRS Dialog Clarity on Experiment with vari ous levels as well a toggling TruBass or Dialog Clarity on and off You should notice a marked difference in bass response and dialog sharpness Test 8 Playing Music In Surround Sound These tests demonstrate the...

Page 27: ...e In jack 9 Open the Revolution 7 1 Control Panel and with Circle Surround still en abled check the Enable Monitoring or Monitor Input on Output checkbox in the Surround Sound pane Leave the Control Panel open or minimize it without quitting or closing the Control Panel 10 For stereo music you should leave CSII in Music mode For audio that is Dolby Pro Logic or Circle Surround II encoded such as m...

Page 28: ...h a cable plugged into the Mic in jack even if testing the Line in will degrade test results Use a good power supply A poor quality power supply can leak 60Hz noise into the board power You can see this noise and its harmonics on a noise plot as 60Hz 180Hz and 300Hz spikes This will seriously degrade audio quality scores and adds about 30dB to noise level Of course with 220V power these spikes are...

Page 29: ...rucial 6 Set the master volume the speaker icon in the Windows system tray to maximum This is also crucial 7 In the RMAA application click Adjust I O levels and check the levels They should be around 0 8dB see explanation below 8 In RMAA s Soundcard Settings set the device to Revolution and choose the sound quality you wish to test 24 96 for example 9 Click Run Tests Your testing was accurate if y...

Page 30: ...tputs through 4 stereo 1 8 Mini jacks S PDIF digital coaxial output RCA S PDIF out can transmit either linear PCM or AC 3 Input Stereo 1 8 Mini Analog Line Input Mono 1 8 Mini Analog Microphone Input with electret mic power Driver Features Playback Formats 24 bit linear PCM 16 bit linear PCM Up to 24 bit AC 3 output over S PDIF not available in Mac OS 9 Up to 24 bit DTS output over S PDIF not avai...

Page 31: ... dB 20 Hz to 20 kHz 0 8 3 0 dB 20 Hz to 80 kHz Crosstalk 120dB Mic In Dynamic Range 90 dB a weighted Signal to Noise Ratio 90 dB a weighted THD 0 003 i e 90dB Frequency Response 0 0 3 0 80Hz to 17kHz Line In Dynamic Range 105 dB a weighted Signal to Noise Ratio 100 dB a weighted THD N 0 003 i e 90 dB Maximum Input Level 1 45 Vrms 3 2 dBV Sampling Frequencies KHz No sample rate conversion 32 44 1 4...

Page 32: ...ld discuss what bass man agement is and why it s important Then we can talk about why Revolution s im plementation is so advanced The most common home theater or surround sound speaker sets are made up of small speakers satellites that surround the listener These speakers are generally not full range tower type speakers capable of reproducing everything from the lowest bass to the highest highs Th...

Page 33: ...is in the process of providing additional enhancements to the Revolution 7 1 bass management software Depending on when you review the product the soft ware you download from our website will use one of two methods Both are accurate and powerful but you may want to understand in more detail how bass is handled in each 1 The current bass management reduces overall volume by 6dB to ensure accurate l...

Page 34: ...7 1 surround receivers available today There are numerous manufacturers not listed below who also offer 7 1 receivers or processors including Krell Yamaha Lexicon Rotel Me ridian Outlaw Integra NAD and Myryad Receivers with 7 1 Support Manufacturer Model B K AVR 307 Denon AVR 3803 Denon AVR 4800 Harman Kardon AVR320 Harman Kardon AVR325 Harman Kardon AVR520 Harman Kardon AVR525 Harman Kardon AVR72...

Page 35: ...e DTS track avail able on many of these titles While most disks default to the correct setting it is worth checking this to avoid auditioning a stereo audio track accidentally Suggested DVD Viewing DVD Title Scene Chapter Comments Support Channels Star Wars Episode 2 Jango Fett Fight 26 Great bass Good Music Great directional Audio DD EX 6 1 Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring Opening sce...

Page 36: ... 2 Balls bouncing in toy store 21 Great audio Great Bass Great directional DD EX 6 1 The Fast and the Furious NOS Fest 4 Use of music in surrounds is unique DD 5 1 Terminator Two Ultimate DVD Edition Chase 18 Light but effective use of surrounds DD EX 6 1 The Matrix Dodge This 30 Great directional audio DD 5 1 Pearl Harbor Battle of Britain Attack on Pearl 11 22 Great directional audio and room sh...

Page 37: ...ive feel Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman Fast Car Clean guitar and tight bass Diana Krall Love Scenes All or Nothing at All Very clean recording Good bass and vocals Quiet spots for noise checks Sting Ten Summon ers Tales Fields of Gold Clean recording Clear vocals rim shots and guitar Less separation in Circle Surround II but wonderful in Stereo Sting Nothing Like the Sun Englishman in New York Smoot...

Page 38: ...olby custhelp com cgi bin dolby cfg php enduser std_adp php p_sid RSAeb1Dg p_lva p_faqid 135 p_created 1013441850 p_sp cF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTcxJnBfcGFnZT0x p_li Previous and Upcoming Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Surround EX films www dolby com movies films_previous html www dolby com movies films_upcoming html DTS ES Explained www dtsonline com dts es2 pdf DTS ES and DTS ES Discrete Tit...

Page 39: ...mer audio products and to establish M Audio as the premier and preferred sup plier of innovative audio products to the consumer While much of M Audio s early growth resulted from the development and sales of its computer sound cards it is the integration of software and hardware that has powered M Audio s transition from an audio and MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface products company to a ...

Page 40: ...edia Audio 9 Professional and the Revolution 7 1 PC users can enjoy incredibly high quality high resolution surround sound streamed live or on demand from the Inter net Revolution 7 1 s support for surround sound up to 7 1 and for high definition audio playback make it a great way to experience high quality Windows Media Audio 9 Professional content at lower data rates than other formats Whether p...

Page 41: ...1 earns its name as a truly revolutionary product by simultaneously delivering fully immersive 7 1 surround sound and amazing high definition 24 bit 192kHz audio says Jason Ivan Director of Product Marketing for M Audio s Consumer Division And where most cards sacrifice audio quality for surround sound playback Revolution delivers all eight channels at full 192kHz fidelity Lis teners can finally e...