New 7.1 PCI sound card for OS X
I'd heard all the reviews and was ready to lay down $150 on a nice Audiophile 2496 card for my G4, until I found out that M-Audio is coming out with a new card.
Enter the Revolution, a 7.1 PCI solution coming soon. The only question is when?
<a href="http://www.midiman.net/products/consumer/revolution_page1.php"; target="_blank">http://www.midiman.net/products/consumer/revolution_page1.php</a>;
This company was the first to get OS X drivers to the market and are continuing to support OS X and the Mac market.
I can't wait to purchase my Revolution 7.1 surround sound card.
[ 11-10-2002: Message edited by: TigerWoods99 ]</p>
Enter the Revolution, a 7.1 PCI solution coming soon. The only question is when?
<a href="http://www.midiman.net/products/consumer/revolution_page1.php"; target="_blank">http://www.midiman.net/products/consumer/revolution_page1.php</a>;
This company was the first to get OS X drivers to the market and are continuing to support OS X and the Mac market.
I can't wait to purchase my Revolution 7.1 surround sound card.
[ 11-10-2002: Message edited by: TigerWoods99 ]</p>
Comments
" Ultra-realistic 3D positional audio makes you feel like you?re really in the game and gives you the advantage of hearing exactly where danger lies. Revolution 7.1 supports today?s popular game technologies such as Sensaura, EAX, DirectSound, and A3D. Your games will never be the same. "
and
" Play DVDs and all your music in surround sound "
? PCI solution for high-quality surround sound up to 7.1
? also supports DTS output and Dolby Digital 5.1/EX (6.1 DVD) decoding
? high-resolution audio output up to 24-bit/192kHz
? true professional 24-bit/96kHz recording
? Incredible 110dB signal-to-noise ration
? real-time stereo-to-surround conversion
? SRS CircleSurround II technology delivers virtual surround for stereo sources
? simple control panel for Bass Management and other features
? supports all popular media players including Windows Media 9
? includes software bundle worth over $200
In order to take advantage of the surround sound, your content has to actually support it. So you can listen to your music in full surround sound... but only if your music was mixed that way. Current audio CDs are not. So you'll just hear it in 7 speaker stereo
Same with games. A lot of mac games don't support these advanced audio features. So havibng a 7.1 system is nice, so long as you have content to take advantage of it... not to mention enough speakers
I'm a little confused by the state of audio on the mac. Does the DVD player, for instance, support DD, DTS and the like? Apple only ever claims to support 48Khz 16bit stereo. What's up?
They mention in the marketing stuff for the revolution that they have some pseudo-stereo system for gamers with headphones, while it wouldn't be as good as a several speaker set up I wonder how good it actually is.
I would really like to know how much and when this thing is coming out though. I don't know anything about audio stuff beyond Creative's soundblaster so I was pleasantly suprised ot see something like this in the consumer space. Could this serve to fill the gap that the failed Soundblaster Mac left? Or are they meant for totally different applications?
Also, if you were to get something like this would it take sound processing off the CPU in games, beyond those that don't have EAX support, and therefore giving you a little boast in performance while having the sound setting turned to max in the game?
A lot of questions I know, but I'm pretty interested to see what this thing is all about, especially with X-mas around the corner.
This is a quote from IMG Lucian at <a href="http://www.insidemacgames.com"; target="_blank">www.insidemacgames.com</a> :
In any case, I got a bit more information from M-Audio. The information that was posted on their site was a bit premature. They are in the final stages of development so the final specs haven't been determined yet. They'll be demoing the Sonica Theater and Revolution at Comdex, so anyone lucky enough to be in the area might get a sneak peek.
M-Audio has also granted us an interview with them, but it won't be until the product is closer to shipping.
and this from OWC:
" FYI, we'll be carrying this when it's available, and according to M-Audio, it will have drivers for 10.2.Not shipping till end Nov/Beginning of Dec.
Thought you should know
Jamie Dresser
OWC "
In particular:
"Mac OS X now offers support for multiple channels natively. This new architecture will enable such applications as home theater surround sound..."
It would seem they are working on it, but, from <a href="http://www.apple.com/dvd/apple_dvd_player.html:"; target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/dvd/apple_dvd_player.html:</a>;
"...the latest hit movies, classics and educational titles ? with a great picture and full stereo sound. "
So they haven't implemented it yet.
Apparently Best Buy & Comp USA are gonna carry this cardin December and the MSRP is $129! :eek:
newegg will have the card under a c note.
That seems really impressive. I can't wait for this thing to hit shelves.
I like it, I consider it music, I also like Jaco Pastorius.
this card looks tasty! I was going to get a sonica for my iMac, but then I decided that I was going to get a g4...looks like I will be buying this card come december(along with a nice new MDD 867)
M-Audio will announce the Revolution & Sonica Theatre @ Comdex November 17th.The full specs will be released here.
The Revolution uses the new VIA Envy24HT PCI Multi-Channel Audio Controller& AKM Codex :
<a href="http://www.via.com.tw/en/multimedia/envy24ht.jsp"; target="_blank">http://www.via.com.tw/en/multimedia/envy24ht.jsp</a>;
It will ship with ASIO drivers, and the MSRP is $129 with a street price of under $100.The card is going to be sold through chains like Best Buy & CompUSA, and the release date is currently pending the completion of several OEM contracts.
There will be a DVD-Audio player (not sure whether it will be for OS X), but it will not ship until January.
This card is aimed more at the consumer audio market, and looks to be a real winner.