Multimedia hardware TerraTec Aureon 7.1 Space
VERDICT: Affordable sound card which offers low latency, great sound and versatility. The names M-Audio and TerraTec are the kind you expect to see behind glass cabinets in professional recording stores, but times have changed since the Audigy 2 started interfering. TerraTec and M-Audio have now taken it on themselves to educate the public and produce some competing all-singing, all-dancing Dolby Digital EX and Sensaura-compatible sound cards with the added bonus of full 24-bit/96kHz ASIO support.
RATING: PRICE: 88 (103 inc VAT) COMPANY: Terratec ISSUE: 102 DATE: Apr 03
This is where the Audigy 2 struggles. It has ASIO drivers, it even has 24-bit/96kHz (and 192kHz) sampling, but it locks the ASIO sample rate at 16-bit/48kHz, which can be annoying. Even if you don't need 24-bit/96kHz sampling, it's handy to be able to record at 16-bit/44.1kHz, particularly if you want to write your work to an audio CD. Both the TerraTec and M-Audio are more flexible in this respect, although the latter has a wider range of buffer settings. The Aureon's buffer can be set between 192 and 800 samples, while the Revolution's buffer goes from 64 to 2,688 samples. This means latency as low as 1ms at 96kHz with 64 samples, although this made the sound in Cubase 5 VST too choppy on our 1.8GHz Pentium 4 test system. However, both cards were happy on 512 samples (5ms at 96kHz), where Cubase simultaneously played back ten MIDI tracks through four VST instruments, along with several audio tracks, with no trouble. With 24-bit/96kHz ASIO support, these cards are ideal for recording in Cubase or running several instruments at once in Propellerhead Reason, and you can also sample at up to 24-bit/192kHz in a standard sampling package - in theory, anyway. M-Audio's driver allowed us to record in 24-bit in Sound Forge 5 with no trouble, but the TerraTec - while fine in 16-bit - pushed the level meters up to clip level when sampling in 24-bit, which resulted in a loud machine gun noise instead of the recording you thought you'd made. It did the same in Steinberg WaveLab Lite too, included in the TerraTec bundle. Compatibility is the TerraTec's main problem, and the music in some games like Civilization III also slowed down to half the speed for no reason, while the M-Audio was fine. Both cards should theoretically be comparable, as they're based around VIA's Envy24HT chip, so it comes down to TerraTec's drivers. The blue-grey TerraTec control panel, however, is very flash. It provides mixing control over all the outputs, which can't be done on the Audigy 2. The M-Audio panel, meanwhile, not only lets you mix all the outputs but also has lots of advanced settings for speaker setup. You can optimise the driver for the speaker size,
crossover frequency, distance in feet, as well as adding effects like SRS TruSurround XT and Circle Surround II, which extend standard stereo into surround sound. Both control panels also have the option to enable Sensaura, which provides EAX 1 and 2, DirectSound 3D and A3D surround compatibility for games, although it doesn't support Creative's proprietary EAX Advanced HD. Both cards support 7.1 surround sound, which is the recommended setup for Dolby Digital EX. This has two speakers behind you, rather than the Audigy 2's single rear speaker, and both TerraTec and M-Audio can be applauded for bundling 7.1compatible DVD players in the form of CyberLink PowerDVD and InterVideo WinDVD 4 respectively. The TerraTec has an upper hand with connectivity. There's an optical in and out on the backplate compared with the M-Audio's single coaxial digital out, and it also has analog internal connectors for attaching modems or CD audio cables. However, while an optical input is a bonus, the internal connectors are becoming redundant with so many media players playing CD audio digitally - I certainly didn't miss their presence. This is more than you can say for the lack of MIDI support. Unlike the Audigy 2, there's no wavetable synthesizer or even a MIDI port on either card. All is not lost, though, as you could use virtual synthesizers through an integrated port on your motherboard if it has one, or add a separate USB MIDI adaptor. But it's still a thoughtless omission and makes you wonder how much it would cost to bundle a 15pin MIDI backplate like the Audigy 2's. Strangely enough, the Audigy 2's comparative noise level test came out better than both these cards too - -90.31dB compared with the TerraTec's -69.48dB and the M-Audio's -65.70dB. At 73 from dabs.com, the Audigy 2 Player is slightly cheaper and has the bonus of EAX Advanced HD, a MIDI port, wavetable synthesizer, FireWire port, lower noise levels and THX certification. It may not have full 24-bit/96kHz ASIO support, but it's still a great all-rounder. If, however, you're looking for 24-bit/96kHz low-latency recording, but don't want to miss out on surround sound, the M-Audio Revolution is our first choice for both affordability and compatibility. Ben Hardwidge SPECIFICATIONS: PCI 2.2 sound card, maximum 24-bit/192kHz sampling rate (24bit/96kHz ASIO), four stereo outputs, mic-in, line-in. Compatibility: ASIO 2 and Sensaura. TerraTec: optical I/O, CyberLink PowerDVD, Emagic Logic Fun 4.8, Steinberg WaveLab Lite, two-year warranty, drivers for Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000 and XP. M-Audio: coaxial digital out, InterVideo WinDVD 4, drivers for Windows ME, 2000 and XP.