With the increased popularity of small form factor (SFF) computers for home theater applications, audio upgrade solutions that don’t occupy the machine’s sole PCI slot are of considerable interest.  In today’s review we take a look at an external USB sound card from M-Audio that promises 24-bit/96kHz playback and 7.1 surround sound - the Sonica Theater.

The Sonica Theater will draw obvious comparisons to Creative Lab’s Extigy USB sound solution, which we reviewed earlier this year.  However, the similarities are only superficial and we shall find that the Sonica Theater is quite a different animal.  Like the Extigy, however, the Sonica Theater is a USB 1.1 based solution that connects to your SFF or laptop via a USB cable and provides surround-sound outputs for connection to a set of powered speakers.

M-Audio Company Background

M-Audio is a relative newcomer to the world of consumer audio, only launching its consumer audio division at the end of 2001.  However, the company’s history is far longer than that, being founded back in 1988 (under the name Midiman Inc.) with the goal of offering complete audio solutions for recording artists and audio professionals.  When the consumer audio division was launched, their aim was to leverage their professional audio products to make high-end consumer audio products.

next >

---

• Product Specifications and Package (1 of 5)
• Size, Connectors & Hardware (2 of 5)
• Audio Performance (3 of 5)
• Audio Control Panel (4 of 5)
• Conclusions (5 of 5)