When it comes to Mac-compatible sound cards, M-Audio is pretty much the only game in town. Oh sure, Creative made a Mac SoundBlaster a few years back, but it was quickly forgotten and no longer has driver updates. So for current tech that is designed for Macs and has extensive support, M-Audio is the only option. And, as you will now hear, it’s a goodun.
I picked up a Revolution 7.1 to bump up the sound quality on my Power Mac G4. Oddly, when I got the Power Mac, I found it had poor sound quality compared to my iBook G4, which was a bit newer and had a better onboard soundcard. This just wouldn’t do, because I love top-quality audio, and my Harmon Kardon speakers beg for a decent sound output. I’m an amateur audiophile; I can’t make music to save my life, but I can tell the difference between a 192kps recording and one with 256 or 320kps by ear. 128-160kps sound like crap to my ears. So I’m more sensitive to sound quality than the average schmuck. And I believe that qualifies me to give a brief review of the Revolution 7.1 I stuck into my Mac. Don’t argue with me, I’m on a roll.
A bit long in the tooth now, the R 7.1 is a solid soundcard, and got very good reviews when it was released around 2004. I paid about 110$ for it, locally, but you can get them for as little as 25$ on Fleabay if you are so inclined. Either way, it is worth your money.
For your money you get full 7.1 support through individual 3.5mm jacks. Also provided is a digital output port if you happen to have that capability. For me, I don’t even have a 7.1 system. Or 5.1. Nope, I make do with a set of H/K 2.1 “Champagne” speakers. Speakers that were considered middle-of-the-road to above average by most reviewers. With the R 7.1, that changes.
With the latest drivers you get a comprehensive set of presets for various speaker systems, including my Champagnes. Setting the output for this preset, then fiddling with the surround sound and “trubass” settings revealed that my humble old speakers had amazing capabilities. Sound clarity is perfect, bass is crisp while still throwing out some serious wall rattling power, and the surround sound works brilliantly. It’s quite eerie to sit between two speakers and suddenly become enveloped in three-dimensional sound, as if you had a true surround system – except this is entirely through the software. Amazing. It gave my H/Ks a new lease on life. I was fist pumping with the pure joy that only an equally crazy audio nut will understand. The sound quality exceeded my expectations, and blew me away. I never thought I could extract such rich sound from such simple speakers.
But there is a caveat. Actually two. You see, the R 7.1, despite being a dedicated sound card, actually consumes more processing power than the onboard card. I clocked the difference at nearly 10% more (as in 10% more of the processing speed, not a 10% increase) for the R 7.1. So don’t expect this to speed up your old computer by taking sound processing off the motherboard. The other problem is audio artefacts – on a regular basis I get the odd pop, click or warble. Usually when I start a video or sound file; the worst, however, is when I pause a movie in Quicktime, then restart it only to have the sound completely garbled. To fix it requires restarting Quicktime. I recently updated to the latest drivers, but I’m still getting minor artefacts. It’s not enough to dissuade me completely, however. The sound quality is so damn good I am willing to overlook this rather apparent flaw. But the final score reflects this problem.
I give it three and half Patsies. The audio flaws are irritating and the price is high, but you don’t have much choice when it comes to Mac compatible stuff, and the sound quality is mind blowing once you get it dialled in for your speaker setup. Recommended.
