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DEAD - M-Audio Revolution 7.1 Sound Card - $65 AR @ CompUSA - (** NEW DRIVERS! **)
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I finally got around to installing this sound card so here?s my mini review. I?d like to thank the originator of this thread because I would never have found out about it, let alone the rebate deal, otherwise. I realize the Revolution is a great recording card and technically superior to anything in its price range, but for me the question was and always will be ?does it really sound better??
I stuck this in an old Athlon 850, FIC SD 11 motherboard equipped machine, which is pretty close to the minimum configuration recommended by the manufacturer for surround sound. So I was a little apprehensive. For some strange reason XP Pro refused to recognize the card even after half a dozen or more reinstalls with the newest driver from the m-audio site. Also, for a while the system would not boot up beyond the welcome screen without a ctrl-alt-del key input. But after about an hour and a half of reinstalls and rebooting XP Pro finally recognized the card and the machine now boots faster than ever and everything is OK. The install problem is probably a hardware issue related to my configuration so I wouldn?t worry about it.
As for the sound quality?well, I?m what you?d call a hard sell. Sound is extremely subjective and because the reviews are uniformly positive I was expecting a lot from the Revolution. I?m constantly on the lookout for better sound (on a budget) and have upgraded this same machine from a cheapo generic sound card, to a Sound Blaster Live, to an Audigy, and now to the Revolution 7.1. Frankly, the jump from the Live Value to the Audigy was the most satisfying. While the Revolution is noticeably better than the Audigy through my Logitech 560 speakers, the difference is quite subtle, and the mp3s and CDs I listened to didn?t sound THAT much better than the Audigy. I?m not much of a game player and I haven?t tried any DVDs yet so I can?t comment on that, but like a lot of others I?m most interested in how the *music* sounds. By the way, there is absolutely no hiss or rumble. On some songs the Audigy seemed to be a little punchier, for some reason, but the Revolution was always more natural and better balanced.
One bonus is I can now say good riddance to the Creative stranglehold on my machine. It took quite a while to uninstall all the Creative crap and registry entries associated with the Audigy, so that alone may be reason enough to go with the Revolution.
Based on a few hours of listening to the Revolution my opinion is that if you?re into music and are upgrading from a Sound Blaster Live or anything ?worse,? the Revolution would be a big improvement. I can?t comment on games or recording because I?m not much into that.
But for computer users with the Audigy or Audigy 2, and whose main interest is enjoying mp3s and CDs, I?m not sure upgrading to this Revolution card is particularly warranted. I wish I could compare the Audigy and the Revolution side by side, but since that?s not possible I?ll have to go by my initial impression.
I stuck this in an old Athlon 850, FIC SD 11 motherboard equipped machine, which is pretty close to the minimum configuration recommended by the manufacturer for surround sound. So I was a little apprehensive. For some strange reason XP Pro refused to recognize the card even after half a dozen or more reinstalls with the newest driver from the m-audio site. Also, for a while the system would not boot up beyond the welcome screen without a ctrl-alt-del key input. But after about an hour and a half of reinstalls and rebooting XP Pro finally recognized the card and the machine now boots faster than ever and everything is OK. The install problem is probably a hardware issue related to my configuration so I wouldn?t worry about it.
As for the sound quality?well, I?m what you?d call a hard sell. Sound is extremely subjective and because the reviews are uniformly positive I was expecting a lot from the Revolution. I?m constantly on the lookout for better sound (on a budget) and have upgraded this same machine from a cheapo generic sound card, to a Sound Blaster Live, to an Audigy, and now to the Revolution 7.1. Frankly, the jump from the Live Value to the Audigy was the most satisfying. While the Revolution is noticeably better than the Audigy through my Logitech 560 speakers, the difference is quite subtle, and the mp3s and CDs I listened to didn?t sound THAT much better than the Audigy. I?m not much of a game player and I haven?t tried any DVDs yet so I can?t comment on that, but like a lot of others I?m most interested in how the *music* sounds. By the way, there is absolutely no hiss or rumble. On some songs the Audigy seemed to be a little punchier, for some reason, but the Revolution was always more natural and better balanced.
One bonus is I can now say good riddance to the Creative stranglehold on my machine. It took quite a while to uninstall all the Creative crap and registry entries associated with the Audigy, so that alone may be reason enough to go with the Revolution.
Based on a few hours of listening to the Revolution my opinion is that if you?re into music and are upgrading from a Sound Blaster Live or anything ?worse,? the Revolution would be a big improvement. I can?t comment on games or recording because I?m not much into that.
But for computer users with the Audigy or Audigy 2, and whose main interest is enjoying mp3s and CDs, I?m not sure upgrading to this Revolution card is particularly warranted. I wish I could compare the Audigy and the Revolution side by side, but since that?s not possible I?ll have to go by my initial impression.
BlindSight
Member
I guess that leaves me singled out when I say that I am disappointed with the card. The card's output in itself is really nice, and I got the card based on the numerous positive reviews about the sound quality but you will be hard pressed to find a review that factors in recording tests. It's in record mode that you start to realize that the card is not that great.
INSTALLATION
The card wouldn't work in my Dell Dimension 8250 when I first installed it. The first bootup I did right after a physical install detected the card just fine, but once I loaded the drivers I was locked out of Windows XP. Even after juggling the PCI slots, which I thought was unusual for such a new system and a new sound card, I only got the card working after I enabled the onboard audio which I had disabled in preperation of the new sound card. At least the two do coexist. I'm just not sure if the card didn't like a certain PCI slot or why did it want my onboard audio to be enabled for it to work.
DRIVER/SOFTWARE
If you ever plan on recording anything you must know about the "Monitor" control panel. In order to get any sound coming into the computer, you have to click on the tray applet to load it up and put a check mark next to the Line/Mic in "Monitor". Once you enable the monitor, you have to leave the applet running or you won't get any sound in at all. If you happen to close that applet, which I do out of habbit to reduce CPU usage when I am about to capture some video, you loose your sound in. In comparison, all the sound cards I have used do not require you to do anything in order to get sound in. It is on all the time (passive or pass through) and you do not have to run a seperate program to get the Line/Mic In working unlike this M-Audio card.
USAGE
The card's much vaunted recording fidelity is crippled by the fact that you only get one input. To make matters worse, the Line In and Mic In are viewed as One Single Connection to the driver software. That means that you cannot choose to record from a single source, you are ALWAYS recording from the Line In and Mic at the same time. This might not be a problem to those of you who have an ON/OFF switch to your Mic, but for anybody else that uses one of those Mic's that are built into the monitor or one of those tiny ones that sit on a stand next to you, that Mic is always on when you are recording from the Line In and there is a risk of background noise polluting your recordings. Sneeze or cough and it's all over. Reaching back to disconnect and reconnect the Mic gets tiring after a while.
Finally, what is up with the lip syncing? Even with the latest drivers and the recording buffers set to the Max, all my captures look like Milli Vanilli. The latency problem is that bad. Do not buy this card if you do TV captures. You will regret it.
CONCLUSION
If output is all you want then the Revolution might be for you but the sound imaging is done through software anyway. My onboard audio with SoundMax can do the same 3D audio positioning the M-Audio does albeit with a lower quality output and somewhat muddled sound. The M-Audio does sound better. For anybody that wants good sound IN AND OUT though, you should look elsewhere or pray that these issues can be fixed with a future driver update. I'm wishing I can return my card after I've already cut out the UPC.
INSTALLATION
The card wouldn't work in my Dell Dimension 8250 when I first installed it. The first bootup I did right after a physical install detected the card just fine, but once I loaded the drivers I was locked out of Windows XP. Even after juggling the PCI slots, which I thought was unusual for such a new system and a new sound card, I only got the card working after I enabled the onboard audio which I had disabled in preperation of the new sound card. At least the two do coexist. I'm just not sure if the card didn't like a certain PCI slot or why did it want my onboard audio to be enabled for it to work.
DRIVER/SOFTWARE
If you ever plan on recording anything you must know about the "Monitor" control panel. In order to get any sound coming into the computer, you have to click on the tray applet to load it up and put a check mark next to the Line/Mic in "Monitor". Once you enable the monitor, you have to leave the applet running or you won't get any sound in at all. If you happen to close that applet, which I do out of habbit to reduce CPU usage when I am about to capture some video, you loose your sound in. In comparison, all the sound cards I have used do not require you to do anything in order to get sound in. It is on all the time (passive or pass through) and you do not have to run a seperate program to get the Line/Mic In working unlike this M-Audio card.
USAGE
The card's much vaunted recording fidelity is crippled by the fact that you only get one input. To make matters worse, the Line In and Mic In are viewed as One Single Connection to the driver software. That means that you cannot choose to record from a single source, you are ALWAYS recording from the Line In and Mic at the same time. This might not be a problem to those of you who have an ON/OFF switch to your Mic, but for anybody else that uses one of those Mic's that are built into the monitor or one of those tiny ones that sit on a stand next to you, that Mic is always on when you are recording from the Line In and there is a risk of background noise polluting your recordings. Sneeze or cough and it's all over. Reaching back to disconnect and reconnect the Mic gets tiring after a while.
Finally, what is up with the lip syncing? Even with the latest drivers and the recording buffers set to the Max, all my captures look like Milli Vanilli. The latency problem is that bad. Do not buy this card if you do TV captures. You will regret it.
CONCLUSION
If output is all you want then the Revolution might be for you but the sound imaging is done through software anyway. My onboard audio with SoundMax can do the same 3D audio positioning the M-Audio does albeit with a lower quality output and somewhat muddled sound. The M-Audio does sound better. For anybody that wants good sound IN AND OUT though, you should look elsewhere or pray that these issues can be fixed with a future driver update. I'm wishing I can return my card after I've already cut out the UPC.
I also bought this card based strictly upon the rave reviews (and rebate). And I?m not completely satisfied with it either but for different reasons. It may have been an unreasonable expectation, but I was hoping for a vast improvement over the Audigy. But it?s not there.
In comparison to the Audigy, while the Revolution sounds more natural and somehow more full bodied, you have to listen hard to notice, and I would wager that in a properly designed test, eight out of ten people would not hear much, if any improvement, over the Audigy. As a matter of fact, in my opinion some mp3s sounded crisper through the Audigy, especially in the vocal ranges, which don?t have much of a soundstage through the Revolution.
I have no love for Creative, but their cards are cheap, easy to find, and do a good job. But I hate Creative?s bloated, intrusive software so I?m not about to go back to the Audigy unless I can do so without installing all of their ridiculous software.
I?m surprised you had problems with recording because I thought this was the Revolution?s strongest suit. If what you say is true I suspect a lot of people will not be happy once they get around to recording. You shouldn?t have any trouble selling the Revolution if you decide to part with it.
In comparison to the Audigy, while the Revolution sounds more natural and somehow more full bodied, you have to listen hard to notice, and I would wager that in a properly designed test, eight out of ten people would not hear much, if any improvement, over the Audigy. As a matter of fact, in my opinion some mp3s sounded crisper through the Audigy, especially in the vocal ranges, which don?t have much of a soundstage through the Revolution.
I have no love for Creative, but their cards are cheap, easy to find, and do a good job. But I hate Creative?s bloated, intrusive software so I?m not about to go back to the Audigy unless I can do so without installing all of their ridiculous software.
I?m surprised you had problems with recording because I thought this was the Revolution?s strongest suit. If what you say is true I suspect a lot of people will not be happy once they get around to recording. You shouldn?t have any trouble selling the Revolution if you decide to part with it.
yellowperil
Diamond Member
Yeah after messing with this card for a while I realized it's mainly for music listening/home theater. The recording aspect is maybe for people who want to record a source like an LP or something. I tried using it with several multitrack programs and ran into some buffering problems. Also because I had to use a splitter and another adapter that seemed to introduce extra noise. I think I'll probably re-buy the Audiophile 2496 or the newer Audiophile USB
Thump553
Lifer
My experience is pretty similar to cga's, minus the installation headaches. Mine went in an Athlon 1400 system running Windows 2000. My card replaced a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz which replaced a Soundblaster Live!. I am concerned primarily with audio playback, with some gaming. At this time, no recording at all.
I used the lastest drivers from M-Audio's website when I installed a week or so ago. Like I said, no problems.
Evaluation: From the SB to the Turtle Beach was a very large step up in fidelity. From the Turtle Beach to the M-Audio is another very substantial step up, but perhaps not as big. The audio is now quieter in the silent periods and better fidelity. One problem I've noticed however. Before the M-Audio I always used the seperate cable from my CD drive to the soundcard. M-Audio doesn't permit this, you must use digital audio. Frequently when I access the other IDE device (CDRW) on that IDE chain I get pauses in my playback, which is very annoying. DMA is activated on both my CD & CDRW drives. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?
My conclusion: At the $65 price level I paid, this is a great card. Right now Circuit City has the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for $39 after rebate, which is a really great deal. If I was buying now, and didn't need the absolute best audio playback, I'd go for the Santa Cruz at $39 over the M-Audio at $100.
I used the lastest drivers from M-Audio's website when I installed a week or so ago. Like I said, no problems.
Evaluation: From the SB to the Turtle Beach was a very large step up in fidelity. From the Turtle Beach to the M-Audio is another very substantial step up, but perhaps not as big. The audio is now quieter in the silent periods and better fidelity. One problem I've noticed however. Before the M-Audio I always used the seperate cable from my CD drive to the soundcard. M-Audio doesn't permit this, you must use digital audio. Frequently when I access the other IDE device (CDRW) on that IDE chain I get pauses in my playback, which is very annoying. DMA is activated on both my CD & CDRW drives. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?
My conclusion: At the $65 price level I paid, this is a great card. Right now Circuit City has the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for $39 after rebate, which is a really great deal. If I was buying now, and didn't need the absolute best audio playback, I'd go for the Santa Cruz at $39 over the M-Audio at $100.
BlindSight
Member
Heads up, new drivers are out.
It seems that M-Audio is taking our concerns seriously and has resolved some of the issues many of us were having. I haven't tried out the drivers yet, so somebody let us know how it goes. I took out the card out of my system a while back. Is the Line In/Mic still one input signal?
2003-05-16 5.10.00.36
Updates:
1) Direct Monitoring Is Enabled by Right Clicking Icon in System Tray.
2) AV Sync Input Delay Resolved.
3) Quick Switch Save Button Added to Control Panel
4) ASIO Input 24dB Drop Fixed.
5) Glitches in WDM Signal while running direct monitoring fixed.
It seems that M-Audio is taking our concerns seriously and has resolved some of the issues many of us were having. I haven't tried out the drivers yet, so somebody let us know how it goes. I took out the card out of my system a while back. Is the Line In/Mic still one input signal?
2003-05-16 5.10.00.36
Updates:
1) Direct Monitoring Is Enabled by Right Clicking Icon in System Tray.
2) AV Sync Input Delay Resolved.
3) Quick Switch Save Button Added to Control Panel
4) ASIO Input 24dB Drop Fixed.
5) Glitches in WDM Signal while running direct monitoring fixed.
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