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tisoncam · Jul 31, 2003, 11:06 AM

Has anyone used the M-Audio Sonica Theater with a PB? I am condiering getting this for use with my 5.1 system but I wanted to make sure it acutally works well for people. I have been unable to find any reviews of this specific model, though the PCI counterpart is getting some pretty decent press.

MacNStein · Jul 31, 2003, 12:47 PM

I have the regular Sonica and it's a very good piece of hardware. Does a great job with DTS and DD discs. Unless you need the Coax Digital Out or all the mini-jack outs, I think the regular Sonica is the product to get.

If you're only wanting to stream Digital audio to your receiver or processor, then the regular Sonica is the best way to go, and it's quite a bit more portable and less expensive.

http://www.midiman.net/products/cons...nica_page1.php

tisoncam · Jul 31, 2003, 12:51 PM

Thanks. I think that I need the 5.1 mini-jack out. My speakers have the two 1/8" connector--it doesn't look lokie th sonica has that capability.

pbfixit · Aug 16, 2003, 03:23 PM

I've had a Sonica Theater with my PB G4 800 for about four months and overall I'm very happy with it. I have it hooked up to a set of Creative Inspire 6.1 speakers and the sound is really good. There have been some issues with clicking sounds in the speakers that show up after using the setup for a while. I don't know if it is the speakers or the Sonica (I'm guessing the speakers). Using surround sound also takes a lot of CPU power from my computer. I can see a noticable performance hit when listening to music in surround sound and doing other work at the same time.
The software that M-Aduio provides is pretty nice and lets you change a bunch of settings for the speakers as well as upmix regular stereo to surround sound. Price wise the Sonica is a great deal - it's way cheaper than buying a traditional surround sound receiver.

RayX · Aug 17, 2003, 01:48 AM

Originally posted by tisoncam:
Thanks. I think that I need the 5.1 mini-jack out. My speakers have the two 1/8" connector--it doesn't look lokie th sonica has that capability.

If one of the 1/8 connectors is a digital input (S/PDIF), then you just need to get something like this and you can use the Sonica Theater:

Otherwise just buy a standard digital COAX cable, and get an adaptor that has RCA female on one end, 1/8 mono on the other end (doing that is probably easier and cheaper, and you can control the quality of the cables).

Example: