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REVIEWER’S GUIDE
21
2. Open the Revolution control panel software, and select the “Sen-
saura/Game Mode” option in the “Surround Sound” pane.
3. Launch the game and choose a positional audio setting in the game’s
audio settings such as DirectSound or EAX 2.
4. Play the game, listening to both the audio quality and the immersive
surround effect the Revolution 7.1 provides.
5. On games with good use of positional audio, you gain a competitive
advantage by being able to hear where danger or a target is coming
from. You can test positional audio simply by playing, but you may
want to try triggering sound in one direction (such as by throwing a
grenade), turning your “character” around or to the side, and noting
which speaker the sound effect comes from.
While neither Mac OS 9 nor X have an established API for positional or
3D gaming audio, there are some games for the Mac that can be provide
positional audio by using Circle Surround II’s Cinema Mode. Starcraft
supports Dolby Surround and will provide positional audio with CSII
enabled on Revolution. Games that use the Miles positional sound sys-
tem are also supposed to be Dolby compatible and can provide positional
audio on the Mac when Circle Surround II’s Cinema Mode is enabled.
Warcraft III from Blizzard is a good example of this. Note that the com-
bined system requirements of game processing and Circle Surround Ii
decode may be somewhat high.
Test 3: Stereo Music
This test demonstrates the Revolution 7.1’s superior sound quality when
playing a stereo CD, MP3, or Internet radio.
1. Audition one or more CDs, MP3s, and/or Internet radio selections
using the competing sound card.
2. Switch to the Revolution 7.1 and access the control panel software.
3. Enable the “Stereo” or “Stereo w/Integrated Subwoofer” speaker sets
if you have a stereo speaker set or a “2.1” set with a stereo speaker
and crossover that sends bass to the built-in subwoofer. If you have a
true 2.1 set that has a discrete subwoofer input channel, choose the
“Stereo w/Discrete Subwoofer” set and enable Bass Management.
4. Audition the same music as before.
Note the superior audio quality of the Revolution 7.1. You should notice the
improved dynamic range, lower noise, and increased clarity of the audio. On
sources that are inherently very compressed or low fidelity—such as Internet
radio—you may have a more difficult time telling the difference in sound
quality. You may want to use one of the CD tracks listed in the “Music Lis-
tening Samples” section.