Sonic Studio Strix Series
User Guide
DE158
First Edition
June 2015
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Contents
1. Sonic Studio .................................................................................... 4
1.1 Launching Sonic Studio ............................................................ 4
1.2 Sonic Studio overview .............................................................. 5
1.2.1 Device selection ............................................................ 9
Output device ..................................................................... 9
Input device ...................................................................... 10
1.2.2 Signal meters .............................................................. 11
1.2.3 Main settings area ....................................................... 12
Playback volume control .................................................. 12
Playback volume mute ..................................................... 13
Playback channel mixer ................................................... 14
Record volume control ..................................................... 16
Record volume mute ........................................................ 17
Record volume channel mixer ......................................... 18
Listen to Device ............................................................... 19
Audio Cong .................................................................... 20
Audio format ..................................................................... 21
Proles ............................................................................. 22
1.2.4 Audio enhancement area ............................................ 23
Equalizer .......................................................................... 23
Bass Boost ....................................................................... 24
Voice Clarity ..................................................................... 25
Compressor ..................................................................... 26
1.2.5 Tuning area ................................................................. 27
Virtual Surround ............................................................... 27
Upmix ............................................................................... 28
Reverb ............................................................................. 29
1.2.6 Mic area ...................................................................... 30
Noise Gate ....................................................................... 30
Perfect Voice .................................................................... 31
1.2.7 Advanced Plug-in ....................................................... 32
Raid Mode (Strix RAID DLX/ Strix RAID PRO only) ........ 32
Sonic Radar Pro .............................................................. 33
1.3 Exiting Sonic Studio ................................................................ 61
2. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) .......................................... 62
General ........................................................................................... 62
Audio effects ................................................................................... 63
Device management ....................................................................... 64
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1. Sonic Studio
1.1 Launching Sonic Studio
After nishing the driver installation for your audio device and rebooting your
computer, you will nd the Sonic Studio icon on Windows® desktop, Windows®
notication area or the metro interface. Double-click the Sonic Studio icon to
launch Sonic Studio.
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1.2 Sonic Studio overview
Sonic Studio comes with advanced sound algorithms and virtual surround effects
to enhance the listening experience whether you are watching a movie, listening to
music, playing a video game or communicating with your friends.
Screenshots are for reference only and subject to change and updates.
No. Item Description
1 Signal meters See section 1.2.2 Signal meters for details.
2 Device selection See section 1.2.1 Device selection for details.
3 Main settings area See section 1.2.3 Main settings area for details.
4 Audio enhancement area
5 Tuning area See section 1.2.5 Tuning area for details.
6 Mic area See section 1.2.6 Mic area for details.
7 Advanced Plug-in See section 1.2.7 Advanced Plug-in for details.
See section 1.2.4 Audio enhancement area for
details.
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No. Item Description
1 Display
2 Output Device Select
3 Playback Volume Control
4 Playback Channel
5 Sample Rate
6 Input Device Select
7 Recording Volume Control
8 Playback Volume Mute
9 Playback Setting
10 Listen to Device
11 Recording Volume Setting
12 Recording Volume Mute
Displays signal meters.
Click to select an output source: analog speakers,
headphones, Line out or S/PDIF device.
Right-click an output source to set as the default device.
Drag this slider to increase or decrease playback volume.
Click to select appropriate playback channels.
Click to select sample rate and bit rate.
Click to select an input source: MIC in, Line in or Aux in.
Right-click an input source to set as the default device.
Drag this slider to increase or decrease record volume.
Click to mute/unmute volume playback.
Click to open the mixer and adjust the volume for each
channel.
Click to hear the current input device in the output audio
device.
Click to open mixer and adjust input device settings.
Click to mute/unmute recording volume.
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No. Item Description
The preset manager allows users to customize
13 Preset
14 Information
15 EQ
16 EQ Presets
17 Bass Boost
18 Voice Clarity
19 Compressor
settings based on preference. You can create, save,
and delete presets.
Click to view driver information.
Drag this slider to adjust gains for each different
frequency band.
• Click to turn on/off EQ setting.
• Click to select an EQ preset.
• Click to turn on/off Bass Boost.
• Drag the slider to adjust low frequency harmonics to
produce a deeper and warmer bass.
• Drag the slider to adjust the gain of the Bass Boost
effect.
• Click to turn on/off Voice Clarity.
• Drag the slider to increase speech recognition by
boosting the range of human voice frequencies.
• Click to turn on/off Compressor.
• Drag the slider to tighten audio according to a set
threshold.
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No. Item Description
When the Playback Channel is set to Stereo,
Virtual Surround is available.
• Click to enable Virtual Surround.
20 Virtual Surround / Upmix
21 Reverb Gain
22 On/Off Reverb Gain
23 Noise Gate
24 Perfect Voice
25 Speaker Test
26 Advanced Plug-in
• Click to select a Virtual Surround preset.
When the Playback Channel is set to 4, 5.1, or 7.1,
Upmix is available.
• Click to enable Upmix.
• Click to select an Upmix.
• Click to turn on/off reverb.
• Click to select a reverb preset.
Drag the slider to adjust Reverb Gain to values
between -6 to +6 dB.
• Click to enable Noise Gate.
• Drag the slider to remove the noise
between words and sentences during voice
communication.
• Click to enable noise reduction.
• Drag the slider to reduce remaining noise during
voice communication.
Click this button to test sound direction of the
speaker.
Sonic Radar Pro: Click to enable or disable Sonic
Radar Pro, an audio visualization program of
sound directions.
Strix Raid Mode: Click to select the desired feature
to assign to Control Box (Strix Raid DLX/ Strix Raid
Pro only).
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1.2.1 Device selection
Output device
Description:
This area displays all the available output devices and allows you to:
• Click to select an output source: analog speakers, headphones, Line out or
S/PDIF device.
• Right-click an output source to set as the default device.
• Change the impedances of the selected device to Low (default), Medium or
High. This will cause a greater volume of the selected device.
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How it works:
This feature is available depending on the devices connected to the audio card. It
is not available for all devices. For example, it is only available for speakers, not for
headphones.
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Input device
Description:
This area displays all the available input devices and allows you to:
• Click to select an input source: MIC in, Line in or Aux in.
• Right-click an input source to set as the default device.
Note: Input & Output devices support may vary with models.
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1.2.2 Signal meters
This area displays signal meters.
Description:
This is a visualizing feature allowing you to easily view the number of audio
channels used by the currently played audio le, the sound level, the power of
each channel, etc.
How it works:
This feature contains 8 vertical sliders which are representing the 8 existing audio
channels and each slider will display in real time the content of the currently played
audio le.
This feature varies depending on the input audio channels. This way, you will be
able to see precisely what you must have in your output device.
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1.2.3 Main settings area
Playback volume control
Drag the slider to increase or decrease playback volume.
Description:
This feature allows you to ne tune the global output audio volume.
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Playback volume mute
Click to mute/unmute volume playback.
Description:
This button allows you to mute/unmute the playback volume by a single click.
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Playback channel mixer
The Channel Mixer function is an independent window that can be launched by
clicking the Channel Mixer button on the main settings area.
Click to open the mixer and adjust the volume for each channel.
Description:
This feature allows you to ne tune the audio settings for each channel of the
currently played audio le. Applying a positive gain on a channel will reinforce
the presence of this channel compared to the others. This way, you can dene
precisely which channel you prefers to hear most and ne tune the multi-channel
system to your personal preferences.
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How it works:
The channel mixer window contains 8 vertical sliders allowing you to ne tune each
audio channel by applying a gain between +18 dB and -36 dB. It allows you to
apply a gain on a specic audio channel, not to change its volume. This way, even
if you apply a maximum negative gain on a channel (-36 dB), you can still hear
some sound if you are using high volume.
This feature is modifying input channels. This means that on this window, you can
only impact the original les’ channels, regardless of the output format you chose.
For example:
• if you are playing a 7.1-channel le in stereo mode, the channel mixer will
allow you to apply a gain on each 8 channels of the original le, even if the
output is only stereo;
• if you are playing a stereo le in 7.1-channel mode, the channel mixer will
only impact the 2 original stereo channels.
Notes:
• The Channel Mixer does not allow applying gains on encoded les using
Dolby or DTS formats. We do not decode Dolby or DTS format les and
hence when undecoded we do not apply gains on it via the channel mixer.
This means that the gains will not be usable when:
- the les are played in a player that doesn’t decode Dolby or DTS
formats (WMP for example),
- the output device is SPDIF (because SPDIF has only stereo inputs).
• If the player is able to decode the le (Power DVD can do it), channel mixer
will be usable, regardless of the input format (SPDIF or other).
This way, if you are playing a multi-channel le with Power DVD, set up
Power DVD in multi-channel and use the channel mixer. It will work for all
the channels.
• If you are playing a multi-channel le with Windows Media Player, it will not
work, because WMP is not able to decode DTS or Dolby les.
• You must use a non-encoded le to test (MP3, WAV, etc).
• Difference between gain and volume: a gain is a positive or negative boost
that you apply on a specic channel. The volume is a global info which will
impact all the channels of the le.
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Record volume control
Drag the slider to increase or decrease record volume.
Description:
This feature allows you to ne tune the global record volume.
How it works:
This application bases its volume settings on Windows volume.
This way, the Record Volume slider allows you to ne tune the global Windows
volume of the input devices.
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Record volume mute
Click to mute/unmute recording volume.
Description:
This button allows you to mute/unmute the record volume by a single click.
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Record volume channel mixer
The Channel Mixer function is an independent window that can be launched by
clicking the Channel Mixer button on the main settings area.
Click to open mixer and adjust input device settings.
Description:
This feature allows you to ne tune the input settings for each channel of the
currently played audio le. Applying a positive gain on a channel will reinforce
the presence of this channel compared to the others. This way, you can dene
precisely which channel you prefers to hear most and ne tune the system to your
personal preferences.
How it works:
The channel mixer window contains multiple vertical sliders allowing you to ne
tune each input device by applying a gain between +18 dB and -36 dB. It allows
you to apply a gain on a specic input device, not to change its volume. This way,
even if you apply a maximum negative gain on a channel (-36 dB), you can still
hear some sound if you are using high volume.
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Listen to Device
The Listen to Device button allows you to hear the current input device in the
output audio device.
Click to hear the current input device in the output audio device.
Description:
This feature allows you to have a hearable feedback of the current input device.
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Audio Config
Click to select appropriate playback channels.
Description:
The Audio Cong area allows you to select the output format of your audio system:
Stereo, 4.0, 5.1 and 7.1.
How it works:
This feature is an automatic feature.
This application will detect and display the available formats that are supported by
the current sound card and the plugged device.
For example, if a headset is plugged, only Stereo format is available. If a
7.1-channel system on a 7.1-channel sound card is plugged, all the audio formats
will be available: Stereo, 4.0, 5.1 and 7.1.
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