Over the past year or so, M-Audio has become a powerhouse company in the world of computer-based audio. Now the U.S. distributor for such popular music applications as Reason, Rebirth, and Live, M-Audio is also in the business of selling audio I/O interfaces and MIDI controllers for use with your Mac (or PC). The M-Audio line runs the gamut from consumer to professional-level devices, and their newest offering brings some "prosumer" features to a consumer-priced USB interface well-matched to the PowerBook/iBook set.

The Sonica Theater USB is a bus-powered USB interface that brings 7.1 Surround Sound decoding and high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz fidelity to your Mac. Sonica Theater works with any Mac running OS 9.2.2 or X, but should be particularly appealing to mobile music lovers given its small size (comprable to an address book) and lack of a wall wart AC adapter. The silver plastic box - which coordinates nicely with the PowerBook G4 series - features a host of back-panel I/O jacks designed to enhance audio recording and playback of DVDs, games, and good ol' fashioned stereo music on your Mac.

Sonica's back panel line-up looks like this: A standard USB jack connects the unit to your computer; Digital Out provides S/PDIF RCA coaxial connectivity for digital audio output; Four 1/8" outputs provide for eight analog tracks of audio: Surround Center L/R, Center/Subwoofer, Surround L/R, and Front L/R speaker hookups (the Front jack is suitable for headphone use); and Line In is a standard 1/8" analog input jack. M-Audio includes an software CD that installs drivers and the M-Audio Theater application in either OS 9 or X. Also included are full versions of MixMan Studio and Vjay Lite, as well as other music creation software and a plethera of loops and sounds to make your tunes with. Sadly, the included full version of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 is PC only. Trust me, this is a bummer -- I still play THPS 1 on my Dreamcast all the time.

If you watch DVDs or play lots of games on your Mac and have a multi-speaker surround sound setup, you'll love the Sonica. M-Audio lists the unit's signal-to-noise ratio at an impressive 101 db, and audio played through the unit even on my not terribly expensive Altec Lansing speakers honestly sounds great with very little hiss. Sonica supports all types of speaker setups, from standard stereo through the latest 7.1 home theater setups, and the built-in TruSurround XT feature simulates surround sound over two speakers or headphones. While TruSurround XT isn't (and doesn't claim to be) the same as real surround sound, it is a nifty feature that adds depth to games and action movies, especially through headphones. Something called SRS Circle Surround II plays a similar trick on regular two-channel music tracks, adding a layer of virtual surround sound to your mp3s and other audio files. Some people will get a kick out of this; I played with it for awhile and then turned it off. Sonica Theater also supports the latest audio technology including DTS, Dolby Digital, Sensaura, EAX, DirectSound, and A3D. Everything is controlled through a comprehensive but simple-to-run control panel application, which allows for adjustments in bass enhancement, individual speaker volume, and other fine tunings of your sound.

I got the biggest kick out of the Sonica Theater when using it with music creation programs like Live 2. The audio in line provides for superior audio quality than my Griffin iMic, upping the ante to 24-bit/96kHz recording using any audio application that supports this resolution. Even better, Sonica Audio supports the ASIO standard, which means that programs that support ASIO an take advantage of multi-track output. With a multiple speaker setup connected to the Sonica, I can route different instrument sounds to the various surround tracks (front, center, rear surround), which gets to be really fun and addicting when you're making music on your laptop in a big room by yourself. I can also finally use Live's preview feature, which lets you preview a track through headphones before adding it into your live mix (impossible through the single headphone jack on my TiBook, or through an iMic). All of this just to say that in addition to all of its features designed to appeal to DVD watchers and gamers, Sonica also throws some bones the way of laptop musicians. Other ASIO-compliant hardware I've looked into runs twice the price of the Sonica Theater. To be fair, you will run into some limitations when cranking out multiple channels of high resolution audio through the Sonica, as USB 1.1 only supports so much bandwidth. But if you're really worried about such things, you're probably going to be willing to spring for a professoinal-level, firewire or PCI-based interface.

Which brings me to the best part. The Sonica Theater sells for $119.95 through the M-Audio Website. Not a bad price if you're interested in the latest in Surround Sound technology for your games and DVDs, or wanting to create and output pro-quality audio from your Mac. And it's a steal if you want to do both.