Terratec Aureon 7.1 Universe review

The audio that is built into motherboards meets most people's needs perfectly well, so a sound card must offer something special to stand out. Fortunately, Terratec's latest model has quite a few curious features.

It's certainly well connected. A breakout box sits in a 5" drive bay to provide digital and analogue inputs and outputs to supplement the usual collection on the back of the PCI card. These include RIAA phono inputs for directly connecting a turntable - useful for making MP3s of your vinyl, although the lack of a ground lug means you'll probably end up recording mains hum too. The dedicated headphone output is welcome, but its stereo output is wired the wrong way around. Fortunately, most headphones can be worn back to front to compensate.

The quality of the other inputs and outputs is as high as we'd expect at this price. The four line outputs produce surround sound up to 7.1 format, and are clear, detailed and free from audible noise. They can output audio signals up to 24-bit/96KHz, while the main line output goes all the way up to 192KHz. With the help of the bundled InterVideo WinDVD 5 software and its DVD Audio Pack add-on, the card can play DVD Audio discs.

The best news for musicians is ASIO support, which gives low latency recording and playback in compatible music production software. Unlike the card's main competitor, Creative's Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro, ASIO doesn't lock the sample rate to non-standard values, and instead is freely configurable up to 192KHz. This alone makes the Terratec a better choice for serious musicians. The four line outputs can be addressed separately via ASIO for mixing in surround sound or with external hardware, but sadly only one stereo input is available, which rules out ensemble recording.

Home entertainment features are decent, but not up to the standards of Creative's card. The version of WinDVD included here decodes Dolby Digital soundtracks and supports 7.1 speaker output. Sadly, the superior DTS format isn't supported. Games fared better, with full 7.1 surround, but while the EAX 2.0, Aureal and other in-game effects give good results, Creative's EAX Advanced HD has a slight edge.

The Aureon 7.1 Universe has a lot going for it, although musicians who need ASIO but not the digital connections could settle for Terratec's Aureon 5.1 Sky, which costs just £69 inc VAT. Game and DVD fans will find the Creative's stronger features and software bundle more appealing.