NVIDIA nForce APU

Mark Muschett - Last updated February 19, 2003

Bundle:

As this is a reference review of the nForce (1 and 2) audio system bundles will vary depending on the specific product/package you are buying.  As such we will only focus on the nForce control / configuration software.

NForce Control Panel 

First, the control panel is supposed to be identical in Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Window XP but all testing for this reference review was done using Windows XP.   In the future we may do some testing in Windows ME.  This is based on the v2 drivers released in November 2002 (note that the v.2 drivers have v3.06 audio drivers and a v3.07 control panel).

NVIDIA in an effort to help end users tweak their nForce systems has developed an excellent nForce Audio Control Panels Guide.  Everything functions as promised in their guide but I still want to take the time to run through the different options here.   You will recognize much of the text in the control panel section from the NVIDIA guide but we have added our own comments and expansions to some of the sections.

Note that this control panel is specific to nForce boards that utilize the Audio Processing Unit (APU), which of course is what we are interested in for this review.

After installing the latest nForce unified driver package from the Web, you are able to access the control panel from two places:

• From the system tray, using the supplied icon: 
• And from the Windows Control Panel on the Start bar

The Main Page

The Main page includes the primary sliders for adjusting the volume of all sound sources, recording input levels, equalizations settings (and presets), as well as a signal meter to visually verify that sound is being produced. If you want to modify the loudness of your CD audio playback, game audio, or MP3 music, this is the area where you would make such changes. 

There are sections for recording, for digitized input (what analog sources get passed on to the digital speakers), and for the various outputs. It should be noted that the sliders for recording and digitized input are not levels like the volumes, but are instead gains (boost) that go from 0 db (at the bottom) to infinity (at the top).

Next is the Speaker Setup Page

The Speaker Setup page is where you go to configure and setup your hardware.

The Speaker Setup page helps identify how the speakers are connected to the audio device, as well as what format to use when sending audio signals out of the PC. Here the number of speakers can be applied, the type of connection (digital or analog), individual volume levels for each speaker (balancing), and a host of specialty features. A wizard is also available to help guide the user through the process. Here is a short explanation of the specialty features: 

• Dolby® Surround Encoding
  Enables audio to be encoded for playback on home theater receivers (using analog stereo outputs only) 
• Dolby® Digital Encoding
  Enables audio to be encoded for playback on 5.1 home theater receivers (using digital S/PDIF output only) 
• Create Center Channel
  Generates a center channel for audio content that does not have it natively (like MP3s, WMAs, etc.) 
• Create Channel 3D Pan
  Allows game sounds to be panned through the center speaker when they pass between the left and right speakers (only works for DirectSound3D games) 
• Create LFE Channel
  Generates a subwoofer signal for speaker systems that require it (like Dolby Digital receivers or home theaters with discreet subwoofer inputs). Enabling this option lets you set the crossover frequency (see below). Frequencies that are sent to the LFE channel are filtered from the main channels. This setting works in either analog or Dolby Digital encoding mode and also works in any speaker output configuration (i.e. 2,4, or 6).
• Rear Speaker Phase Shift
  Adjusts the output of the rear speakers so that sounds don't 'cancel out' and remove the bass channel or cause a 'tinny' sound (primarily older 4 channel PC speakers systems).  This should technically fix the bass issue that occurs on some Altec Lansing speakers (ADA885 and 890) but since those speakers have a Dolby Digital decoder there is also the option to use the DICE feature to bypass the problem.
• LFE Crossover Frequency
  Adjusts the amount of bass signal removed from the main speakers and sent specifically to the subwoofer output (increments in hertz from 50 to 500).

Then Comes the MIDI Page

This tab allows you to change settings specific to MIDI playback. A MIDI song can be tested at the Audition section using all available effects or just the highlighted effect. The Downloadable Sounds section allows the loading and unloading of DLS or SoundFont sample banks from system memory. These banks provide the instrument sounds for any MIDI files played on the system. Finally, at the bottom we have the effects panel. Since this panel is very similar to the Environment tab, we'll save the explanation for the next section.

The Environment Page

The Environment page is the most powerful and confusing section of the application. Like the MIDI page, a song or WAV file can be tested, and an environment can be applied using a preset at the Environment Presets drop down box. The power comes in the next section, where you have the ability to add or remove effects to construct an environment of your own liking. The effects enabled in this area are as follows: 

• Chorus 
• Compressor 
• Distortion 
• Echo 
• Flanger 
• Gargle 
• ParamEq 

Routing Tab
The first sub-tab, Routing, shows how the various effects can be mapped to either the speaker output directly, or they can be hooked (routed) together to create more complex effects. An example of this routing is shown below. 

Here you can see two new effects, Compressor and ParamEq, being routed into the Reverb and Chorus. This allows these new effects to be applied into the mix of the two standard effects: creating a custom chain for the sound and a unique sound output for each effect. There is also a slider to control the amount of each effect to be applied to the sound.  Note that at least with the current drivers no more than 6 additional effects can be added into the mix.  

This does mean that you can create a six band parametric equalizer (each ParamEq effect gives one band), which can be tweaked using the parameter editor described below. Note to be clear, this is completely independent of the standard 9 band equalizer that is accessible in the main (first) panel.

Source Levels Tab
The next sub tab is Source Levels. This area allows you to decide which sounds will have the effects applied to them. Think of this area as the traffic cop that directs which sound effects get added to what types of sounds. You can also set what MIDI controller triggers which effects. The example of this view is below. 

Parameter Editor Tab
The final sub tab is Parameter Editor. This area is really designed for the most experienced of tweakers due to the terminology and settings used. Basically, this is as close as the end user can get to tweaking the hardware registers, DSP settings, mixers, and memory routing on the APU without working for NVIDIA. Any changes to the sliders happen in real time on both the GUI and the DSP underneath, giving the user the ability to immediately hear what things sound like to anything that might be playing. There are presets at this level also, not to be confused with the environmental presets mentioned earlier, as these apply only to a single effect (like reverb, echo, etc.) and not to the entire effects group. An example of this low level tweaker is below: 

Note that at least with the current drivers there is no way to alter the basic wet/dry mix for standard EAX 1 and 2 calls (as is possible on the Live and Audigy series from Creative).

The Applications Page

The Applications page is used to put audio application shortcuts. It is just a quick way to get at their favorite audio applications from within the control panel. Applications can be added or removed by using the buttons in the lower right hand corner of this page.

The Information Page

The Information page shows the details of the APU, hardware and software revisions, driver revisions, current DirectX version, and in "Advanced" mode the DSP and voice utilization. This is the first place to look when you are verifying what drivers you are running and the last place to look when you want to know what is going on at the lower levels of the APU.

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