What Is ROG SupremeFX 2014: Sonic SenseAMP, SoundStage & Sonic Studio?

SupremeFX 2014 is the new audio standard packed in ROG motherboards. An evolution from last year's SupremeFX 2013 series, this year it focuses on refining the design and overhauling the software supplied. Sonic SenseAmp detects front panel headphone impedance and automatically adjusts the built-in amp; while the onboard Sonic SoundStage button provides an easy way to apply the best audio settings for popular game genres - FPS, racing, combat and sports.

Maximus VII series’ SupremeFX technologies also come with Sonic Studio, a brand new audio tuning suite that has a one-click Virtual Surround function for 7.1-channel audio even on a 2-channel stereo headset. It also features detailed settings for Reverb, Bass Boost, Equalizer, Voice Clarity, and Smart EQ to tailor audio to users’ preferences.

For the Maximus VII Formula, the audio has been further upgraded with SupremeFX Formula 2014, which utilizes cutting-edge isolation technologies to minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI), premium ELNA® audio capacitors and 8-channel gold plated audio output ports provide precision-engineered audio that is on par with dedicated sound cards.

 

SupremeFX 2014

SupremeFX audio has evolved over several generations in ROG's 8 years of motherboards, where it has always been more than just the chipset - it's a complete package of audio design and software that focuses on maximizing the gaming immersion and environment.

Precision-engineered audio that’s as great as a dedicated sound card giving pristine effects and full-range soundtracks. This makes the game. That’s why ROG invests substantial engineering recourses to perfect onboard audio. Cutting-edge isolation technologies minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI) and premium components deliver best-in-class audio. But we never rest on our laurels, which is why SupremeFX has been refined even further for Maximus VII motherboards.

• Physical PCB isolation is a physical guard covering your audio source from top to bottom, preserving a pure and a non-distortion pathway. 
• Stainless Steel EMI protection cover protects HD audio chip from interferences, to ensure the best audio quality and isolates the environmental noise invasion. 
• ELNA® premium Japan-made audio capacitors provide warm, natural, and immersive sound with exceptional clarity and fidelity that are great for game effects and multimedia.
• Cirrus Logic® CS4398 DAC provides brilliant 120dB signal-to-noise ratio, CS4398 was renowned for its clarity and purity.
• Sonic SenseAmp a ROG invention that detects headphone impedance and adjusts the built-in amp automatically without needing to do any hardware amplifier exchanging, designed for pitch-perfect listeners.
• Sonic SoundStage apply the best settings via the onboard Sonic SoundStage button or under OS for your favourite game genres in real time and in any OS. The debug LED displays the mode – FPS(01), racing(02), fighting(03) or sports(04).

 

SupremeFX Formula 2014

This year, yet again the 'Formula achieves a grade of sound that's even higher than Hero, Gene [or Ranger] to deliver a truly premium experience. That means even finer components and superbly clever software innovations for gaming and multimedia experiences beyond compare!

• WIMA® film Capacitors experience the German-made caps to boosts your in-game audio effects, with high- and low- frequency sound boosting, bring the gunshots, explosions and engine noise to reality. 
• 600 ohm-headphone amplifier hears every detail with High-fidelity Texas Instruments® LM4562 drive up to 600 ohm headphones and boosts every sound detail. 

 

Sonic SenseAMP

The difficulty with managing a headphone amp is that few gamers know the impedance of their headphones, thus, Sonic SenseAMP does the job for you by automatically testing the impedance of the headphones and setting the amplification level accordingly. There's still manual control if you prefer, or the ability to disable it completely if your headphones or speakers has an AMP built in; all direct from the speaker config tab.

 

 

Sonic SoundStage

SupremeFX has several different modes built in for different types of games. Under the Sonic SoundStage tab - or via a button on the board itself - you can select between FPS, Racing, Combat and Sports to tweak the EQ and sound functions to match the type of game. There's also manual sliders underneath for fine-grained adjustments.

 

 

Sonic Studio

Alternatively, Sonic Studio lets you enable/disable several audio functions like Bass Boost, Smart EQ, Virtual Surround, Reverb, Equalizer and Voice Clarity. The slider bars underneath allow fine-grained tweaking. Settings can be saved or loaded via the icons in the bottom right corner.