Coolest Sound Card I've Experienced
Written: Sep 07 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Surround Sound Playback of MP3's Awesome;
Superior Gaming Experience;
Overall Sound Quality Outstanding
Cons: Not enough time to try out all the features
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this card to anyone without hesitation . . . worth twice the price.
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| jerry_rafters's Full Review: Philips Acoustic Edge Sound Card |
Installation was smooth. Detailed video's and instructions available for less experienced users.
Phone support was free! 1-800 number though I didn't need it.
Warranty was 3 years, best I've seen.
Bundled software was very useful:
-Especially PowerDVD DVD player which has both 5.1 speaker and Dolby Headphone support.
-ACID music software looked good, thought not really my bag.
-Siren MP3 player was great. I've switched over to it exclusively.
-AudioPIX is awesome. I'm using it to create a music video with wedding pictures for a friend.
My PC is my home entertainment system. I use it to play my MP3 collection, games and even DVD's.
The special "QMSS" feature converted all my MP3's to surround sound. Listening it's like your on stage with the band with different sounds coming from each speaker.
"QMSS" combined with EAX 2.0 produced the best sound I've ever heard from games. Black and White is my favorite title but before all the same sounds came from both the front and rear speakers. I guess it has no 3D sound built in. With my new card the voices come only from the front, not the back which sounds more realistic and I get great surround sound effects that were not there before.
I'm still playing with all the different options for DVD playback, Dolby Digital, Dolby Headphone, QMSS Enhanced playback and QSurround but they sound great.
I was using a set of Klipsch promedia (4 channel speakers) which sounded great. I just bought a receiver with 5.1 speakers and it's even better. I've connected the stereo output from receiver to Line in on the card so I can listen to FM music as well as my MP3's in 5.1 surround. I've also connected the cards/SPDIF Out to the receivers S/PDIF In so I can use the receiver to decode AC3 (Dolby Digital) or DTS. You really don't need this for Dolby Digital as the card and PowerDVD sound great doing the decoding but it's nice to have the option to listen to DTS which PowerDVD doesn't support.
I'm sure eventually I will find something I don't like about this card but so far it is heaven.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99.99
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Epinions.com ID:
jerry_rafters
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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