Pros: Decent sound, Fair price for 5.1 surround on the PC
Cons: Very poor Windows 2000 compatability, no Linux, won't share IRQs without problems.
The Bottom Line: Not recommended. IRQ nightmares will ensue if you're not running Windows 9x, even though the card claims compatability with Windows 2000.
baseband's Full Review: Philips Acoustic Edge Sound Card
I bought the Philips Acoustic Edge 5.1 PCI sound card in April 2002. It claimed compatability with Windows 2000, my OS of choice.
The drivers are not Microsoft certified. When you install them in Windows 2000, you'll receive dire warnings about how they probably won't work. Well, they do - just not the way they're supposed to.
See, Windows 2000 uses ACPI by default. ACPI allocates IRQs automatically, and likes to dump as many devices as it can on one IRQ. Most hardware manufacturers keep this in mind when they design devices that work with Windows 2000. Apparently, Philips didn't.
The card made my computer frequently crash with "IRQ_L NOT LESS OR EQUAL" blue screens. This usually happened when I was playing a game or using another application that depended heavily on both the sound card and another resource.
Philips support said I should get the card on its own IRQ. When using Windows 2000, this requires uninstalling ACPI. That means you'll get that good old-fashioned "It is now safe to shutdown your computer" when you turn it off.
It's easier to reassign IRQs in Windows 9x, so if you're running that, you might not have as many problems
If you're running Linux, you can't use the card at all. Philips not only refuses to write Linux drivers, but they won't even turn the card's specs over to Linux developers that are willing to write the drivers for FREE!
Full 5.1 surround-sound card with digital or analog output Digital connection for external audio sources EAX and A3D game compatibility Digital signal...More at Amazon Marketplace
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