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I'm always intrigued (as is the rest of the industry) to
see competition in the sound card industry. Dominated by "you know
who" , we're always looking for great companies to step up to the
plate. Philips has a great contender in their PSC706 5.1-Channel Sound
Card - The Acoustic Edge.
This soundcard has a 5.1 channel configuration capable of AC3, with a
3D interactive Q-Sound and Q-Sound Environmental Modeling. It also offers
a multi-speaker system, including a center channel speaker, and Q-Surround
playback. Philips' packaging boasts that the PSC706 is the first PCI card
capable of playing all games, music, and movies in fully-accelerated true
5.1 surround sound. The card also boasts 96 distinct 3D Voices, 256 distinct
DirectSound Voices, and 576 distinct synthesized Wavetable voices. The
plugs on the sound card includes Line In, Mic, 5.1 channel analog output,
and Digital S/PDIF output. Don't be scared of the plugs you see on the
product shot - the green and back female inputs connect to small cables,
which you plug your standard (or super high end) speakers into - so whatever
speakers you are using now on your computer will work just fine.
The power behind the Acoustic Edge is the ThunderBirdAvenger
audio accelerator chip. The DSP (Digital Signal Processor) can process
up to 256 simultaneous sounds with minimal consumption of your computer
resources. Having the accelerator as a hardware device ensures that the
high-fidelity audio is crystal clear, and that your computer's resources
are free for more concentrated efforts for better frame rates. The Acoustic
edge has up to 96 available concurrent streams, and with EAX 2.0 game
compatibility, it delivers the most powerful audio technology available
in video games for the PC today.
Some feature specs...
| Music |
| - MP3 playback in Quadraphonic or 5.1 |
| - Music CD Playback in Quadraphonic or 5.1 |
| - Music video playback in Quadraphonic or 5.1 |
| - Midi music playback in Quadraphonic or 5.1 |
| - 576 Wavetable Voices |
| |
| Movies |
| - Stereo and ProLogic video playback in Quadraphonic
or 5.1 |
| - Quad/5.1 playback using Dolby Digital Downmix |
| - Virtual 5.1 QSurround using only two speakers |
| |
| Games |
| - Quadraphonic or 5.1 playback of non-3Dsound games |
| - 3D sound using only two speakers or headphones |
| - 64 Direct Sound 3D Streams |
| - EAX 2.0 Game Compatibility |
| - A3D 1.0 Game Compatibility |
The PSC706 Acoustic Edge comes with the following:
- Acoustic Edge PCI Card
- Manual
- Digital Audio Cable
- Analog CD Audio Cable
- Acoustic Edge Software CD
- SIREN XPress music management software
- AudioPix software (create your own MP3 slideshow)
The performance of the Philips PSC706 Acoustic Edge
is nothing short of spectacular. I was a little wary of trying out this
card because of my ignorance, to be honest. But after trying out this card
with some of the newest games on the market - including the Warcraft III
Beta I am on (which fully utilizes EAX 2.0) , I am completely sold that
this is one of the finest sound cards on the market. The crisp, clear, concise
sounds you will hear will send chills down your spine...I really can't say
enough about how impressive this card is with it's EAX 2.0 feature.
This card really caters to two groups of buyers - performance gamers, and
high quality audio aficionados. If you're looking to simply "have sound"
(do those people really exist?) then this card is overkill. If you're looking
to have a 5.1 Dolby surround sound system for your games and movies, then
this is the sound card to buy - it's that simple.
As far as Value you goes, you definitely get your bang for your buck. For
similar cards at this price point, you get similar (if not better) performance.
The price point of $79.99 is very fair, and can been seen at your local
Best Buy, among other retail locations. The usefulness of this product is
quite high - if you're a gamer or someone that wants to watch DVDs on your
computer and feel some serious sound with incredible separation, then a
5.1 channel sound card is the only way to go. The Acoustic Edge fits this
requirement (need?) to the max - you'll not be disappoint in the slightest.
If you are an elite "money is no object" type of consumer, then
this card should last you as long as EAX 2.0 technology is the standard
for the latest games. That should be at least a year or two, and for the
mainstream consumer, this sound card should last you years. This product
comes highly recommended, especially if you're looking to find a brand that
beats out others in its industry.
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10 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
96%
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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9.6 / 10 |
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