Review: Philips Acoustic Edge (Page 6/7)

Posted: August 15, 2001
Written by: Tuan "GTk2" Huynh

Summing Things Up

Performance
[10/10]

The Acoustic Edge offers the best performance in a sound card I’ve ever seen. Philips has brought 5.1 to a new level by giving the Acoustic Edge the ability to add effects to transform virtually any audio source into 5.1. The audio quality was excellent and comparable if not better then the SB Live.

Innovation
[9/10]

Philips definitely gets a perfect score for innovation. They are the first company to produce a sound card capable of playing virtually any audio source in 5.1. Not even the SB Live has that capability.

There are some features I’d like to see also, like optical in and outs, convenient location of headphone jacks that are controllable by a knob, and maybe a break out box even with all the necessary in and outputs.

Installation
[10/10]

Installation was easy just like everything else. No driver problems arose and everything installed correctly and worked flawlessly. The color coded and labeled cables simplified the installation process.

Bundle
[8/10]

What more can you ask for in a bundle? The Acoustic Edge comes with Siren Audio XPress for ripping and playing MP3’s as well as Yamaha’s XG-50 software midi synthesizer for playing midi’s. Philips even goes further by including 3 full version games with manuals. The games included are essentially retail games without the boxes. For watching DVD’s, Philips has included a full retail CD of Power DVD 3.0 6 channel edition. Is there anything more you need in a bundle?

Edit: Full version games weren’t included in retail version of the card. The AE still comes with Yamaha XG-50 Soft Synthesizer, Siren Audio XPress.

Price
[10/10]

For only $79 after rebates occasionally you get 3 full version games as well as a full copy of Power DVD 3.0 6 channel edition. If you were to purchase all the bundled software separately the total would be over $79. The Acoustic Edge is not only cheaper then the SB Live 5.1, but offers nearly identical if not better performance.

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