Getting a new soundcard...

[Greebe]

Killer Dude! waiting in anticipation!

[Electric Amish]

How about A3D support??

Yes/No/Nada??

amish

[MultimediaMan]

Funny you should mention A3D support: Yes it does offer native A3D sound support...and in games like X-Wing Alliance, Pod Racer, etc...the effects are spectacular. EAX support is almost as good, but is not as clean. They are using a GUI that lets you really mess with driver parameters (Some better left alone IMO): Sound quality, Maximum Polyphony, Maximum Processor usage, Input Effects, etc. If you go too far, just getting sound out of some EAX games can become a challenge. I'll be sure to post specifics.

Overall I'm getting more impressed with this card as time goes on. I'm a puppy with a new slipper playing all of the EAX and A3D games with the sound cranked up high enough to shake the plaster off the walls. Oh yes, my home theatre system is getting a workout.

[Electric Amish]

Awesome!

amish

[MultimediaMan]

The article is finished, I still need to play with some pics. It will be posted on Christmas or the day after.

There ARE ISSUES with this card. Hopefully they are easily remedied. Let's hope they don't follow the Matrox Model for driver support, eh?

[paulcs]

I'm a little concerned about Philips' support for their new soundcards. The last time I checked, there was no online technical support for any of the three boards boards. They do have a toll free tech support number, but it's the same number you call for help about alarm clocks and VCR's. There isn't an appropriate option for computer components, so I had to guess.

I spoke with a tech support rep, and mentioned that there was only marketing information on the site and nothing resembling online or driver support. He said an online FAQ was "in the works."

This was a couple of weeks ago, and I still can't find anything resembling support on Philip's site.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[MultimediaMan]

Truth you speak, Paul.

The Acoustic Edge hit the shelves officially on December 1, and they still don't have any support available...yes, that is worrisome.

The Philips Technical Support number for computers and computer components in the USA is: 1-800-835-3506...seek technical support for computers through the menus, but don't hold your breath.

The Tech Reps have NOTHING on the soundcard except the adslicks you see on the Philips USA website. The Reps were not able to offer anything resembling support on this product, except to "uninstall" DirectX and reinstall. Oops. He was flabbergasted when I informed him there was no way within Windows to uninstall DirectX except with a (fairly unpredictable) third party program. The conversation ended shortly thereafter. I will call again after the 1st. of the year and see if they can't kick me up the ladder a few rungs to speak with someone who does understand Windows, instead of someone using cuecards and an online knowledgebase.

FYI: I do have the manuals and documentation in .pdf format if any are interested in them.

[paulcs]

What's worse is the other two boards hit the shelves a couple of months ago, and there isn't any support for them either. And I don't think it's fair to the techs who provide support for alarm clocks or stereo speakers to have to provide support for peripherals.

To the "just above average" user, someone with just a little experience upgrading, the soundcard is a potential nightmare. And the experienced user is just going to get annoyed by the lack of driver upgrades. Instructions to uninstall DirectX is a serious lapse, and I hope the tech support rep was improvising (very dangerous) and didn't pull that up on a screen (even more dangerous, because that means they're officially clueless).

This is by no means a small, inexperienced, or "strapped for cash" company. I hope they get their act together quickly, because even the cheaper Seismic Edge seems like a really nice board.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Rags]

Originally posted by MultimediaMan:


There ARE ISSUES with this card. Hopefully they are easily remedied. Let's hope they don't follow the Matrox Model for driver support, eh?

What's that supposed to mean? Clarify that one a bit.

Rags

[MultimediaMan]

Dammit! If you don't let me get this article posted you'll never know, will you? :-)

In a nutshell: There are problems with the bundled Yamaha Y-SXG50 MIDI Sythesizer that affect the Thunderbird Avenger Driver settings and DirectSound if some common parameters of the SXG Virtual Driver are changed (i.e. you lose Hardware Accelerated DirectSound capability will everything except the MIDI player). Uninstalling the Midi player does no good. You have to manually delete all associated drivers and .dlls and reinstall the drivers from scratch. And that friends, Sucks.

[DentyCracker]

I think the Matrox model part is what he was talking about

[MultimediaMan]

Oh, well EVERYBODY knows how responsive Matrox can be to inadequacies in their drivers, right?

I was being cheeky with the reference to the Matrox Model (i.e. we'll fix it when ever we're damn ready to) The sad part is, quite a few manufacturers are taking this route...and it's getting worse.

[MultimediaMan]

I know I've said this before: The article is done. I'm waiting until I get word back from Philips (Or Jan 5th.), whichever comes first to post the article. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I think it brutally honest, and it reflects how my hard-earned cash was spent, and how worthwhile the investment has been.

Anybody reading this thread knows I am not entirely satisfied with this card, but I want to give Philips at least the opportunity to respond.

[paulcs]

Good luck. I haven't heard from them yet, and it's been a month. Maybe longer.

Looking forward to the review.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[bongo]

All this talk about the Philips soundcard just reminds me of how much I HATE CREATIVE LABS and how they killed an absolutely excellent soundcard with the AUREAL VORTEX SUPERQUAD 2500 with there bullshit lawyers and bullshit lawsuits. aargh. I even had to get a soundblaster mp3 because...damn it...no one was supporting the Aureal anymore. Felt Like a guy with a beta VCR.

aargh.