I'd like to thank Debra of Philips for providing us with the PSC 724 for review.
With more people using their computers for playing music, DVDs, and gaming, manufacturers have stepped up their audio cards closer to the quality of a home stereo system. Now users have plenty to choose from including 5.1 all the way to 7.1 Surround sound and various audio enhancement filters. Today we take a look at a new sound card from the electronics giant Philips with their PSC 724 Ultimate Edge Sound Card.
The PSC 724 sound card is powered by VIA's Envy24GT audio processor which is capable of true 24 bit resolution, with 96 kHz sample rate. It is capable of 6 channel output (5.1 Surround). This might be a concern to some users as other cards on the market are setup for 6.1 and even 7.1 Surround such as the Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space Surround soundcard.
Another slight hiccup about this card is it has no DirectSound hardware or 3d hardware support (unlike the Audigy 2) but it can achieve this with software emulation. Albeit at a sacrifice of CPU cycles. The card is capable of handling DS3D, EAX 2.0, and A3D 1.0 APIs which will pretty much have you set for most 3D audio games.
On the back of the unit are Coaxial S/PDIF Digital Output for connection to other external Dolby™ Digital/DTS decoders and other home entertainment equipment such as receivers.
Specifications
Input/Output • Full duplex
• Maximum Recording Depth: 24-bit
• Maximum Recording Rate: 96 kHz
• Maximum Playback Depth: 24-bit
• Maximum Playback Rate: 96 kHz
• Amplified 2.0 V RMS output
Audio Quality (All Channels) • Frequency Response: 10 Hz to 24 kHz, < +/- 0.15 dB, A-weighted (Typical)
• Signal to Noise Ratio: 106 dB, A-weighted (Typical)
• Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.004% (Typical)
Quality Connectivity Features(All 24-bit/96 kHz Resolution) • Front line out
• Rear line out
• Center/LFE line out
• S/PDIF coaxial digital out
• Microphone in
• Auxiliary in
• CD/video in
• Line in
Minimum System Requirements • One available PCI 2.2-compliant slot
• Pentium III class 450 MHz or faster processor
• Intel or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
• 64 MB system RAM
• CD-ROM for driver installation
• 800x600 minimum screen resolution
• 35 MB free hard drive space
Operating Systems Supported • Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows XP
Standards Compatibility • General MIDI compatible
• Plug & Play
• PCI 2.2 compliant
• EAX 1.0/2.0 game compatibility
• Microsoft DirectSound, DirectSound 3D and derivatives
Digital Signal Processor Algorithms • QSound3DInteractive positional 3D for 2-, 4-, 6-channel speakers
• QSound Multi Speaker System (QMSS5.1) for 4- or 6- channel output of stereo music, multimedia, and games
• QXpander for 3D enhancement of stereo playback
• QSurround virtual 6-channel playback of multi-channel DVDs using stereo speakers
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