Bij Tom's Hardware Guide is een preview te vinden van Abit's onlangs aangekondigde Magnum 5.1 Stereo Multimedia Package bestaande uit een AU-10 geluidskaart en een Arcadia SP50 5.1 speakerset met een 85W rms subwoofer. Hieronder wat impressies over zijn geluidskwaliteit:
Our preview took place in an unfavorable listening environment - a large open lab with poor acoustics. Nevertheless, the SP-50 provided good, clean bass, although perhaps a step short of the guttural sensation that much more expensive high-fi's can deliver. I was able to raise the volume to levels that were probably annoying everyone else on the floor, but did not encounter noticeable distortion from either the subwoofer or any of the other five speakers. The tiny egg-shaped satellites provided good sound, but the midrange was a little thin coming from the tiny 2", four ohm paper cones -- part of this minor deficiency is to be blamed on the extremely poor and atypical listening environment. Overall the sound quality was well above a typical PC sound system. [break]En de conclusie:[/break] ABIT is to be commended for its efforts to produce a high quality line of multimedia products. The Taipei based company has assembled a team of experts that are not only experienced in this field, but have a true passion for audio excellence. The bundled AU-10 soundcard produces audio quality on par with much more expensive products. Although the AU-10 will be weak in hosting positional audio effects for gaming, it can decode, through the included WinDVD, the 5.1 compressed audio stream found on many DVDs. The remote control is an added convenience that becomes especially welcome when migrating the computer into the living room to serve as a DVD 5.1 surround sound system.
The ABIT Arcadia SP-50 Digital Audio System provides audio quality far beyond what most PC users have ever experienced from their computers. With the exception of the Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400, which is not a 5.1 system, few PC audio rigs can approach the sonic quality of the SP-50. For a person looking to convert his computer into a cheap but good quality Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound system for viewing DVDs and the like, the ABIT Arcadia SP-50 will be an appealing solution. It is also one of the few products available that can fill this niche. For gamers looking ahead to 5.1 audio format games, the SP-50 is also attractive, although the AU-10 soundcard relies heavily on the CPU for positional audio API's which could bog down some games.
At a shipping weight of around 60 pounds, the ABIT Arcadia SP-50 provides heavyweight 5.1 surround sound experience for the relatively low price of $279 U.S.
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