Why would anyone use an external sound card with a PC? Believe it or not some PCs are still not multimedia and some notebooks have sound chips that belong only in the bin.
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The Philips Aurilium will I am sure be mainly used by laptop owners,
a PC is normally easy to open but some warranties still forbid this
and motherboard sound chips can normally but not always - be
disabled. Fitting a sound card should only be a matter of finding a
free PCI slot and following instructions.
However a notebook is totally different and in most cases all but
the simplest jobs review an experienced technician. However attaching a
USB lead is all you need and to follow instructions. In fact disconnect
the Aurilium and once again the internal sound chip will play. Connect
the Aurilium again and it automatically takes control.
The unit is 16x15.5x7.5cm including the base. The weight is
400grams. It is a 24bit 5.1 sound card but you should still notice the
difference with just a pair of speakers, all 16bit (found in most PCs)
instructions are converted automatically to 24bit.
The power is taken from your the USB lead so no power leads or
adapters are required. It has apart from the normal jack out plugs also
RCA coax and Digital outputs. The standard (supplied) USB lead complete
the seven sockets on the rear of the unit. The front has microphone and
headphone sockets as well as subwoofer fader control and 3D effects
button. However everything can be controlled from within the software
on the Windows desktop.
Most results I received were satisfactory with the exception of
line in work where there was a faint but distinct hum. Any musician
would also I am sure have liked a midi port.
This unit seems to me to fall between two stools, I find it rather
too over specified for standard use and under specified for the
specialised user. It worked well and I am sure the notebook user will
appreciate the better sound quality when listening to music or using
the latest offerings fitted with DVD drives that can become a home
cinema.
The price is around £60, readers are reminded of two other external
sound cards from Creative Labs and Terratec that I reviewed on the 4th
November and still viewable in the archives.
Link : http://www.philips.com
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