Customer Reviews

Philips Aurilium 5.1 Channel Audio Processor - USB

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this item from Amazon when they had it on sale for $25, and have to say it's been one of the most useful things I've brought to work.

I have an extensive collection of MP3s that I've ripped at high bitrates (VBR ~224Kbps), and I want to hear them through something other than the standard headphone jack on the PC, which has a lot of hiss, crackles, CPU interrupt noise whenever I type or scroll.

This is a super low-cost external digital solution that answers almost all of my requirements -- absolutely noiseless until you start playing, no CPU interrupt noise, and the EQ bands are centered where I like them (31, 62, 125, 250, 500, 1k, 2k 4k, 8k, and 16khz) for good, beefy bass and crisp highs.

I have a pair of Koss PortaPro headphones I use at work. Just get these. I still blow away my friends with the bass and clarity that comes out of these things (15-25k!) This combo will give you a hugely satisfying audio experience for such a low price.

The Aurilium does a wonderful job of upgrading both the quality of sound that you get from your computer system and the control you have over that sound. It features easy to install but comprehensive software that helps you configure your sound to fit the room you are in and control and adjust that sound. I listen to a great variety of music on my system, including classical, jazz and rock, and the ability to adjust for the right sound is critical. The Aurilium's interface is really a work of art and a pleasure to use.

Several notes: somewhere in the description I was led to believe there was an internal amp; there is only a pre-amp, and you either need powered speakers or a further amp to combine with this. It is very difficult to get powered speakers with quality sound. This easily controls a 2.1 or a 5.1 system, and easily configures each.

Highly recommended.

I bought this from Amazon last week and hooked it up over the weekend. It did in fact come with an owner's manual and USB cable (not like what was stated in another review). The setup was very easy. I use a Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker system. The spatial effect adds a lot to their sound and because there is a subwoofer fader knob on the front I can now adjust it without having to crawl under my desk when the song I'm listening to has too much bass. Also impressive is the 3D effects when using headphones. I had no idea they could sound that good. On the back is a coax and optical digital output. I ran the optical out to my Marantz receiver and after fiddling with the inputs on the receiver I was pumping MP3 files from my computer to my stereo. It sounded just fine to me. I would recommend the Philips PSC805/17 to anyone who enjoys music and is tied to a computer like I am.

To echo the most recent review here,
I'm something of a audiophile myself, also having
sold high-end audio products years ago, but
I was getting annoyed that my new Compaq PC
with the basic Realtek97 onboard audio wasn't even
close to the quality I was hearing from my new
Sony DVD player matched to a set of good THX/Dolby Altec
Lansing surround speakers, just no comparison.
But to spend $200 on a sound card for a PC that's
not high end anyway is absurd, yet I wanted to make the PC
5.1 digital out capable, and boost the general stereo audio,
and when I found out about the Aurilium I jumped on it.
I got mine about two weeks ago and I think for the money
it's a really great device, couldn't be easier to set up,
looks fabulous and sleek, it even reminds you if the speakers aren't configured right, or if you need to enable AC3/Dolby Digital pass-through to an external Dolby decoder or receiver,
which is a really useful touch. The software is simple,
intuitive, helpful and easy to navigate and use.
I don't know how Philips makes this USB-bus powered,
but it works damned well for a sound card that doesn't
require its own AC power source, although most internal cards
don't anyhow. The test was playing a new copy of the DVD
of 2001: A Space Odyssey in remastered 5.1 sound, which
sounded devastating on my main Sony surround system, and it
sounds just as good now on the PC DVD player through
the Aurilium, digital out or not, both methods sounded great.
I can't recommend this more highly, a wise purchase
for those who want good audio and 5.1 digital surround
sound for music, movies and gaming, on a budget.
Plus you don't have to open up your PC or laptop to install it,
something I found to be just icing on the cake.
If you want audiophile high quality go buy yourself
an Onkyo or Harmon Kardon surround system and $1000 Klipsch 5.1 speakers, but if you do that, why bother with the PC audio anyway? For quality PC sound the Aurilium is aces.
I was also impressed with the thorough, easy to understand
nature of the instructions and software Help menus, they
really cover almost everything you would need to know to
operate the card and set it up for optimal performance.

I bought it right after I bought my Logitech z2200's and they sound awesome with this philips. I live in a dorm and having only my laptop left me with having to find an external audio device. I was ultimately deciding between this one and the Creative Audigy NX. After seeing how this one looks and considering its 1/2 the price of the audigy, I decided to give it a try.

Having this setup for about 1/2 a year, I really can't say how much I'm pleased with it. Everything from listening to music to watching movies has improved dramatically and everything is so easy to use.

Some points:
- No batteries or external ac adapters are needed for this device. It gets its power off the USB.
- The software is extremely easy to use. I like customizing things and I have all the options I could dream of having.
- Unfortunately, it does not contain an optical in, only optical out. You can actually go directly into a home theater system or system this same way to maintain optimal quality.
- Make sure you have a decent set of speakers to really get whole benefits from this product.

First, this device doesn't sound quite as good as an Audigy 2, which isn't that good in the first place. However, unless you're listening to it on near-audiophile or better quality headphones or speakers, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between the two.

And as another reviewer mentioned, you really are only getting 16-bit, 48 khz sound quality, though it handles 24-bit, 192 khz input/output. It's a similar lie that creative labs marketed about their audigy(1)/extigy sound cards, which I suppose were this product's competition at the time it launched. And for portability, it really is a bit big to carry around with your laptop. But for the EAX limitations that reviewer mentioned, that's only going to make a few percentage points worth of difference in cpu load on 3d sound, so who cares ?

However, it is well designed and it looks great. All the jacks, knobs, and buttons are in the right place, and it's got nice blue LED meters in the front--download the product manual from the links above for specifics. Using headphones with it is really convenient. They've got usability nailed down with this product.

If you use a laptop mostly in one location, this would be a good solution to the built-in sound. It's also good if you use a desktop at work and want to listen to music without having to go in and open the box up. For a home desktop, an Audigy 2 Value edition might be a better choice.

It would have been nice if Philips designed this device for true 24-bit sound quality, but for the price, it's easy to look past that.

This is the first inexpensive external USB sound card that produces good sound, doesn't stutter, and doesn't tax CPU much. I use the device to play music via 5.1 system that includes 5.1 A/V receiver and floor speakers. I am not audiophile, but I can tell the diff between cheap and solid. This sound card is not state of the art, but it is solid. It has beaten my expectations regarding sound quality. It's designed very well and has very easy to use software. Use QSizzle effect for best equalizer settings. People who claim to be audiophiles and complain about $29 device need to get some perspective. This card is well worth the money.

I was about to order this based on the description of the item being 24-bit 96KHz capable. According to Philips own technical data sheet specifications it is a 16-bit 48KHz device for playback and recording. Most people won't care, but I did. Having a portable midi compatible device would be nice at this price.

Actually, I loved the Philips Acoustic Edge, an earlier and internal sound card, but it did not like my older dual-processor system. Because of that I was a bit skittish about using their current internal card with a processor that uses hyper-threading - which Windows treats as dual processors. I bought the Aurelium instead. I love this thing! I am a bit of an audiophile, and this sound card is just perfect. With my Klipsch computer speakers, it makes a perfect combination.

Bought this unit mostly to record LPs or cassettes and enable a non-optical digital out on my G5 to use with a set of 5.1 speakers I have. Plugged it in and recorded from my cassette deck with no problem at all. Very clean.

One bonus is that the volume control on the front adjusts the volume on the Macintosh without having to configure a thing. Awesome and a great buy... consider that you'd have to buy a separate external volume control, an input device and a 5.1 processor to get everything that's in this one component. Wow!