Technology has so dramatically improved the bandwidth of PC’s over the last ten years that some of the media tasks I used to consider sooo cool like midi sequencing (that late eighties blight on pop music) now seem kind of err …rudimentary .

For many of us now our PC/Mac is our primary media appliance, and it’s occurred to many of us that it would be ever more sensible to make the little whirring box attached to our keyboard the server for all our entertainment needs. This logical extension has not been missed by behemoth Philips Electronics.

It’s their view and I’ve gotta agree that there’s a real need for a system that can handle an audio stream regardless of its format or source (MP3, CD Stereo/Mono) and produce an optimized output regardless of your speaker configuration (stereo, 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, headphones) or listening environment. They call this approach Holistic Sound Management, and it’s embodied in their new product the PSC805 Aurilium 5.1 Channel USB Audio Processor. So that’s the concept at least - now let’s take a look.

Installation

When my editor handed the unit over to me for review the silver processor unit was plainly visible within the semi-cylindrical clear retail packaging. Hmm I thought….surely there’s other stuff in there. Once I opened the package I was surprised to discover the contents consisted of just the unit, cable, disk, warranty card, and wee little sheet of paper that was the install guide.

The PSC805 itself is an attractive chrome, and silver rectangloid with blue indicator LED’s indicating the volume, and process status. There is a headphone, and mic jack at the front beneath the volume knob and a mute button on the top. The anodized aluminum base may be removed and reattached for side mounting.

The back of the unit has optical, and RCA coax digital outputs for pass-thru to Dolby Digital or DTS home theater equipment, a line in, 3 jacks for front, back, and center/LFE speakers, and the USB 2.0 port from which it also derives its power.

At any rate, onward I plunged into the install guide. In 5 languages it read …1) attach stand 2) plug in USB cable 3) connect speakers 4) install Sound Agent 2 …huh? Now I normally skip reading manuals just to see if I can guess at how the install is supposed to go. So I closed my eyes to make it harder (O.K. I peaked a bit), but the install still revealed itself to be a blindingly easy task. I should also mention the CD did come with some additional worthwhile software – Acid Xpress, AudioPix, and Music Match Jukebox, and yes for those that need to know …a manual.

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